Sid the Science Kid....teaching us how we process

             It may not have been Shakespeare or even Shultz but the colorful, giant characters from the Sid the Science Kid television show stirred some scientific knowledge into the burgeoning brains of children as they performed various skits centering around our 5 senses at the Valley Performing Arts Center on Saturday the 8th of March.

            In the skits, Sid and his friends, May, Gerald and Gabriela, performed experiments and answered questions posed by Teacher Susie that helped them discover the mysteries of their own bodies and how they process the information they gather from living in our world.

Sid and his buddies with Teacher Susie

            The stage was brightly colored, the costumes were captivating and larger than life and the auditorium, filled with hundreds of children, was unusually quiet for most of the performance while the kids sat mesmerized watching Sid and his friends make their scientific explorations. 

            I brought my 5 year old, who has seen the show but isn’t allowed to watch much television, so he enjoyed the performance but not on a visceral, ‘oh these are my friends’ kind of level. 

           However, we did run into some friends, the Attars, after the show and they do watch the show regularly and had a much more enthusiastic response. Three year old Gavin really like the music and dancing while 6 year-old Jordan thought the character, Gerald was really funny and wished the audience could have actually made some of the concoctions created by Sid and his friends during the 5 senses exhibit the adults held after the show. 

           The ‘after show’ exhibit was a lot of fun too. Kids didn’t get to make them but they got to try tasting various concoctions designed to let them experience sensations like sweet, sour and salty. They also got to smell a variety of scents and touch various textures.

            My only complaint was the sound quality seemed distorted during the song portion of the performances. While the talking was clear, the singing seemed blown out and was hard to decipher.

            Overall, it was an entertaining afternoon wrapped in a healthy dose of education. Mother Marni Attar said, “It was fun for the whole family and we hope they put on another show with a different concept soon.”

LA Parent photoshoot - the UNCUT version!

I was honored this month to be published by LA Parent Magazine.

It's the story towards the top of the page about Dating Your Husband. The article is based on a post I wrote for this blog called Secret Dates and if you haven't run out and raided your local Vons, Pavilions, Gelsons or library for a print copy of the February issue.....you could read it here (and leave a comment if you want to make me look good, I mean, help others with some great ideas of your own, ha ha). But it's so much more fun to see it in print. For me anyway.

I had thought there was a possibility that we would even be on the cover because they sent out this very talented photographer, Jodye Alcon, who took countless pictures of the families that were able to come to the park for the shoot. This is the photo they used in the magazine:

I think we look a little like a soap opera

So this isn't going to be about romance or relationships - well maybe a little. This is going to be  the UNCUT, behind the scenes version about the lovely group of people whose experiences helped shape my first magazine feature article. 

First off, it was a lot of kids.

And they weren't all exactly listening.

And they had some feelings.

But Mommy-extrodinaire, Jen Press had a bright idea.....

It was actually a bright blue idea.....

yes, their mouth are blue

Which got their attention.....but may have not been the best strategy right before picture time.....

However we got it done as you saw from the first picture.

And, I was obviously very excited and in the wee hours of the morning before we were to meet at the park for this photoshoot, I had some great ideas for some fun pictures.

First, I wanted all the guys to wear aprons.

Don't they look handsome?

I guess I shouldn't have been surprised at the eventual mutiny.

I also thought it'd be cute for the girls to have roses, you know, to symbolize romance. We like flowers right?

Maybe just not in our mouths, yuck.

I really wanted to impress the editors with my creativity. So we went for the Charlie's Angels look.

I think we look very intimidating....or confused....why are we trying to look scary with roses again?

And then we started taking pictures of the families individualy, which was really fun so go with me here....

Terri Harrah used to be my roommate in Santa Monica when we went to CSUN. I majored in Journalism and she in Drama.

she really is quite dramatic

Terri is a down to earth, true blue friend. She cares about the planet, treating other people with kindness and dignity and homeschools her two boys Truman and Ethan.

Ethan, 6 and Truman 9

And she is happily married to her (working) musician husband, James Harrah. They prioritize their relationship because they know it all starts with them.

Maybe Jen Press is such a quick witted parent because nature has forced her to be so. She is a work-outside-the-home mom to three boys. She's also a lot of fun. I don't get to see her as often as I like. (One of her most memorable sayings is "Only floss the teeth you want to keep." Yes, she's a dental hygenist.)

Zach, 6 is between Trevor and Dylan, 4 - who are TWINS

God bless her. Did I mention that her husband Jeff is helping to open restaurants all over the country, called Firehouse Subs so he travels A LOT. Good thing she is patient and takes the time to plan outings that keep their fires kindled (oh and yes, they like to camp a lot too).

I don't know how they make it look so easy

Laurel Janssen Byrne is a writer too. She is writing her own life story with strokes of compassion as she is the gal to go to if you need a little TLC fix, and some steely nerve. I keep forgetting she's not from NYC because she and her husband Matt are so edgy. No, not cranky just so off the cuff honest with each other and the world. It's refreshing.

Yin and Yang - such a perfect fit

And they make cute kid.

good thing she is cute cuzz this couple is ONE AND DONE

And of course, there was my family.

Kyle wasn't here because he went surfing this day

And my guys were unusually patient and smiled on cue.

brotherly love (rare moment)
Kaleb, 5 - loves rainbow loom, dodge ball and bey blades
Knox, 3 - loves his doggie blanky, all sports and homemade biscuits

So thank you to the awesome families that were brave enough to share their stories and hopefully inspire couples to reboot their love lives....bring the sizzle back to their fizzle....make love not war. OK, I'll stop. But here again are the lovely families who make my life so much better by being in it. Thank you again.....

Two other families couldn't make it to the park this day (it was after all New Year's Eve day) so I just want to acknowledge and thank them too for sharing their stories.....

Morgan and Todd Addab (not their real name, ha ha) couldn't come because Todd had to work. Todd and Howard used to be fraternity brothers (insert the Animal House soundtrack here because I'm sure it applies) and their friendship has travelled the circuitous route that our lives sometimes take and has brought them together again at a time when our families are child compatible. And how many of our friendships end up being based mainly on this criteria? But in this regard we got lucky and I just love his wife Morgan who is one of the most gracious and kind people I've met.

Jon Jr., 20, Morgan and Todd, Justin, 5

Nicole and Danny Baraz are the hip element of this article. Oh the days when we were hip.....

Danny and Nicole, Mason (now 9) and Odessa (now 6, but gosh arent' they the cutest!)

Thanks for reading and I hope you find the article useful or helpful in some way. Even if your relationship is solid and you couldn't squeeze more romance into it, at least there are some great date ideas! Now, go and spread that love! And Happy Valentine's day!

A Crazy Idea

They said it couldn't be done. A girlfriend said the thought alone gave her an anxiety attack. But I did do it. And it wasn't so bad.

I took my son to Hurricane Harbor and Magic Mountain....on the same day. And we went without my husband. 

It could have been much worse. The morning we planned to go, my other son, 5 year old Kaleb opted out. He said he didn't want to go, that he'd rather go to sports camp or hang out at his friend's, our neighbors, house. He's not really into waterplay, didn't know we'd also be going to Magic Mountain and is definitely a handful. Maybe two. So I didn't argue and let him go play while 3 year old Knox and I sped off to meet our friends at Hurricane Harbor. We didn't hurry because we have season passes.

The water park is divided into sections. The little kids section is called Castaway Cove and there is more than enough to do there to last a whole day if your kids are under 54". A multi-level structure with spouting water coming from all directions, attached water slides, water cannons and even a tire swing, sits in the middle of the shallow water "cove." 

 It is flanked by a few other water slides that can be ranked from "flat - scoot your tushy down by pushing your hands to move" 

 to "yes you're actually moving and can get a decent ride but nothing too scary." 

Knox had fun getting his hair wet with his friend, Haley. 

 He also loved the River Cruise although I felt like we needed a bath in disinfectant after we left that lazy latrine river. It didn't smell or anything but there were just so many people, it creeped me out. He also loved the Forgotten Sea Wave Pool with its programmed waves but you have to either hold on to your kid or put him in a raft or life preserver (which you can rent or are provided) because the waves can get rambunctious.

There are plenty of lounge chairs provided by the park but even though there are so many, they get taken fast. So, either get there early or use the lockers for your stuff. Chances are you'll only be using the chair as a place holder or meeting spot for your group.

For older kids there is another section called Splash Island that is a little more thrilling and has height requirements between 36" to 40" - although when I went on another day with my husband, we took 36" Knox down all the slides his heart desired. He likes water and being splashed and it appeared the ride attendants didn't mind as long as we were watching.

There is a 100 gallon water bucket overhead there....that slowly fills up.....

And then dumps down

Knox loved it. Kaleb, (on the previous trip) not so much.

Eventually Knox complained about being cold (the water is cool which is great on a normal triple digit temp day, but on this day it was only in the low 80s) so we decided to walk across the park to Magic Mountain.

We had bought a season pass last year for both parks because there is this little known section in Magic Mountain called Bugs Bunny World http://www.sixflags.com/magicmountain/rides/kidsrides.aspx 

that has a couple small roller coasters and a bunch of slow moving, animated rides. There's also a multi-story  "clubhouse" called Looney Tunes Lodge where kids can run around, climb, slide and blast each other with foam balls. And there are usually no lines for any of it. After experiencing the hours long wait times at Disneyland, this was a very appealing selling point for us.

Last year they also featured a live show with all the Looney Tunes characters in which both my boys loved to participate. It makes for great home videos. 

It wasn't playing this time but I hope it comes back.

On this day, Haley and Knox got to ride the roller coaster,

Cruise on a practice date in their jeep,

And cuddle in Bugs Bunny's house on his oversized pink sofa chair.

Knox even got to test his strength in the Strong Man hammer game. 

He didn't actually ring the bell but after paying the modest $5 game fee, everyone is a winner. So, he walked away with a Batman cape for his effort.

It was a great day. Knox was a great listener. And we can't wait to go back.

You can read the LA Parent version of this post HERE