Back from the Road Trip

Covered over 1300 miles and many states on our 6 day whirlwind tour of the mid-Atlantic region, and returned home with a few questions. First, I am not sure that the alligator snapping turtle on display at the National Zoo in DC is actually alive. Second, if you go to see the Holiday Lights display at Hershey, and there is still a big buck deer standing there on the left just after the entrance, maybe he was not real after all. Lastly, why would a stupid GPS device take you THROUGH New York City and all the tolls and traffic. The boys were excited to see 3 zoos (Bronx, National and the Zoo America at Hershey), with the best part being the overhead rope course for the orangutans in DC. Had a little trouble finding that zoo, which prompted Brock to say it looked like our house in the woods as we approached it. Did not realize how large Gettysburg actually was. Headed into the cave at Luray, VA, but the boys favorite day was the indoor water park in VA. Having not stayed in many hotels the last few years, would have to say that if I owned any stock in shower curtain rings, I would sell, since everyone has those 1-piece curtains with the built in loops. I guess all the mammals at the Smithsonian are actually works of taxidermy, but was not too sure when looking at them. The weather was fairly good all trip, with not much rain and a temp that always aeemed to be 53 degrees when we were driving anywhere. I did get a few odd stares from the Christmas folks at Hershey on opening night, since I was the only one there in shorts (seemed like parkas and mittens were all the rage, as it was in the mid-30s). Maybe next time we will try to pick one spot to stay at more than a single night, as the kids did get a little confused sleeping in a different hotel every night...but they were quite good in the car. If it was not nap time, the portable DVD player was well worth bringing along. Good to be back home in CT, with a full house expected for Thanksgiving (an early thanks to Jen's dad for helping replace our broken dishwasher, as I was not looking forward to doing dishes for 19 by hand on Thursday, as there are actually some interesting football games on tap). Here's wishing everyone a safe and happy holiday!!

To know, or not to know...that is the question

When Jen and I attended our first round of pre-natal classes, we were amazed at the vast majority of expecting parents who knew the gender of the impending child. In fact, we may have been the only ones in the group who were waiting for the surprise. Granted, it was a small sample, but it does seem that most folks find out early. We took the same approach for Reed, and it also brought a little extra joy to the nurses in the delivery room, as they don't get the chance to be surprised as much as they used to. In terms of probability, you hear many different interpretations of data for what is pretty much a 50/50 coin flip. In cases such as ours, with 2 boys already, some believe that the odds of having a third boy greatly exceed the chances of a girl, but science and data do not support this theory, with only a slightly greater chance of the 3rd child being of the same gender as the first two. Excluding any "old wive's tales" (such as those featured on "How I Met Your Mother" a couple of weeks ago, with pickled herring and lemons), there may be some correlation to temperatures (sounds like how the sex of alligator eggs are determined). Back to the original question, which is...does it make sense to know the gender in advance? With 2 boys, there would be very little needed in terms of clothes and toys and anything gender-specific. A little girl, however, would need stuff that we just don't have...but she would not need any of that for quite some time, since we have plenty of gender-neutral infant clothing (and I have been outvoted on yellow being a "girl" color, with most thinking it is neutral). The plan right now is to remain surprised. I think it is a good test of willpower, as well as preventing the worst-case scenario of having an ultra-sound misread, and delivering the opposite of what was expected (sounds somewhat traumatic to be expecting a boy, and have a girl pop out, but even more likely to cause some confidence issues down the road if the opposite happened, since in the first example a "leg" could have been misread, but what do you tell a little Johnny about not being able to see "it" with a high-powered microscope?). While it is unlikely that Brock will need to share his birthday, it is possible, since we have a due date of June 13 (timed it right after the music festivals). Both boys have been about a week early, so we expect the same this time--although maybe girls prefer to be fashionably late, to better prepare them for adolescence. While we usually try to get away for a week in March, not sure how up for travel Jen will be at that time, so maybe we will try to do a short trip between Thanksgiving and Christmas, visiting some zoos within a day's drive. So the new poll question is posted...if you have 2 kids of the same gender, would you find out ahead of time? Just curious.

Guest Editorial Published Regarding School Calendar

The region's school have been discussing a "unified calendar" for upcoming years, and for an area that is so tourism-based, it is troubling that so many are starting before Labor Day. I wrote a letter to the editor of the Norwich Bulletin, but was told that it was too lengthy (imagine my surprise--I guess more than doubling their 200 word limit was not going to fly). Figured it was worth asking that it be printed as a special editorial, and they were kind enough to do so. If you would care to read it, it can be found at www.norwichbulletin.com, where you can search "school calendar" or "Strawberry Park" or "David Nowakowski".

Halloween Wknd #4 Costume Photos

So many great costumes once again. Site winners were announced on Saturday night, with weekend winners announced (site 434--Dugan, site 322--Lepage and site 107--Bull) and long term winners also crowned (Wonka 110, Dunkin' 14 and Scary Tent 328B were the top 3, with honorable mentions for site 119D and site 289). Just a reminder that we expect the water to remain on at least through this upcoming weekend (despite the chilly temps these next few nights), and maybe even for Veteran's Day Weekend...but the last day for pump-outs will be Monday, Nov 8.

Congrats to all the pumpkin, costume and site winners, and thanks to all for participating!!