Wow, you've been busy! And are apparently to be even busier -- good luck getting everything ready and dealing with the various appointments, school, and name change bureacuracy hrere
( ... )
I took your suggestion and went to Target. Alas, the only rain-resistant windbreakers I saw for men were black, which isn't Will's favorite color. I debated getting a small for myself, but it was kind of snug in the hips and, of course, they had absolutely nothing in the women's section, not even the women's sport-clothing section (the men's sport-clothing section being where I found the black windbreakers). Ah well - it was a nice thought.
Btw, I finally got L's birthday gift into the mail yesterday afternoon. Because it took me so long to get it shipped off, it's going to be late - I think they were forecasting next Tues for arrival. Our apologies to L for the delay, but at least she'll have it to look forward to?
Aww, that's too bad about Target's lackluster selection -- they are usually pretty good about colors! (B's vivid green windbreaker, which made him really easy to find both while hiking and in crowded city streets, came from there. I half-regret not getting one in the same color for myself, but, yep, the small was tight in the hips and the medium was way too big everywhere else... My layered coat that I got for Tromso actually came from the men's section, but it's a different cut, longer, so looser in the hips, I guess, which is very convenient, as I could find nothing suitable in the women's racks.)
No worries about L's present! I find the post office often overestimates how long it will take and we get things sooner, but even if not, she will be very whenever it arrives. And thank you in advance, of course! :)
Aww, it's sad that you didn't get to truly enjoy the Bronx zoo. It is a world class zoo, it's just that they, much like other world class ones, have been steadily reducing variety of animals, and also giving the animals that they kept the chance to go unobserved/giving them lots of hiding places. Obviously, that makes it less fun for kids (and adults) who go to zoos to see animals up close, rather than learn about conservation efforts with the chance of a glimpse of an animal. I greatly enjoyed the one time that I went, and still wear the shirt I bought 25 years ago (it's the only zoo shirt that survived the purge of all zoo shirts once I was embarrassed by my zoo nerdiness). They had the best gibbon/loads of other tree dwellers exhibit I ever saw before we built a similar one at the Cologne zoo.
I want to see this Zoo shirt! :-) A shame that you are embarrassed by your zoo nerdiness, I am not. Maybe we may do some excursion together some day for visiting one of the other zoos in NRW? I love to do this, visiting Zoos is one of my main activities during my staycations,.
Anyway, I loved the Bronx Zoo very much, but I think what aome means is the spaciousness, and the long distances you have to walk between some of the habitats.
just for comparison: The Cologne Zoo is covering about 20 hectares and showing about 10 000 animals. The Bronx Zoo is covering more than 100 hectares and showing about 6000 animals.
As someone who is visiting many Zoos in Germany and going to Zoos wherever I am when being abroad as well as annual ticket holder of the Cologne Zoo, I know that our Cologne Zoo is one with compairingly short distances where habitats are very close to each other.
I don't mind the hiding places and, in fact, didn't feel like there were a lot of exhibits where we didn't get to see any of the animals at all. (Yes, there were a few, but there always are. That's fine.) I definitely don't mind a more "natural" environment for the animals, in as much as it's possible to do that in a zoo. It was more that there didn't seem to be that many animals in the first place. Apparently lachan's statistics corroborate this? Just ... a lot of no-animal spaces, and then not that many animals in a particular "region" - ie, the "African" region didn't take very much time to go through at all, because there were very few enclosures/potential things to see. I felt like there could be much more done with the empty spaces, to bring in more animals, and that the Bronx Zoo wasn't really much more noteworthy than the Philadelphia Zoo, which is a heck of a lot closer.
I vaguely remember going on a field trip to the Bronx Zoo when I lived in NJ - I would have been in second grade at the time - and like Two, the main thing that stood out to me was lunch. It must be an elementary-school thing. :-P
I didn't really grow up anywhere, we moved around so much. :) The first 10 years of my life went like this:
Florida California Georgia New Jersey Louisiana Texas California
It's hard to say exactly when I lived in any given place because as a kid I measured my time in school grades rather than actual years, but I think I was in New Jersey for all of first grade and most of second grade (late 1977-early 1979). I know for a fact that I moved to Louisiana in the last few months of second grade, because my school in NJ hadn't been teaching cursive in second grade, and I was lost when I got to the new one and they'd been learning it all year. The girl who sat next to me said I should just try to copy the teacher's writing off the board, and that's why 35 years later I still can't make some of the cursive capital letters properly. :)
I'm impressed they were teaching cursive that early. You and I are the same age, but they didn't teach us until 3rd or 4th grade. I was kind of annoyed, actually - the teacher wrote two sentences on the board, one in print, one in cursive, and asked us to copy the sentence of our choice. Those who attempted the cursive sentence, even if they didn't do it well, were officially taught cursive right away. Those who copied the printed sentence were made to review print for awhile, before learning cursive. I had chosen the printed sentence since I didn't know cursive, and was annoyed that I was penalized for that choice, without being told what the repercussions would be. :-P
Although I didn't move house at all, I switched schools every couple of years for other reasons - sounds kind of like you in that regard. I was a junior in high school before I'd spent three consecutive years at any one school.
I think you may find raincoats easily in Europe, maybe at a lower price even? :-) I still find it such a shame that you come so close but we won't have a chance to meet this time! :-(
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Btw, I finally got L's birthday gift into the mail yesterday afternoon. Because it took me so long to get it shipped off, it's going to be late - I think they were forecasting next Tues for arrival. Our apologies to L for the delay, but at least she'll have it to look forward to?
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No worries about L's present! I find the post office often overestimates how long it will take and we get things sooner, but even if not, she will be very whenever it arrives. And thank you in advance, of course! :)
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*hugs*
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A shame that you are embarrassed by your zoo nerdiness, I am not. Maybe we may do some excursion together some day for visiting one of the other zoos in NRW? I love to do this, visiting Zoos is one of my main activities during my staycations,.
Anyway, I loved the Bronx Zoo very much, but I think what aome means is the spaciousness, and the long distances you have to walk between some of the habitats.
just for comparison:
The Cologne Zoo is covering about 20 hectares and showing about 10 000 animals.
The Bronx Zoo is covering more than 100 hectares and showing about 6000 animals.
As someone who is visiting many Zoos in Germany and going to Zoos wherever I am when being abroad as well as annual ticket holder of the Cologne Zoo, I know that our Cologne Zoo is one with compairingly short distances where habitats are very close to each other.
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Florida
California
Georgia
New Jersey
Louisiana
Texas
California
It's hard to say exactly when I lived in any given place because as a kid I measured my time in school grades rather than actual years, but I think I was in New Jersey for all of first grade and most of second grade (late 1977-early 1979). I know for a fact that I moved to Louisiana in the last few months of second grade, because my school in NJ hadn't been teaching cursive in second grade, and I was lost when I got to the new one and they'd been learning it all year. The girl who sat next to me said I should just try to copy the teacher's writing off the board, and that's why 35 years later I still can't make some of the cursive capital letters properly. :)
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Although I didn't move house at all, I switched schools every couple of years for other reasons - sounds kind of like you in that regard. I was a junior in high school before I'd spent three consecutive years at any one school.
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I still find it such a shame that you come so close but we won't have a chance to meet this time! :-(
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