Anniversary Dinner

It is our anniversary today - 8 years now that we are a family.

With the anniversary falling on a Monday, we went out for a special dinner yesterday to celebrate. The three of us went to Katsu, a sushi restaurant that has a reputation for serving authentic, Tokyo-style sushi (at Tokyo prices).

I had told Kai ahead of time that we would not permit him to use the iPad or our phones at this restaurant. He had been using electronics at every restaurant all throughout our vacation, but I wanted one special meal without him playing games.

He was actually surprisingly okay with it. In fact, during the meal he engaged in much conversation, and not all of it was about Pokemon or his monster apps. He spoke quite a bit about school, even more than he does when we try to query him about on school days.

We started out with three appetizers, primarily to make sure we had some things that we knew Kai would eat. He loves edamame, for instance. And we also ordered this dish of fried oysters.

And a plate of tempura to share. I figured that Kai would want to eat only the shrimp, leaving the rest of the items for my wife and I to split. So I was a bit surprised when he wanted to try each item. My wife and I had to tell him that he wouldn't like a couple of the items just so we would have something to eat.

Of course, the main meal was sushi. For Kai, we ordered several pieces of his favorites including shrimp, squid, and octopus. But my wife and I chose the omakase, or chef's choice, where we left it up to the chef to choose for us. Here's my plate:

As you can see, the sushi was quite exquisite, looking like works of art, almost too good to eat. But eat it we did, and it tasted as good as it looked.

It was a rare occasion for my wife and I to go to an upper-scale restaurant, and the fact that we could go with Kai was special. All was going really well.

Well, until about the time that Kai's second order of nigiri sushi arrived at the table.

He started to complain of a stomach ache. I accompanied him to the men's room. Once there, he wailed in pain but he wasn't throwing up or having diarrhea. I thought it was probably just gas pain. He screamed at me to call a doctor, then got mad when I didn't. It's hard to tell with him when he is seriously ill and when he is just upset.

We were in the bathroom for about 10-15 minutes when I thought maybe we should just go home. He agreed to that but then got more angry when I asked him to wash his hands, then again when I took the time to wash mine.

I was worried that he would continue yelling out in the restaurant, so I told him that he would not be able to use the iPad at home if he was loud in the restaurant. He seemed to calm down when he was back at the table with Mom, and we stayed and ate a little while longer. Kai's anger shifted from me to talking about how the staff at school are all bossy.

Ultimately whatever discomfort he was feeling passed, and we made it out of the restaurant and back home with no incident.

So the evening was a mixed success. That we were able to go to this place at all and enjoy most of the meal was wonderful. That we still had to endure some anxious moments was not surprising.

So I guess in a way that evening was somewhat metaphoric of the 8 years we have been together.

It's hard to believe how far we've come in 8 years. And hard to believe that in another 8 years Kai will have finished high school. It won't always be easy, but I'm sure there will be many beautiful moments to keep us going.

Passover and Easter

We had to get up at 4AM to catch our flight out of Florida on Saturday morning. It wasn't ideal to fly that early, but as we used frequent flyer miles to book our travel, we didn't have any choice. Along with having to fly to Newark to catch a connecting flight back home, it made for a long day and we were very tired when we got home.

My wife and I were thinking we could take it easy the rest of the day, but Kai said he wanted to celebrate Passover. We were planning on just skipping it this year, but as Kai really wanted to celebrate the holiday, my wife went to the store and got a few things for a mini Seder.

She prepared brisket and fried up some potato pancakes.

Then, Kai led us through the steps for the Seder.

It wasn't really the same without our Jewish relatives here to celebrate with us this year, but I'm glad we kept the tradition going.

Today, of course, was Easter, and we celebrated that as well.

I think Kai was a bit disappointed that the Easter bunny did not leave him candy or toys. But as he does not eat Easter candy anyway, and he is getting too old to really believe in the Easter bunny, we skipped that part of the tradition.

We did, however, color eggs.

Hope your Passover or Easter was nice as well.

Florida Vacation - Snorkeling!

We had our most adventurous day on our last full day in Florida.

We started out by touring around the oceanfront areas of Fort Lauderdale. It was another beautiful day - sunny and warm, but not overly hot and humid.

We hit a few shops.

And walked along the ocean.

We had lunch outdoors again at a spot where we could see the beach and ocean. Kai had beef tacos, I had fish tacos, and my wife had fajitas. All very good.

And then it was time to go snorkeling.

None of us had ever snorkeled before, but it seemed like a good time and place to give it a try. We found an outfit that takes you on a two-hour glassbottom boat expedition. The first 15 minutes or so is a tour of Millionaires Row along the Intracoastal Waterway where we saw many many extraordinary houses and boats. Here are just a couple to give you an idea.

It is hard for us regular folks to fathom that there are people with that much money.

Kai didn't particularly pay much attention to these houses, but he seemed to enjoy the ride.

At least, he did until we hit the open waters of the Atlantic Ocean.

We had been warned that it was a windy day so the waves would be quite choppy. Once we were on the open waters, we found out just how choppy it was. Each time the boat went over a wave, it rocked from side to side like a real-life thrill ride. I had to admit that it made me uncomfortable. And it made Kai quite scared. He kept yelling to turn the boat around and go back. But of course there was no going back.

Fortunately, that part didn't last too long. After about 10-15 minutes, we had reached the point where we would snorkel.

But Kai was not happy at all.

But as the boat settled down, so did he. I think he was looking forward to going into the water where he is most comfortable.

Kai normally is like a fish in the water, but he never really got the hang of breathing through the tube. He kept his face above the water mostly, sticking it into the water only for brief moments at a time.

Here he is with me when he actually was in the proper position:

The dive master from the boat came over to try to instruct him on breathing, but like he is with me so often when I try to tutor him on various topics, Kai didn't seem to listen. The instructor even dove down to blow bubbles from below to try to get Kai's attention and get him to look down in the water, but it mostly went for naught.

Still, I think Kai did enjoy being in the water. We saw many fish and it was a very cool experience that I would like to try again.

As you can see, when he came back onto the boat, he was happy about the experience.

But then it took time to get the boat going as the anchor was stuck. The dive master had to go back into the water to get it unstuck, and in the meantime the other boat had already left. Kai doesn't like being left behind in the last boat (or car or taxi or whatever). And then when the boat finally did get going, we had to endure the choppy ride back again. He was back to being unhappy, angry Kai.

As the boat went along, the dive master came over to give Kai a high five, Kai snubbed him as he took out his anger on the man who had spent time trying to teach him. It was quite frustrating for my wife and I. We told Kai that he was being very rude, and explained to him that the man was trying to be nice and friendly with him and that he should be friendly back to him. I don't think Kai really understood what we told him. It is just like when he takes his anger out on the staff at school who are trying to teach him. He just doesn't get it.

I was feeling embarrassed and wanted to explain to the dive master that Kai has autism. But I didn't. After awhile you accept that you can't explain your child's behavior to every single person he comes in contact with.

Back on dry land, Kai was happy again.

We went to the beach for one last swim.

He was a happy kid again.

Though the snorkeling adventure wasn't a complete success, I was happy that we had tried it. Next time we'll have Kai practice in a pool or even a bathtub before we go again. And maybe we'll pick a calmer day.

That evening, we had our last vacation dinner, this one at a Bubba Gump Shrimp restaurant.

After dinner, we walked along the oceanfront one last time. We saw the full moon over the beach.

Now we're back home. We woke up at 4AM so it's been a long day of traveling and connecting flights.

I asked Kai the question that everyone will probably ask him: What did you like the best on the vacation?

He said everything.

Except snorkeling.

Ha.

I would say everything.

Period.

We had a lot of good times. And in time, I think the memories will pretty much all be good ones. Except for Kai. I notice that he seems to remember mostly just the bad times.

Oh well, what can you do?

And now, back to reality.

Florida Vacation - From the Keys to Fort Lauderdale

We at all of our meals outdoors today beginning with this breakfast next to the beach in Key West. Kai had chocolate chip pancakes while my wife and I had two different types of eggs benedict (shrimp and asparagus for my wife, Cuban-style for me). Very delicious, irrespective of the fact that the ambiance would have made anything taste great!

We then had our picture taken at the spot where everyone goes to - the southernmost

After that, we headed out of Key West to drive back toward the mainland. Key West was wonderful, but the drive to and from is pretty painful. There's nothing more frustrating than being stuck behind someone going 35 in a 55 zone for miles and miles with no room to pass. The scenery helped to keep me calm.

Before we left the Keys, we stopped at Theater of the Sea where they have a variety of shows including a nice dolphin show.

Though I thought that Wilbur the sea lion had the most personality. (Hard to capture in a photograph).

Kai said he enjoyed all of it.

Though I think his favorite part was misting himself to get some relief from the heat.

From there, we went on with our drive. After enduring Miami rush hour traffic, we made it to Fort Lauderdale.

After our usual break at the pool, we had dinner outdoors overlooking to intercoatal waterway.

My wife had fish tacos, Kai had skirt steak, and I had swordfish, all very delicious.

Tomorrow is our last full day in Florida. Can't believe our vacation is almost over.

Florida Vacation - Everglades to Key West

We left Miami Beach and headed south. Our first stop was Everglades National Park where we took the short hike along the Anhinga Trail.

There, we saw many more alligators, including this old guy resting on the shore.

We also saw numerous birds including this blue heron. There is also an alligator in the water in front of the bird in the following photo.

And this friendly bird.

It was a hot day... not that we were complaining about it being about 50 degrees warmer than when we left home. But we cooled off with some great fruit shakes. I had guanabana, Kai had strawberry passionfruit, and my wife had papaya key lime which I actually liked the best.

And then we made the long drive out to Key West, which is the southernmost spot in the continental United States. Parts of the long drive seemed to take forever with the slow-moving traffic, but Kai slept for much of that time so we avoided his complaints. Let's see if he can sleep tonight after sleeping so much during the day.

It was all worth it, though, once we reached our destination. First, we went to the southernmost beach in the (continental) U.S.

And then we relaxed in the hotel swimming pool.

Later we took a walk down Duval Street, finding a fondue restaurant for dinner. The shrimp and fish fondue was just okay, but the chocolate fondue for dessert may it worthwhile.

Walking back to the hotel, we passed a few drag bars and gentlemen's clubs. Kai didn't seem to notice, other than to ask why the music was so loud.

It was a long day, but definitely a good one.

Tomorrow we make the same long drive in the opposite direction.