Blueberry Picking With Grandma

This week the Weinberg Three have been fortunate to have the company of Grandma, who visited all the way from NY.

Today we went blueberry picking with Grandma, at Collins Farm in Chapin, SC. The boys picked berries for about ten minutes before they lost interest and then had a blast playing around the blueberry bushes. Zola napped the entire time in the sling, waking a couple of times when I got too close to the bushes. Oops. Fifteen cups of blueberries later and I've got lots of cooking to do. I think some blueberry jam and blueberry muffins are in our future.

We're Swimming

The Weinberg Boys just finished their second session of swim class at USC and they've made incredible progress. By the end of the session Milo was swimming by himself, without a noodle or other swimming device, at least a few feet at a time. His teacher, Ms. Nelly, was very proud of him. I was amazed since only a few weeks ago Ms. Nelly said it would be a long time before Milo could swim without assistance since he has no body fat to help him float. Sheer muscle power is propelling his meager 33 pounds across the pool. Needless to say, Milo is pretty proud of himself. He's jumping into the pool with abandon, retrieving dive sticks, and kicking up a storm.



Calder's also made great strides in the past four weeks. While he still often calls my name and sends me painful glances from the pool side, he is getting into the water and trying to learn the skills with his teacher Ms. Shannon. Having Milo in his class for the first three weeks made quite a positive difference in Calder's attitude. Calder really enjoyed practicing kicking on the side of the pool, playing games in the water, and drying off in fluffy towels. He even went under water, albeit under duress. I look forward to seeing their progress in their last swim session in July.

Nature In Our Garden II

This past weekend the boys enjoyed playing with (or shall I say terrorizing) a toad that happened to pass through our garden.

After observing the toad for a little while, the boys were sad to say goodbye to their jumpy little friend.

LOTR

Okay, this conversation is for all you "Lord of the Rings" fans out there. The backstory is that Grandma is visiting from NY and was describing a movie as "one big battle, like those 'Lord of the Rings' movies." I defended the LOTR movies and books, as I am a big fan, and told Milo that some day he could watch the movies, after, of course, reading the books with me. Here's what ensued:

Milo: So the ring of all power lets you be what you think you want to be?
Me: Not quite. It does make you invisible, but I'm not sure it can turn you into something you are not.
Milo (while clasping a popsicle stick that he painted orange earlier in the day): Well I'd turn into an orange stick.
Me: Well I'm not sure that's how it works, but why an orange stick?
Milo: Because I love the color orange! Daaaaahhh!

Well, then.

5 Months Old

It is hard to believe, but our sweet Zola is 5 months old today. She is super smiley, loves to babble and coo, giggles at her brothers' antics, enjoys dipping her toes in the pool at the water park, and her favorite solid food (so far) is mashed avocado. At five months Zola sleeps 10-12 hours every night and takes a solid 2-3 hour afternoon nap, but eschews morning naps whenever possible. We all love her so!

Happy Father's Day

Yesterday the Weinberg Three shared a wonderful day with Daddy. We started off the morning with shrieks of "Happy Father's Day!!!" as the boys ran into our bedroom with their handmade collage cards for Daddy. Next, the boys helped me make blueberry pancakes, bacon, and fresh-squeezed orange juice for breakfast.



After breakfast, we took our usual longer-than-you-would-think amount of time to get ready for our day at Dreher Island State Park. The park is about an hour's drive from our house, on a bunch of small islands in Lake Murray. It is really picturesque, with lovely views of the lake and other small islands. The weather was perfect for a nature walk and a yummy picnic. Daddy even snuck in some post-lunch snuggles with Zola.



The boys (all three) tried their hand at netting small fish in the shallow water off the island, with no luck this time.



After some fun at the playground on the island--Zola even tried out the swings--we decided to head home. Unfortunately, we forgot the boys' change of clothes for the ride home (and they were really muddy from the lake), but they did not seem to mind wearing solely their underwear on the drive home and promptly fell asleep anyways. More pictures from our day on Dreher Island are here.

Solid

First time in the high chair

Zola had her first taste of solid food this morning, starting with rice cereal. So far, she was not a big fan of rice cereal. It is rather bland after all.



We're hoping Zola will enjoy avocado, which will be her next solid food, starting in a week or so. The boys were fascinated with the whole event, cheering Zola on and trying to get close to her as she got her first taste of cereal -- how exciting!



In other Zola-related news, the little girl, or "best baby in the world" as we often refer to her, has been sleeping through the night for over a week now. It is so nice to put her to bed with the boys (somewhere between 7:30 and 8 pm) and see her in the morning around 6 or 6:30 am, without a peep in between. Sometimes, like this morning, she'll even sleep in until 8 am. Ahhh.

Reading Rocks

This morning, as in previous summers, the boys received their reading medals and other prizes (reading club tattoos, gift certificates for Frosty's at Wendy's, and reading club iron-on decals) for participating in the Summer Reading and Read To Me Club at our library. After receiving their prizes and medals to the "Star Wars" theme music, and hanging their names on the wall with other distinguished reading club members, the boys surrounded me with great big hugs. Milo was very proud of himself. A little while later we attended the all ages story time, and when the librarian, Ms. Sherry, mentioned the reading club and the chance to obtain a medal, Milo proudly (and loudly) pointed out that he already has his reading medal. Calder, however, ditched the medal shortly after receiving it. The weight of the medal must have been holding Calder back from his quest to wreak havoc in the library.

Zola Waves Hello!

And tries to bust a move.

Strawberry Goodness

This past Friday we went strawberry picking with my friend Brittany and her children, Gracen, Maya, and Cooper, at Cottle Strawberry Farm. Unfortunately, my camera battery died as I tried to take my first picture at the farm, so I have no shots of the boys and their friends wandering the fields in search of the perfect berries. Fortunately, I don't have any pictures of me or my friend Brittany sweating to death under the sweltering cloudless sky while simultaneously gathering berries and toting our babies in slings. We all had fun despite the 100 degree weather and have been enjoying the sweet strawberry goodness ever since our trip to the farm.

On Saturday, Justin and the boys made strawberry chocolate chip ice cream. Yum! This stuff is pure creamy goodness. On Sunday we enjoyed cupcakes that Brittany made slathered in delicious strawberry cream and topped with powdered sugar.



Finally, on Sunday the boys helped me make strawberry jam for the first time. The boys mashed the berries, measured the sugar, and squeezed lemons for their juice. They did all this, mostly in their underwear, as I asked that they remove their shirts to avoid strawberry stains and they decided to strip further down. Who knew cooking in the nearly nude could be so much fun? We tried the strawberry jam this morning with our breakfast, and it too is simply scrumptious. Now if I only could get my boys to eat the raw berries themselves.

Bring On The Bacteria

Okay, I guess purging our house of tons of plastic objects wasn't enough of a Spring cleaning. Tomorrow, which just so happens to be our garbage day, I'll be throwing out all the antibacterial soap. Recent research shows that antibacterial soaps contain certain chemicals (triclosan and triclocarban) that may cause various forms of cancer, autism, infertility, and early puberty in girls, among other ailments, none of which I'd like my family members to encounter. So no more antibacterial soap in the Weinberg house. As I always say, a little dirt never hurts anyone (and may even raise your resistance to other, more harmful forms of bacteria).

May Photos

Here's the link for May photos.

Swim Class

Calder has started his summer swimming lessons and let's just say, it is probably a taste of what's to come in August when he starts preschool. Never before has someone gripped my leg as tightly or whined in such a way so as to make my heart and head hurt simultaneously. His moments in the pool have been fleeting, amidst complaints of having to go to the bathroom (I took him right before class started), being cold (it's 80 plus degrees here), and wanting to plain "just go home." Ahh. I can hope things will improve tomorrow when Milo joins him in swimming class now that preschool has ended. Or maybe I'll just be herding two children back to the pool as they try to escape to my table on the sidelines (all while balancing Zola in the searing sunshine). It may be a long summer.

Last Day of Preschool

Today was Milo's last day as a preschooler. With many hugs and promises to visit next Fall, Milo left CJDS today, ready for his summer vacation. Since Milo had Ms. Becky and Ms. Stephanie as his teachers for the past two years, I expected some tears or even reluctance to leave the building (last year Milo did not want to leave the playground where his teachers were at the end of school and so we stayed well after his normal pickup time). But no, not this year. Once I showed up, Milo was done. And off we went, home to continue reading Milo's favorite new book, at his request. It was a nice afternoon of reading (three hours plus) with my kindergartner. I guess he's ready.

Watch Out!

Here she comes! Zola rolled over today for the first time. She's already been scooting around on her back, so it may only be a matter of time before she learns that crawling thing!

Nature In Our Garden

This weekend, while Grammy and Oom-Poppa were visiting, we had another visitor to our garden: a box turtle! This was quite a coincidence, as last Memorial Day weekend, right after Grammy and Oom-Poppa visited, we (or rather our whippet Beacon) found a box turtle in our garden.

This year, once again, Beacon noisily spied the turtle, and Milo and Calder examined it closely, protecting it from Beacon's hungry mouth.

Cleo (our other dog) was curious too, but less interested in eating the turtle.