A Cure for Shyness?

Speaking of fun field trips, Bryson had the chance to go with the 5th grade to the Saratoga Battle Fields (if you know your US history this was one of the most critical battles of the Revolutionary War) and then on to Lake George for a boat tour. I usually send a disposable camera so I can get some pictures of the field trip, but this time I had an inexpensive digital camera that I sent with Bryson with strict instructions to have people take pictures of him. I had no idea what I was in for when he showed us the pictures when he got home.

I have to preface the pictures with a clarification that Bryson is my child that gets embarrassed so easily. He usually won't ask strangers questions even if he really needs something and gets totally embarrassed when we ask (for example asking where a restroom is). When in public, he doesn't want to draw any attention to himself in any way. Call it shyness, or just embarrassment avoidance, but he gets really anxious if he might be embarrassed in public.

With that in mind, you can imagine my surprise at the results when you match Bryson + friends + digital camera. 247 pictures later...

There's a picture of him with the 2nd Mate on the boat.

And playing Titanic's "I'm the King of the World" at the bow of the boat even though he hasn't seen the movie.

And a picture with the cook on the boat.

Oh, and a picture with the Captain.

Bryson posing with a moose (in view of the public) in front of a store.

And riding on a merry-go-round.

I've seen him around his friends before and he still has the shyness thing going on. Add a digital camera and watch out! Shyness cured.

I wonder why education costs so much in New York?

It might have something to do with the completely cool field trips the kids get to go on. Boston, The Bronx Zoo, and New York City in Middle School. It lightens up a little in High School, but only a little. In May, McKay's Biology class got to go on a Whale Watching trip off the coast of Massachusetts.

I think the best field trip I got was to Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City in Elementary School. And the zoo was really cool if you had the money to buy a plastic lion out of a vending machine that was molded while you wait. I guess that's what you get when you compare the state with the lowest spending per pupil (UT) with the state with the highest spending per pupil (NY). I have to admit I'm a little jealous of all the adventures the boys get to have in school.

Speaking of adventures; for Parker's Physics class this year they had to build a boat exclusively out of cardboard and duct tape. Then they raced them in the High School swimming pool. How cool is that?

Gibson Twins Mystery Solved

What do you get when you mix Snips and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails with Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice? We see both pony tails and crew cuts in our future. It's a boy and a girl.

After a 2 1/2 hour level 2 ultrasound, we now know more about our babies than we would if they were born today. Development looks good. All the right body parts in all the right places. With a level 2 ultrasound they measure and take pictures of everything; heart, brain, bones, skull, abdomen, kidneys, bladder, liver, etc. Very thorough. Since it's a high-risk pregnancy our doctor recommend this thorough scan which couldn't be done at their office. We went a an office that had the latest and greatest in ultrasound technology. It was amazing. They even let us see the babies in 4-D (that's 3-D where you can also watch them move over time). They're wiggly little things, especially the girl. I have been feeling them move consistently for a few weeks now, but I don't think I feel a hundredth of their actual movements.

Here are some 3-D pictures of each. The first one is the girl. The second is the boy.

We did have them check for Bryson's crooked pinkies and David's abnormally large, but nice-on-him ears. No indication of either. The boy seems to have a little bigger ears than the girl which is just fine.

Upon first measurement there was a size difference between the two babies. The doctor then came in and measured and found the difference as well. The fear is that one is not thriving as well as the other for some reason. But after the doctor sat at the computer for a minute we were relieved to find out that the girl (smaller twin) measures exactly right for her age weighing in at approx 11 oz, right at the 50th percentile. Our baby boy is just a big kid at approx 14 oz. He measures a week ahead of his age or close to the 90th percentile for his age. Nothing to worry about.

So when we were finally done with the ultrasound, we posted the results on facebook for everyone to see, then headed out for some lunch. People at work were already bugging us to know what the babies are, so we stopped by a bakery and had them make up trays of cookies in pink and blue with tags that said, "It's a girl" and "It's a boy". Then we sent out an e-mail to the company. Telling them the mystery of the gender of the Gibson twins can be solved by coming to the break room. We didn't think to snap a picture until they were half gone.

Overall I am amazed by the technology and the fact we could get a sneak peak at our little ones. Wish us luck on this adventure!

Happy Birthday, Happy Home Run!

It seems like Bryson just had a Birthday and here it is again. It's hard to believe he's now 11 (which in our house we call 11teen because kids start getting that teenage attitude this early). I fixed him breakfast this morning, then had to send him off to school. Soon after he got home we had dinner of his choosing, fried chicken, and a quick party before wisking him off to a baseball game.


David captured some good action shots of Bryson playing at short stop and center field.

During his first at-bat he was caught out on a popfly . But his second hit proved to be magical. Watch it here... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ozgssuSgI4

Yep. An out-of-the-park home run. And it cleared the fence by nearly 10 feet. He makes it look so effortless. The umpire was the director for 2 plays Bryson's been in, so he knows Bryson well. You can hear him reminding Bryson to touch home plate in all the excitement.

Happy Birthday Big Guy!

And great hit!

That's what family's good for!

Earlier this month we were able to go out and visit Mia and John in Austin, Texas along with visiting David's sister, Joyce, and his brother, Jon. We traveled out with Dorothy's son (little) John (17 yrs) as well so he could hang out with Uncle Jon and check out the music programs at the local colleges. We also wanted to help little John get used to flying since his Dad doesn't like to fly much.

It was great spending time with family and it helps to reinforce how great family is.

Uncles are good for playing with playdough with you.

Families are good for having picnics at the park.

Grandpa's are good for buying you giant "Texas-sized" donuts.

Brothers-in-law are good for mowing and edging your lawn and sanding the new "used" playset (not to mention passing some frustrating levels in Mario Universe so you can get to the character you want)

Grandmas are good for making you Red Sox pajamas to match Uncle Bryson's. They're also good for fixing you German Pancakes for breakfast (with extra powdered sugar if mom's not watching).

Dads and Stepmoms are good for designing and installing an entirely over-engineered rain gutter on the back of your house.

Grandpas are good for remembering your Birthday even while you're away from the rest of your family. Happy Birthday little John!

Uncles are good for teaching you how to make sand castles and for playing Mario Kart with you. They're also good for putting you to bed and believing you when you need more stories more songs so it takes 4 times as long as when mom and dad put you to bed.

Teenage sons are good for...ummm...uhhhh...oh yes...testing your internet connection wherever you may be.

Uncles are good for trying to hide in your favorite hiding spot with you.

Moms are good for helping you paint your new playset.

So is Dad and Uncle McKay.

And Grandpa.

Sisters and Brothers-in-law are good for hosting BBQ's with great food. (Joyce and Bruce)

Grandson's are good for making you smile!

By running though the wild Blue Bell fields of Texas.

Daughters are good for turning out beautiful in every way.

All this and so much more...that's what family's good for!

Double the trouble, double the fun.

Life has started to become somewhat normal. That isn't for us; so we had to figure out what to do next. And rather than having come up with something new every year or two, we wanted to do something that would keep things hopping longer. S0, Bryson is going to be a big brother! Yes, we're expecting, and, yes, there's two! That wasn't the exact plan, but we'll roll with it.

We're at week 10 and I went in for an ultrasound today. They are doing great. They measure 30mm (that's just over an inch for you English unit people) and their heart rates are strong.

They are due on Oct 27th, although the doctor said to be prepared for them to come early. Probably the end of Sept or early Oct.

I have been very fortunate that the morning sickness thing has been extremely light, almost non-existent; don't hate me. The main effect is that I have been so sleepy. I go to bed early, go back to sleep after getting the boys off to school, nap for an hour or more at work (thanks, honey, for setting up an office to sleep in at work), and I'm still looking forward to bed by 7pm. It has thrown a wrench in my productivity (and my blogging, obviously). The tired thing is supposed to wear off in a couple of weeks, just in time to start getting huge. I can't wait.

I had a clue that this pregnancy was more than 1 baby when at 6 weeks, I couldn't suck in my stomach any more and I swore it was getting bigger. I panicked that I would be getting big fast, and bought a bunch of maternity clothes on e-bay. It's a good thing because it was only a couple weeks later that I wasn't fitting into most of my pants anymore and we found out that there were 2.

The boys have been really excited about it. When we told them and told them they couldn't tell anyone, yet, I thought they were going to explode. Their one consistent comment has been, "why didn't you have them sooner?" The boys have each done the calculations in the age difference and realized they're going to be gone for most of the babies' childhood. I didn't expect that reaction, but it's a nice expression that they want to be involved with the babies.

Anyway, hopefully I'll be feeling more awake and alert in the coming weeks and be able to take the time to blog. We won't know for another month or two what the genders are, but we are definitely finding out. I want to be prepared for these guys. We'll keep you posted.

Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?

Well it would take some work to be smarter than my 5th grader. Bryson earned his way onto a local television station's spot in between commercials during the show "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?" to present their challenge question. Check it out here: http://www.my4albany.com/content/view/634/112/ scroll to Wednesday at 7pm.

Of course David couldn't be upstaged by Bryson, so he clamored to put together a Press conference by one of our State Senators at XOS so he could be on TV the same week (I'm sure that was his motivation). He managed to hit all 3 stations in one night. You can view them here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkuJmr4S5wk and here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dRHZy9eJ4E and here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9HNukEaW4A .

David takes responsibility for this blog. -

One of the things I learned when growing up with my dad was the scientists and engineers get to see the world. Last week reinforced that.

Dubai is like Las Vegas except they spend even more money and without the sleeze.

Burj Khalifa is the tallest building in the world, by about 900 feet!

For the other geeks, the building has a 3 winged cross section. The terraces that reduce the length of each wing spiral around.

A model of the building was tested in a 50 ft high wind tunnel. And the 350 ton spire on the top was too tall and too heavy to be lifted up by a crane or helicopter. So it was constructed inside the building and raised hydraulicly, emerging out of the top!

At the 124th floor I was fine with being inside while the window washer had the unobstructed view. Behind me you can see that just beyond the buildings and the canals is desert.

Dubai is more relaxed about dress for women than some of the other Muslim countries. Many women do not have any head coverings. Some have a scarf, some have only their eyes visible as below, and some wear veils so their faces can not be seen at all. In this picture the person in white is a man and the individuals in black are all women.

The malls are also huge. At the Mall of Emirates the ski slope is a trip.

There is a bunny slope as well as the slope with a chair lift. In the picture at right the chair lift goes up on the left and then makes a dog leg to the left up out of the picture. When you rent your skis or snow board they come with snow pants and coat - presumably you wouldn't have one with you in the desert.

Because that mall wasn't big enough, they just completed another, Dubai Mall. It has over 1,200 retail outlets. And the courtyards in front of the stores are extremely ornate.

These two are just a couple of those in the Gold Souk (gold market) section of the mall.

Of course it has a Guiness World Record aquarium, a waterfall, and more.

An amazing city. But totally artificial; maybe that's the reason it seems like Vegas.

3 cars, 3 check engine lights

It's a Gibson thing.

I learned it all from Myth Busters

A couple of weeks ago we had a meeting with Bryson's teacher to see how he was doing at school. Each of his teachers wrote a couple of lines on a report for each student. The science teacher wrote how amazed she was at Bryson's knowledge of science and how he's always bringing in outside knowledge to enhance the lessons. Feeling proud we told his teacher that it might have something to do with having Engineers for parents or having one Grandfather that has a Masters in Engineering and the other Grandfather that has a PhD in Chemistry and was head of the Physics Department at the University at Albany. Not to mention that he's the youngest and he has to keep up with the scientific dinner conversations of all the older people around him.

When we got home and mentioned the science teacher's comment about his scientific knowledge to Bryson, he casually commented, "I learned it all from Myth Busters."

It's tough for a parent to get any credit for all the hard work you put into these kids.