Achieving the Impossible, Again

A week ago last Friday, Kai achieved what he thought was “impossible,” scoring 100% on his daily point sheet at school. Regular reader Linda commented then, “Now that Kai has achieved the impossible, it wouldn’t surprise me if he did it again."

Well, this past Friday, that’s exactly what he did. He had another 100% day.

And that was not his only good day at school last week. He did pretty well all week.

And for that, he received a Student of the Week recognition.



But that’s not all. Today is the last day of the month. If Kai can stay safe at school today, he will have achieved a safe month, another rare feat for him.

Kai was very upbeat last night. He seems very confident that he will do it.

Spring is here. We are having a series of sunny days.

But what is brightening our household these days has nothing to do with the sun in the sky.

Our son right here on earth is shining brightly.

Spring Weekend With Guests

My sister and brother-in-law visited for a couple days this weekend. Kai really looks forward to seeing everyone.

One of his favorite things is engaging in silly horseplay with Uncle Frankie.



Kai’s outgoing personality really emerges with Uncle Frankie. Usually his uncle initiates the fun. These days, with Kai’s communication skills so improved, he kept trying to engage Uncle Frankie in more fun. I think Frank was exhausted after awhile, but Kai kept persisting.

When we weren’t having fun at home, we were out with Kai doing our usual weekend activities. Kai was active at his soccer game.



Kai’s grandmother made it to her first soccer game so it was a good afternoon. All of us, including my wife and our latest dog, Momo, enjoyed the action.



Though Kai’s friend Nick did not come to the game this week so we didn’t have a chance to get help Kai reaffirm their friendship.

Later, we all went back to our house for movie night. The grownups didn’t really understand the movie, but Kai didn’t care. He just liked that everyone was there.

And that he got presents – a new Lego from his grandmother and another from his aunt and uncle.



By the next morning, all our guests had gone. Well, except for Emi, my sister’s dog that is staying with us while they do more traveling.

And so the three of us, and the two dogs, enjoyed our first really nice spring Sunday with a walk along a park trail.



When we got to the end of the trail at Lake Michigan, Emi barked and barked at the waves as if they were living creatures.



Emi kept trying to tug me and Kai into the water.



I think Kai enjoyed the excuse to get his shoes wet.

By evening, the dogs were finally tired.



My wife and I felt the same way.

But it’s funny how Kai never seems to get tired, at least not when it comes to doing things he enjoys.

And that he did all weekend.

“Nick Is Not My Friend Anymore”

How do you explain something to a child who doesn’t think the same way that you do?

My son’s school held a fundraiser last weekend. My wife contributed some items for the silent auction, and volunteered us to deliver pizzas that were donated by a restaurant near our house.

Kai came with us to the event as we made our pizza delivery, and we stayed for a short while to browse the items that were being auctioned.

I put in a written bid on a basket of gardening supplies that Kai’s classroom put together.



On Monday evening, when it was time for Kai to tell us about his day at school, he said, “Nick is not my friend anymore.”

As Nick has been his best friend at school for a couple years, we asked what happened.

“Nick’s mom won the auction.”

We were able to piece together that Nick’s mom was the high bidder on the gardening basket, and because of that, Kai was angry with Nick.

We explained that there was no reason to be angry. Nick’s mom must have really wanted that basket and was willing to bid more for it than we were.

That did not sway Kai at all. He said he no longer wanted to be on the same soccer team as Nick.

I said that there was no reason to be angry with Nick because of something his mother did.

That had no impact on Kai either.

I made the point that he should be happy that the basket that his classroom put together attracted a high bid, and that it went to the family of someone he knew. Wasn’t that better than it going to a stranger?

He did not agree with that either. All he knew was that Nick was a bad guy and no longer his friend.

In time, I tired of trying to change his mind. I successfully changed the subject instead.

But the next morning, as I was about to go to work, he again spoke about how angry he was at Nick.

Sigh.

Kai’s ability to articulate his feelings continues to get better and better. And because of that, I am gaining more insights into his anger.

He thinks differently than most of us do. He seems to react to the very last thing that happened – in this case, that Nick’s mom won the basket instead of us – rather than putting everything into context or understanding the big picture. And simply explaining it to him does not help him understand.

And so we have to figure out how to do that.

It won’t be easy, as I obviously cannot assume that what makes sense to me will make sense with him.

But understanding something is the first step toward dealing with it.

Let’s see what we can do about it.

“That’s Impossible!”

We use a Point Store as extra incentive for our son. Kai earns points for specified good behavior, which he can then exchange for items ‘on sale’ in the store.

We occasionally vary the achievements for which he can earn points, but currently the primary ways are through his behavior in school as measured by his school’s daily point sheet, and for going through the night without knocking on our bedroom door.

Sleeping has always been an issue for Kai. We still haven’t figured out how to get him to consistently sleep through the night, but we are trying to get him to be more independent when he wakes up. If he can keep from knocking on Mom and Dad’s bedroom door, he can earn 200 points.

We did start using a white noise machine after we got back from our Spring Break vacation. And along with the ear plugs, Kai does seem to be sleeping better. It’s not perfect, but the ‘sleep machine’ as we call it, seems to have a positive psychological effect on him, in addition to blocking out extraneous sounds.

This past week, though, we had some major storms in our area. And so Kai was more anxious than usual. The sleep machine blocked out most of the noise, but Kai still heard the thunder. He had a lot of difficulty sleeping and woke us up two nights in a row.

He had had his eye on a particular prize in our Point Store, and was hoping to earn enough points for it by the end of the week. But on Friday morning, he realized that because he woke us those two nights, he would fall ten points short, even if he scored in the 90s at school that day (which is very good for him).

He was not happy.

He begged Mom for a chance to earn an extra ten points. My wife agreed to think of something he could do.

I stepped in and said that we shouldn’t give him the extra points. My wife said that it wouldn’t be “giving” it to him; he would have to earn it. But I argued that creating a new goal just because he had fallen short on the original ones would be almost the same as giving it to him.

My son was not happy with that decision.

He said he really can’t sleep when it’s stormy.

We explained to him that he doesn’t he has to wake us up when he can’t sleep.

And besides, it’s not even about just that. He had other opportunities to earn points up until then. For instance, he could have a better day at school just a couple days earlier when a mediocre day cost him 100 points.

I told him that he could earn more points the next night if he did not knock on our door. He said that he would not be able to do it if it stormed.

In that case, he would have to wait until Monday to earn more points through his behavior at school.

He did not like the thought of waiting a whole three more days.

There actually was one other way he could earn the points that very day. I hadn’t mentioned it because I thought the chance of it occurring was very slim.

I told Kai that he would have more than enough points for his prize if he attained 100% on his school’s point sheet that day as we give a bonus for such a rare accomplishment.

“That’s impossible!” he declared.

In my heart, I thought that was probably true. But I couldn’t let him know that.

I told him that if he tried very hard, he could earn his 100%. Kai did not believe it.

“Dad, I am really mad at you!”

I then had to leave for work, leaving my wife to deal with a very upset boy.

I had quite a busy day at work, but I often thought of my wife and son and worried how the day was going for them. It is fine in theory for me to set a tough standard, but during the week, my wife is the one who is with Kai more often and has to deal with the consequences.

When I got home, I wondered what sort of mood everyone would be in.

My wife called out to Kai.

“Dad’s home. Come show him your point sheet.”

Huh?!?

Kai didn’t come over. I walked over to the family room where he was engrossed in a new toy.

What’s this?

Kai started chattering what the toy was.

My wife called from the kitchen and again asked Kai to how me his point sheet.

He finally brought me over to the kitchen and showed me his point sheet.

“I got 100% today.”

And so he did.



Sometimes the impossible happens.

The Haircut Revisited, and Eating Out

It has been three weeks since The Haircut, so Kai’s hair had grown out enough to give it another cut.

For those who did not read what happened last time, my wife accidentally cropped one swatch of Kai’s hair down to the scalp when she was still drowsy after waking up from a nap.

This time, Kai asked her, “Mom, did you get enough sleep?”

She assured him that she was wide-awake this time. But, he still did not want Mom coming close to his head with the clippers. And he wanted me to go first. I asked him to keep a close eye on Mom while she cut my hair.

She did a great job on my hair, and then it was Kai’s turn.

He was a bit nervous, but less than he is when it starts to rain.

And though he was not particularly happy, he cooperated nicely.



Though he had gotten some nice comments about the stylish haircut I gave him last time, I decided to go back to his standard look this time. I think he was happy about that.

Afterward, we all went out to dinner to celebrate our anniversary.

We were to have gone a week ago, but the restaurant where we had reservations had a power outage and was shut down. On that day, we went to a hot dog joint instead.

So this weekend we tried again.

We went to a yakiniku restaurant, which is a Japanese-style of barbecue where diners can cook meat, seafood, and vegetables at their table.

These days when we go to a restaurant, Kai likes to look at the menu.

“This place is expensive!”

The prices were two or three times that of the places we usually go to with him. I told him it was a special occasion. I think he was thinking of how big a Lego set we could have gotten with the amount we were spending at this place.

Up until recently, the only non-fast food restaurants we liked going to with Kai were Mexican restaurants because they brought chips and salsa out right away, meaning that Kai did not have to wait for food to be served.

We recently figured out that we can go to Japanese restaurants and get a bowl of edamame pretty quickly, and that works just as well.

Kai ate a lot of edamame and finished his miso soup quickly.

And then they brought out a large plate of the items to be grilled.

We started grilling the vegetables first. Kai loves grilled mushroom, onion, and pepper, and gobbled those up quickly.

And he loves shrimp, so we grilled that before the meats.

By the time we started on the meats, he had already eaten a lot. I was wondering if he would eat more.



The meats included sirloin, filet mignon, kalbi (boneless short rib), harami (skirt steak) and thinly sliced beef tongue.

I was surprised when Kai tried all of them, including the tongue. He liked them all, and asked for more of each including the tongue.

My wife and I did not think the flavor of the food was particularly special.

But we were very happy that Kai really enjoyed it, both the food and the atmosphere. It wasn’t long ago that we never would have thought to come to an expensive restaurant with him.

That we were able to, and have a great time, made this a very special evening.

So My Son Showed Me That He Doesn’t Just Think About Himself

I’ve complained a lot about my son thinking only of himself. So it’s only fair that I write when he shows that he is thinking of others.

Over the weekend, we had to stop off at someone’s house to feed their two dogs and one cat. Kai knows that I am allergic to cats.

“Dad, stay outside.”

I told him that I would be okay since we would be in the house for only a few minutes.

As soon as we stepped inside, the cat approached.

Kai stepped in front of me and spread his arms.

Ha, I think he would make a good Secret Service agent, at least when it comes to protecting the President from dangerously cute house cats.

The next evening, at dinnertime, he informed me that the NCAA championship basketball game would start at 8:30, which is his bedtime. I thought he was lobbying to stay up late to watch the game.

I started to tell him that he would still have to go to bed then.

He interrupted to say that he would go to bed five minutes early, at 8:25, and I could just say a quick goodnight to him then. I would not have to stay and read a book with him as per our custom.

“I don’t want you to miss the game, Dad.”

Of course, at his bedtime, I stayed with him and we read together.

I took third place in an NCAA pool I was in.

But I was a winner in something a lot more important.

My son’s thoughtfulness was like winning the championship in dad-ness.

Some Crabbiness, Some Sunshine

This weekend, Kai had his second practice for the ice show he’s skating in. After his great first practice, I was actually looking forward to this one. Alas, it was like we turned the clock back two years.

After just a few minutes on the ice, he skated off. He said he did not want to do the practice routine. He just wanted to skate.

I had him get back on the ice. But it wasn’t all that long before he came off the ice again.

He was mad. He said he did not want to skate in the show.

I really don’t know what had changed from three weeks ago when he was so happy. I reminded him that he liked the music for the show. He said, “I HATE THAT MUSIC!”

I said he could take a two-minute break, then go back out there. But after two minutes, he still did not want to go out there.

I was regretting that we decided to let him skate in the show. But I didn’t want to back out now. It is looking like there are only six special needs kids participating, so they need every single one of them.

I decided that I needed to resort to a threat. I told him he had a choice. He could either skate now, or he could not skate and instead go to another fitness session with his swim instructor the next day and miss the NASCAR race. Well, I knew he did not want an extra workout, and he did not want to miss the race, so that finally got him on the ice.

Though he did not skate particularly nicely, at least he was out there.

After the practice, he had his regular skating class. He did not want to skate there either. While waiting for the skating class to begin, he was extremely crabby.

But his skating buddy, Erica, kept persisting and he finally went on the ice with her. At first, I could see his crabbiness continue. But the more he skated the more he seemed to enjoy it.

After the class ended, we had to stay several minutes extra as we waited to have the group photo taken for the ice show. Two years ago, I had to drag him screaming to the photo shoot. This year he calmly and patiently waited for his group to be called. I think the bowling app on my phone had a little something to do with it, but I was glad that his irritation from earlier had dissipated.

Unlike two years ago...



this time, he took his picture nicely...



And then was happy the rest of the weekend.

He even gladly went on a long walk with the dogs on the nice sunny day we had yesterday.



This morning, though, it was raining. And you know what that meant.

“Mom, I’m scared!”

Oh well, let’s see what his mood is like in a couple hours.

San Diego Vacation – Day 5 – Heading Home

The last day of a vacation is always bittersweet. You want to cherish the remaining hours, but know that the vacation will soon be over.

We had just a couple of hours in the morning before we would need to head to the airport.

We returned to the Mission to have breakfast. That is the restaurant that Dave and Iris took us to the day we arrived. My wife enjoyed her large delicious espresso while Kai once again contented himself on the iPad while we waited for breakfast to be served.



After breakfast, we walked along the ocean, enjoying the sunshine and scenery for one last time.

And then we were off to the airport.

Kai was nervous about flying, but perhaps not quite as much as before our flight coming to San Diego.

“We’re not going to crash?”

I think he knew what I would say, and just wanted to be reassured. No, Kai, we are not going to crash.

On the plane, as we neared takeoff, he chewed gum and put on his earplugs. I don’t know if the earplugs really help, but I do know that psychologically he thinks it helps, and that’s all that matters, I guess.

The flight was relatively uneventful. Kai was well behaved, for the most part.

Every now and then he would talk loudly. My wife and I tried to get him to speak more softly.

“Don’t shush me!” he would say even more loudly.

We landed about a half hour ahead of schedule.

That meant that we had to wait several minutes for our gate to become available.

By the time the doors to our plane opened, Kai was ready to get off.

Unfortunately, sitting back in row 31, we were not going to be moving anytime soon. We would be among the last to get off the plane.

The boy who waited patiently at the restaurant the night before was not present on this morning.

“WHAT”S TAKING SO LONG?”

“COME ON! LET’S MOVE!”

There was a large man standing directly in front of us. He could not move, of course, until everyone in front of him did. But Kai did not understand.

“THIS GUY IS LIKE A STONE!”

The man turned around and looked to see who was calling him a stone. I believe he had a smile on his face, though I was a bit afraid to look.

My wife took hold of Kai’s hands to make sure he did not push or strike anyone.

And we sighed with relief when it was finally our turn to move.

It was cold and gray outside as we waited for our cab. Yep, we were not in California anymore. We were back in the Midwest.

When we arrived home, my wife and I may have had a bit of the post-vacation blues. We were back to reality.

But Kai was upbeat.

After all, he had a brand new Lego set to work on.

And seeing him so happy made it impossible for my wife and I to stay down. We were tired, but we felt good.

We had been a wonderful vacation. And the memories from that will stay with us for a long time. Ah yes!


To catch up on the rest of our vacation:
San Diego Vacation – Day 1
San Diego Vacation – Day 2 – SeaWorld
San Diego Vacation – Day 3 – Legoland
San Diego Vacation – Day 4 – Safari Park

San Diego Vacation – Day 4 – Safari Park

We debated where to go on our last full day in San Diego. The San Diego Zoo is world famous, but Kai has never shown much interest in zoos. And we have two great zoos right here in the Chicago area. There are historical sights and museums, but we did not think Kai would have much interest in those.

In the end, we decided to go with a recommendation from Kai’s grandparents that we go to the Safari Park.

About 40 minutes northeast of the city, the Safari Park is operated by the same folks who run the Zoo. But this is a place where many animals can freely roam in much larger spaces than you find at a zoo.

The main attraction is a half-hour tram ride that takes you on an “African safari.” When we got to the Park, that is the first thing that Kai wanted to do.

The tram ride is located at the rear of the park, so we started to make our way back there. Along the way, there were many interesting displays that my wife and I wanted to see. But as soon as we paused, Kai started to get angry.

“Let’s go! Let’s go! I want to go on the tram!”

Sigh.

We really need to figure out how to teach him the notion that you can “stop and smell the roses along the way”, or “life is not so much a destination as it is a journey.”

Anyway, we found our way to the tram. Like Legoland, the Safari Park makes special accommodations for people with disabilities, and we were able to get a pass that allowed us to move to the front of the line for the tram. So we did not have to wait long for the next departure.

As the tram took us around, we saw many African animals including gazelle….



and giraffe….



among many others.

My wife and Kai especially enjoyed it.



What I enjoyed was the sorbets we had afterward. We had pineapple, coconut and mango sorbets that were served in their shells. I don’t know if it was the presentation or the environment in which we had them, but I swear it was the best sorbet I’ve ever had.



Our next stop was to see a butterfly exhibit. We walked into a tropical greenhouse that had thousands of butterflies.



One even landed on Kai’s head.



After that we wanted to see the bird show they had. We got to the area about a half hour before showtime and found good seats up front. Kai said he was thirsty so I went to look for a place to buy drinks.

It was lunchtime, so the line for food and drinks was long. Still, with a half hour to spare, I felt pretty confident that I would get back in time for the start of the show.

Apparently, Kai wasn’t so confident.

My wife reported that Kai got very anxious.

“I’m so worried!”

“I don’t want Dad to miss the show!”

After about 15 minutes, my wife called me on my cell phone to see if I was close to returning. I told her it would be another 10 minutes. I could hear in the background that Kai was upset, and my wife tried to calm him by telling him that I would be back in time for the show.

But I heard later that he got quite loud with his anxiety, drawing attention from the other patrons seated around them.

When I made it back with minutes to spare, Kai was happy. My wife was exhausted.



The show was quite fun. We saw a wide variety of birds. Some flew directly over or in front of us…



Others appeared on stage…



And one made funny sounds on cue…



The emcee did a great job in educating us about each bird, but also making it very entertaining.



We had had a fun day at Safari Park.

We next drove over to the coast to La Jolla.

La Jolla is home to a colony of harbor seals that found a nice spot on the beach to settle down.



Kai enjoyed seeing the seals.

But what he really wanted to do was go down to the water.

We found a spot a little ways down from the seals to walk down to the beach.



And we all waded in the Pacific Ocean.



The ocean was nice, but Kai wanted to go swimming in the hotel pool one more time.

On our way back to the hotel, my wife asked to pull over at a Starbucks. Kai and I waited in the car while she ran in to get coffee.

Kai waited patiently. He knew how much my wife craves her coffee.

“I want Mom to feel good so she will go swimming with us,” he said.

Ha, smart kid.

And so, that afternoon, we enjoyed our last swim together.

Finally, it was time for dinner.

I looked up seafood restaurants and found one that sounded good on TripAdvisor. When we got to the Pacific Beach Fish Shop, we found that many others thought it was a good place, too. It was a casual place and there was a long line to place an order. We debated leaving, but I really wanted to try the food there. Besides, it was a Friday night and it was likely that we would have to wait no matter where we went.

I stood in line while my wife took Kai outside to find a spot to sit while they waited. My wife called shortly afterward to say that she overheard another patron saying they had to wait 45 minutes to get their food. There was no way Kai would wait that long. But my wife said that Kai was content using the iPad for now. And I guessed that the wait would not be that long so I thought we should continue waiting.

After about a half hour, my wife called again. She wanted to see how close I was to ordering the food. I was getting closer to the front, and suggested that they could come back inside and find a table. Kai was still content with his iPad.

It would be about 15 minutes more before I finally got to the front of the line. I placed my order: three tacos for Kai – a shrimp taco, scallops taco, and lobster taco; a red snapper plate for my wife; and two tacos for me – a taco with yellowtail fish, guacamole, and strawberries, and a mahi mahi taco with tropical salsa.

I got our drinks and went to the table where my wife and Kai were sitting. Remarkably, Kai was still occupied with the iPad. He was playing Angry Birds.



We had to wait about 15-20 more minutes before they served our food. In all, we had waited over an hour.

Kai eagerly gobbled up his tacos.



I really enjoyed mine, too.

Right there at the tail end of our trip, we had the highlight of our vacation. But I’m not talking about the food.

Seeing Kai wait that long without a complaint, without getting angry at all, well that had never happened before.

That was the finest moment.

Tomorrow: Heading home

Click here to read about our trip from Day 1.

San Diego Vacation – Day 3 – Legoland

Before we left home, we thought that our visit to Legoland would be the highlight of our vacation. After all, Kai has been a Lego maniac these past several months. And he really enjoys going to our local Legoland, which is a pale miniature compared to the “real” one in California.

So following our great time at SeaWorld the day before, we thought this trip to Legoland would surely mean that we would have another good day.

Alas, our day started with a tussle over breakfast. Kai ate the fruit and potatoes on his plate, but did not touch the eggs and sausage. I wanted him to have some protein, too. And it was only one piece of sausage and one small spoonful of eggs; that didn’t seem like such a terrible request to finish what was on his plate.

But Kai objected. Loudly.

And when he started to yell that this was a terrible restaurant, we left.

I told him that on the day when we are visiting Legoland, where they have a great gift shop that has Lego sets that you cannot get back home, I would think he would behave nicely and not do anything to get Mom or Dad angry.

He mulled over what I said. He said that he would be good. But I was in no mood to tell him that we would get him a Lego set that day.

Legoland is north of San Diego, and the half hour drive to get there gave everyone time to cool off.

When we got there, my wife had the idea of checking with Customer Relations to see if they had special accommodations for kids with autism like they do at Disney World. We were very happy when they gave us a pass that allowed us to board rides with only a minimal wait. We found out that most of the rides that day had wait times from a half hour to well over an hour, so we would not have been able to enjoy them without the pass.

Our first ride was a boat that took us around a lagoon that had fabulous Lego figures, from famous buildings…



to fun creations.



Next, we walked over to Miniland, where we saw magnificent Lego recreations of cities including Las Vegas…



New York City….



and Washington DC…



as well as many others.

The Star Wars Miniland was really impressive, as they had recreations of famous scenes from all six Star Wars films.







as well as large figures of each major character.



After that, Kai wanted to play miniature golf on the course they had there. We play plenty of mini golf at home, and this course was nothing particularly special, so I would have been happy to skip it. But Kai wanted to do it, and we wanted to make him happy. But when he started complaining that he was tired and laid down on the course, my wife and I got really irritated. I was thinking that if he had eaten all of his breakfast, perhaps he would have had more energy.

We finished the game and found a place for lunch. Kai complained about the food again. My patience was running very thin.

After lunch, we wanted to go on some of the rides. Kai did not want to go on any rollercoasters as he was too scared. My wife and I thought it would be fun to do a ride where you ride a boat down a hill where it splashes down at the bottom. Kai did not want to do that either.

It was frustrating. Kai had done similar rides before. Three years ago, he had done Splash Mountain at Disney World and loved it. But now he was too scared.

I am usually the one to push him to do things he is too scared to do. But I did not have the energy to fight him any more on this day.

But my wife kept trying.

And Kai kept refusing.

Finally, I suggested that we do what he wanted to do. Which was some rides really intended for much younger kids.

Like the boat…



And the car…



He also did the Sky Cruiser with me, which was a bit more fun.



And after that we went to see the 3D movie that he really enjoyed.

As we left the 3D theater, we exited through a gift shop. Kai spotted a Ninjago set that he said was “really rare.” He wanted Mom to buy it for him.

My wife told him that she would get it if he rode the water ride just one time.

He cried and protested and said he was too scared.

I told him that he did not have to do it. But, if he did it, he would get the Lego set.

He finally agreed. Though it took a lot of hand holding to get him to the ride.

When we finally boarded, he was really nervous.

But as the boat plunged downward, I think he enjoyed it.

We all got soaked thoroughly. My wife and I laughed at how fun it was and how wet we got. I thought I saw a smile on Kai’s face as well.

We asked him if he liked it. He quietly muttered, “Mmm hmm.”

Here’s the picture we took after we got off. The camera got wet which is why half the shot is blurry.



When Kai and I went to the restroom afterward, Kai spontaneously said, “That was really fun!” And then he made a whooshing motion of the wave of water as it came over us.

So, he did really like the ride!

And that relieved a bit of my guilt for kind of making him do it.

We went back to the gift shop and my wife bought him the Lego set he really wanted.

And when we left the park, we all were in good spirits.

We had one more thing to deal with at dinnertime, though.

Kai really wanted to see American Idol. He started watching it a few weeks ago. He is not particularly interested in seeing the performances. But, he likes to see the results.

We went for dinner at a different sushi restaurant than the one we went to the first night. We would be cutting it really close to the start time of the show. Kai immediately started badgering the waitress about how long it would take to get the food, and we hadn’t even ordered yet!

We ate our edamame appetizers and then Kai got more anxious when the rest of our meal hadn’t arrived.

This was not going to be pleasant.

I got up and found our waitress. I asked if she could box up our sushi so we could take it with us. She seemed a bit dismayed, but she got our package ready quickly.

We got back to our hotel room in time for the results. My wife and I got to eat our sushi in peace.

Sometimes you have to adjust.

And so went the day.

It didn’t go as I had ideally imagined.

But in the end, through it all, we all adjusted. We all had a good time.

Tomorrow: Safari Park

Click here to read about our vacation from Day 1.