I'm A Weinberg!

This afternoon Calder had a playdate with his good friend Jack.  Jack's mom overheard the following conversation between the two boys.

Jack:  Are you Jewish?
Calder:  No.
Jack:  Are you Christian?
Calder:  No.
Jack:  Then what are you?
Calder:  I'm a Weinberg!
Jack:  Then my dad must be a Weinberg too.

Fourth Annual Cookie Decorating Party

This past weekend we held our fourth annual cookie decorating party.  Four dozen sugar cookies, twelve children and their parents, and enough food and other sweets to feed a small army.  It was, as always, much fun. 

The kids loved the cookies and all sat quietly focused on decorating and eating sugar cookies.  Zola was among one of the last to leave the table, decorating countless cookies with her big girl friend Maya.  

The picture of the day, however, which I missed, was of the playroom, after the tornado otherwise known as twelve children was done wreaking havoc. 

Animal Olympics

A couple of weekends ago, when Gramma and Grandpa were still in town, we visited Congaree National Park to attend another terrific children's program with Ranger Becky.  At the Animal Olympics we learned all sorts of animal superlatives, such as who's the fastest, loudest, strongest animals, etc.  Then we had our very own Olympic competition based on the animal superlatives.  Relay races, long jumps, ball tosses, and the like.  So much fun!  The kids were proud to earn Junior Ranger badges.  The only disappointment was that the boardwalk was flooded so we couldn't show Gramma and Grandpa around the park. 

We LOVE Science

Milo, while watching the They Might Be Giants "Here Comes Science" DVD:  Ooh Ooh!  After this can we make one of those charts?
Justin:  You mean a periodic table of elements?
Milo:  Yes, one of those!
Justin (holding back a chuckle):  Sure.

A Belated Happy Thanksgiving

The Weinberg Three were so lucky to have all their Bienkowski and Weinberg grandparents with them for Thanksgiving.  Gramma even stayed the whole week after Thanksgiving.

 

There was so much fun reading books, singing and dancing around ("Singing in the Rain" is one of Zola's and Oom-Poppa's favorites),

visiting the Gem and Mineral Show at the State Museum (Milo and Gramma could have stayed there for days),

hooting with the siamangs at the Riverbanks Zoo, and even taking in a performance of "The Nutcracker" by the Columbia Classical Ballet.  Calder is particularly enamored with "The Nutcracker", so he was thrilled. 

Zola Rocks!

With such ease suggesting that she could have been diaper-less for a while now, Zola is potty-trained.  Not one accident yet in four days. Yeah. She rocks! Zola loves wearing "big girl" underwear and is very, very proud of her accomplishment.

A Happy and A Merry Christmakah To You IV!

Latkes, menorahs, nutcrackers and Christmas trees!  Yes, it's Christmakah again here in the Weinberg house.  And today, as in years past, we visited the Old Congaree Run Tree Farm to choose and chop down our very own tree.  Milo and Calder helped Daddy saw the tree.  Zola visited with the horses on the neighboring farm.  And this year we actually had winter weather.   

Happy Hanukkah!

Yesterday we were fortunate to celebrate Hanukkah with good friends.  The kids had a blast goofing around in the chaos that is eight children together at a dinner party.  We adults could have chatted for hours but for our children reminding us of bedtime.  Milo was especially woozy around 9 pm.  I'm guessing it was all his dancing in my kitchen earlier in the day as he demanded one latke from every batch I fried and rejoiced (both verbally and physically) in the anticipation of eating matzoh ball soup for dinner at his friend Jack's house. 

God Damn It!

I don't know where he picked this up (ahem), but Calder has taken to occasionally yelling "God Damn It!" when he is ticked off about something. Knowing that others may take offense at this, we have encouraged him to use the phrase "ay caramba!" instead. He hasn't yet mastered this. Last night at dinner, after being told he must eat more of his vegetables, he yelled "ay karate!" My son: coiner of new and exciting ways to curse.

Charleston Getaway

Courtesy of the Philosophy Department of the College of Charleston, which invited Justin to give a talk this past Friday, we took a little family trip to Charleston.  We arrived Thursday afternoon to a gloomy and rainy day in the port city.  The weather, however, did not dampen my spirits, as I was treated to THREE, yes I said THREE hours of alone time, courtesy of my darling husband.  That night there was a slight mixup with our accomodations, so on Thursday we had a little "slumber party"!  And let's just say that Zola was more than happy to join us in our bed.  We spent most of the night trying to ensure that Milo and Calder stayed blissfully asleep. 

Friday morning we headed to the South Carolina Aquarium, which is a lovely spot on Charleston Harbor, across the water from Patriots Point.  We watched the otters frolic at feeding time and baby alligators move slothfully about their tank. Milo and Calder touched sea urchins and star fish, but expressed strong apprehension about touching the velvety skin of the stingrays. The boys especially enjoyed watching the dive show in the Great Ocean Tank. Calder even "high-fived" one of the divers from outside the tank. 

While Justin gave his talk in the Philosophy Department Friday afternoon, we just hung out and met up with him later in Marion Square Park.  At the park Zola and Milo vied for my hot chocolate, and Milo tried his hand at break dancing (the latter may have been the result of the former). 

Saturday morning we took a tour of the salt marsh around Folly Beach with Captain Anton, a coastal geologist.  Albeit a little windy and chilly, our boat ride around the salt marsh was terrific.  We were able to closely observe dolphins swimming in pods, as well as tons of pelicans, osprey, herons, and other birds.  Captain Anton cast a net and the boys got to touch a shrimp and a tiny fish before he threw them back into the water. 

At one point we climbed ashore onto a giant sandbar, where the lighthouse was situated.  The sand was alternatively hard packed and mushy. The boys loved dancing in the mushy sand and Zola dug away using her hands as shovels.  We collected some sea shells and then were on our way back onto the boat. 

We capped off the weekend with a trip to Christophe Chocolatier and then headed back to Columbia.  It is so nice to have a break from the daily routine every once and a while. 

Happy Halloween

Well, this year's Halloween was a little less happy than normal.  For starters, I sprained my ankle the day prior, so Daddy had to handle all trick-or-treating, not to mention Halloween day's many activities.  Halloween day was a little crazy, with back-to-back soccer games, end of the season soccer parties, and a friend's birthday party.  To top it off, temperatures rose high into the 80s, making the boys hot in their dinosaur costumes.  The dinosaur heads were promptly discarded before treat gathering even began.  Even our little paleontologist rejected her pith helmet early on, despite loving it previously.  Anyhoo, better luck next year.  I'm thinking we go as "whiny kids" next year.  What do you think?  Will the costumes be difficult to assemble or the character too challenging for the children to emulate?

Pumpkin Patch 2009

Zola loved choosing her pumpkin this year.  Getting all three to smile with their pumpkins, however, was a chore.  At least they all liked decorating their orange globes when we got home.  We'll be carving the big pumpkin later this week with Daddy.

Halloween Preview

Not so tiny dinosaurs at play.  Watch out Stegosaurus!  The little T-Rex is ferocious.

More Dinosaurs

Last Saturday we went to the State Museum to check out their new animatronic dinosaur exhibit.  It featured a variety of dinosaurs with lifelike motion--lifelike, that is, if you overlook the fact that they are staying within their exhibits and not terrorizing the museum visitors.  Milo has taken to frequently carrying a small notebook around with him to write down or draw interesting things he comes across (not unlike Jack in the beloved Magic Treehouse books).  Here he decided to write down the names of all the dinosaurs he saw.

Meanwhile, Calder enjoyed putting on a dinosaur puppet show.  You can tell from his face that he is a "method" puppeter.

Stay tuned for more dinosaur-themed posts.

Grandparents and Soccer and Dinosaurs, Oh My!

It seems that lately most weekends are just jammed packed.  Recently we had an extra fun crazy busy weekend when Grammy and Oom-Poppa visited.  Their visit was preceded by several days of "are Grammy and Oom-Poppa coming today?"  Arriving late Friday night, there was no rest for the weary as they joined us for Milo and Calder's soccer games Saturday morning and then had a picnic on the soccer grounds.  In the afternoon the kids and Oom-Poppa headed over to nearby Five Points on bicycles (Zola on a tricyle pushed by me, and the rest joining on foot).  At the Five Points fountain, Milo showed off his new bike trick -- biking down stairs.  He loves it, and didn't fall once, but Yikes!  That evening, we went out to our favorite Chinese restaurant here and the kids chowed down and behaved themselves pretty well.  Was it the soccer, the biking, the presence of grandparents, the Year of the Ox?  Who knows, but I was glad that we were able to forgo the usual restaurant chaos.

On Sunday morning I captured a lizard outside our house (once again).  I handed it over to the boys, from whom it promptly escaped.  I then caught it again, but it wasn't long before that lizard had gotten loose and was back into the garden.

Later, Oom-Poppa went with Milo and Calder to watch Walking With Dinosaurs  (warning: that site has sound).  We were a little worried that Calder might freak out during the show, especially during the appearance of his favorite, T-Rex.  But he did fine, and afterwards said that he was glad he went.  Milo said the show was "awesome."  Yes, he now uses the word "awesome."  A lot.

All in all, a fun visit and a fun weekend.

Big Girl

She talks, she jumps, she scribble-scrabbles with the best of them, she can dance up a storm, and today Zola played with Play-doh for the first time.  She LOVED it.  Everyday is a new adventure for Zola.  If you ask her if she's a big girl or a baby, she'll say "big girl."  Yup.  Not much baby left. 

Swamp Fun

The past two weekends we have enjoyed programs at Congaree National Park.  First the boys and I attended a "Scatology" program, where we learned to identify different types of animal scat (i.e., poop); learned about the different animals living in the park and what they eat (and what that looks like in the scat); read the book "Everyone Poops"; watched a funny puppet show about animal scat, as performed by Ranger Becky; made our own animal scat, using modeling clay and other materials to mimic the stuff in real scat; and took a short hike with Ranger Becky to look for evidence of animal activity.  The boys LOVED this program, especially Milo.  Here's the refrain from the puppet show, in case you need something catchy to hum all day long:  "It starts with an S and ends with a T.  It comes out of you and it comes out of me.  I know what you're thinking, but we don't call it that.  Be scientific, call it SCAT!" 

Last Saturday the whole family visited Congaree National Park for its Congaree Campfire Chronicles, which involved a ranger guided tour through the swamp, at night, to see reenactors depict different time periods in the park's history (much of which pre-dated its establishment as a national park).  As we walked the boardwalk from site to site, Ranger Justin gave us the historical background of what we were going to observe.  The highlights were Native Americans from the Catawba tribe, runaway slaves, militia men camping out on a campaign during the Revolutionary War, moonshiners, loggers, and present-day rangers conducting research in the park.  At the end of our two hour hike, we enjoyed a campfire and roasted marshmallows compliments of the rangers.  It was a lovely evening.  At the time Milo showed a lot of interest in the reenactors and our ranger guide, as well as walking around the swamp in pitch dark!  Obviously Calder enjoyed it too.  On Sunday he dressed up as a ranger (note the hat and backpack) and led me on a hike around our backyard, pointing out the animals and plants.  What fun!

Rock!

On the way home from soccer practice this evening, Milo asked me to put some music on. "Put on something loud, something that rocks!" Okay. On went World Class Listening Problem by Don Caballero. I guess this wasn't sufficiently rocking. A few minutes into it:
Milo: "Dad, what CD has the most rock in it?"
Me: "I don't know, son. This one is pretty rocking."
Milo: "But which one has the most rock in it?"
I told him I'd ask around. Suggestions?

More Soccer

The boys had soccer games on Saturday (like every Saturday this time of year).

Milo can really run:


He played very well, fending off and nudging by his opponents while bringing the ball all the way downfield for a goal. Milo refused to be intimidated by the kid on the other team who was repeatedly giving everyone the "slit your throat" gesture.



On the soccer field this weekend, Calder took mainly to prancing, dancing, flying, and crying. He did a good job running around with his teammates... when he felt like it.



He also did an amazing David Lee Roth impression.

The Usual Craziness, Dancing Edition

Colorboration

This past Saturday Milo decided that he and his brother and sister should work together on an art project.  They all set to work coloring a large piece of paper.  Later they added glitter.  Milo declared it "a masterpiece."

Dancing on the Bed

Zola loves to dance...

another good idea

Milo: "Dad, I have a good idea."

So many of our conversations start this way. I love it.

Today Milo's idea was to play one CD on his laptop while a different CD played on the stereo. "We can make a new song by playing two songs at the same time," he said.

I was impressed. After all, I didn't have this idea until college, when, as a DJ for WHRW, I had Cecil Taylor spinning on one platter and "Theoretically" by Tim Berne and Bill Frisell going on the other. That actually worked pretty well, thank you very much.

Instead of going this route, we did something a bit different. A while back I had acquired Zaireeka by The Flaming Lips. It is a four-disc set, but unlike most such sets, the listener is supposed to play all four discs at the same time. I never got around to doing it, since I never had four CD players in the same room at once. But now, with a desktop computer in one room and two portable laptops and a stereo in the adjacent room, four disc synchronicity was within reach (not quite literally), and Milo's request was the perfect opportunity to try it out. So we did. Glorious noisy chaos for all to enjoy. (Or not. Said Sara: "The only way this could be worse is if these were King Crimson discs.")

Soccer Season Starts

The boys are playing soccer again. Calder is on the Comets, Milo is on the Eagles.

Both are having a lot of fun and are doing pretty well. Milo can really race down the field and Calder has come along way since last year, when his nickname was "the rock" (as in, "just sat there like a"). In fact, Calder took home the game ball this past Saturday for scoring the first goal of the season!

Six Years Old

Milo turned six this morning. To celebrate I made him cinnamon rolls (cinnamon remains his favorite spice). Milo and Justin spent the better part of the morning playing with his new hydrodynamic building set. Milo loved diverting the water and adding to the building design. Afterwards we went for ice cream and then Milo and Calder tried out Milo's new paint spinner. Probably one of the highlights of Milo's day was that he did not have to get out of his pajamas until we went out for ice cream. Dinner involved more of Milo's favorite foods (fried tofu and orzo, albeit not mixed together). Lastly, the boys got to watch "Empire Strikes Back" for the first time. It was a big (scary) hit. Milo DOES NOT believe that Darth Vader is Luke's father. "He's lying!" was the likely explanation. Milo went to bed smiling. Hooray! That is no small feat for a moody six-year-old.

Tiny Fairy

Today Zola and I played dress-up. Zola loves to don hats and often walks around wearing someone else's clothes over her own clothes, so I thought she might like to dress-up a bit in something her own size.



This morning my little fairy danced around, fluffed her skirt, read stories, and played catch. And, of course, she did not want to change out of her fancy dress for nap time.