Seven

Somehow Milo turned seven this morning.  I'm not really sure how this happened.  Time has flown by and Milo is turning into a really amazing young man.  In the past year he has matured considerably, turning into quite the bookworm and helping out around the house and with his siblings often (although sometimes just when it suits him).  As Milo described himself recently, he plays less with toys, but still gets much joy from building, be it with Legos or other building toys, tools in Daddy's garage, or just plain junk.  If I had to bet, I think he's heading for a career in engineering, but I guess we'll see.  Milo's also turning into a little athlete, taking up tennis this summer, swimming like a fish, riding his big kid bike, and playing soccer aggressively this past Spring.  I cannot wait to see him on the soccer field this Fall.  With all his maturity, I am so glad he still loves a good hug and snuggle.

Argument by Analogy

At dinner this past Friday night, Milo brought his model catapult (which we built) to the table to show a friend how it works. He noticed that a piece seemed to be falling off, and the following conversation ensued:

...

Milo: Dad, I told you this piece was coming off.

Me: Don't worry about it Milo. It is not coming off, and all that piece does is support this crossbar here, and it is doing fine at that.

Milo: Dad, do you know why the Titanic sank?

Me: Why did the Titanic sink, Milo?

Milo: Because of a stubborn captain!
...

Did I just get burned by a historical analogy-wielding seven-year-old*? I think so! What's next, something about Napoleon at Waterloo?

*not quite seven at the time. Milo turns 7 today.

Storyteller

When I picked Milo up from school yesterday he politely said: "Don't talk to me Mom.  I have a story going on in my head and it's really good."

Today Milo decided he was going to tell a story to Calder after dinner.  The two of them sat down on the sofa and for 50 minutes straight Milo wove a complex tale of jet packs, space suits and helmets, buttons made out of "your worst nightmare, Mom!" (i.e., bottle caps), robots, intricate plots to deceive Mom and Dad, and secret workshops.  There's a lot going on in that little blond head. 

Ballerina Zola

Today was Zola's first day of "Tiny Tots" ballet class.  She was extremely excited. 

Zola walked right into class without looking back, face full of grins, and when I left the studio for the waiting room, only decided to cry after the other little girls cried.  Once I came back into the studio, Zola slowly warmed back up, following her instructors around the room.  The minute class was over Zola said "I want to go to ballet class again!"

First Day of School

Yesterday, in addition to being Calder's birthday, was the first day of school.  Milo walked right off into his classroom, barely saying goodbye or acknowledging my existence.  So far he is a model second grader.  Calder's first day of kindergarten was a little more emotional.  He really did not want to say goodbye and tried to keep me at school with all sorts of ploys, such as feigning sickness, pleading, and crying.  Thankfully today's dropoff was a bit easier....

Calder is FIVE!!!

Yesterday Calder turned five.  Amazing how time flies.  Calder is as sweet as ever.  At five, he and Zola are close buddies, playing together every day.  He and Milo still have plenty of time getting into trouble together too.  These days Calder is really into imaginary play. He especially loves playing with knights and his beloved castle.  And he simply loves to dress up as various characters, complete with funny voices and extensive dialogue.  The "Star Wars" movies are still his favorites and he is deeply into our readings of "The Hobbit" and the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy.  Calder is so much fun!

Beach Birthday Party

On Sunday wild weather forces collided, leaving Columbia awash in rain and menacing clouds, mixed with brief moments of glorious sunshine. 

Thankfully, it is always lovely on Pine Island and, indeed, Pine Island seemed to be the last remaining spot in Columbia that had not succumbed to thunderstorms and downpours. 

And for four lovely hours, we celebrated Milo's and Calder's seventh and fifth birthdays, respectively. 

 

Thanks to Grammy and Oom-Poppa and our brave friends who believed us that it was not raining on Pine Island, we had a great time swimming, splashing, smashing the "Death Star" pinata, eating ice pops, burgers, and hot dogs, and of course, cake! 

More pictures of the festivities are here.

Diving Board

This last week we've finally experienced the thrill of jumping off the diving board at the pool at Pine Island.  Milo dove off the diving board for about an hour and a half this past Saturday and today he dove repeatedly during our day at the pool. 

Even Calder got in on the act, bravely jumping off the diving board five times today! Unfortunately, I was too busy in the water waiting for him to jump to capture the moment with a photo. 

Ye Olde Times

Calder's love for all things involving knights, castles, and princesses has spread to the rest of the family.  Lucky that Mommy and Daddy brought back period costumes from England.

Hanging With Hudson

We met up with our friends Suzanne, Craig, and Hudson recently in Charlotte at the Discovery Place.  It was great to catch up with our old friends and check out all the science and engineering exhibits.

Pine Island

We've been spending a lot of time at Pine Island on Lake Murray this summer.  The kids love swimming in the lake and playing on the two playgrounds on the tiny island. 

Here we are splashing around with our friends the Mylotts.

Beach

We hit the beach at Isle of Palms again this past Friday.  The weather was lovely and the water quite refreshing. 

Everyone spent lots of time digging and playing in a giant hole. 

Myrtle Beach, SC

While Mommy and Daddy spent time in London and Oxford, England, over the July Fourth holiday, the Weinberg Three went to Myrtle Beach with Grammy and Oom-Poppa. 

Aside from playing on the beach, the kids got to see fire works and went to Alligator Adventure where they held a baby tiger (yikes!) as well as monkeys. 

Once at home back in Columbia, they spent two days in a row at the water park before Mommy and Daddy returned home.  The Weinberg Three LOVE water fun!

Ballerina in Training

Someone's getting ready for ballet class that starts in two weeks! 

Zola and I took a trip to the "ballet store" last week to purchase her ballet slippers and leotard.  She gave them a test drive today, with a little help from her brothers.

Father's Day 2010

Since Daddy likes the beach, we took him there for Father's Day.  (Mind you, this had to be the Saturday before Father's Day, as Daddy has his standing game of disc golf with the guys on Sunday mornings--Father's Day included.) 

We spent a lovely day at the Isle of Palms, soaking up the sun, digging big holes, building sand castles, collecting sea shells, and playing in the water.  After dinner at Poe's Tavern on Sullivan's Island we ended up in Charleston for gelato at Paolo's. Yum.

Summer Reading Club

As in summers past, we joined the Summer Reading Club at our library.  After a frenzy of reading and constant reminders to Milo to actually write down the many books that he breezed through, I took the three book lovers to get their reading medals (as well as the accompanying other prizes:  bookmarks, tatoos, iron-on transfers, coupons for a free Wendy's Frosty, etc.).  We then caught the rockin' Kid-Hop show by Secret Agent 23 Skidoo in the Children's Room at the library before we jetted off to swim class. 

Flash Forward

Yeah, I cannot help but imagine my little Zola as a teenager when I look at this photo.  I don't think Justin is going to let her step out on a date until she's about 30.  Ha ha.

Camp Bienkowski

On Memorial Day Milo and Calder drove up to New York with Gramma and Grandpa for the week!  There's nothing like a week with grandparents. 

Milo and Calder had so much non-stop fun doing all the things they enjoy:  building a "chaos machine" with the help of Grandpa and Uncle Justin (think a "Rube Goldberg" type machine), watching Diet Coke spout into the air with the addition of Mentos candies, art projects galore, sewing pillowcases for sick children with Auntie Alli, wading in the pool of water at the bottom of the waterfall in Ithaca, many trips to the playground, playing with a much-longed for castle and knights, a visit to the Corning Museum of Glass, cavorting with three dogs, and exploring a new place.  The boys (and Zola!) cannot wait until next summer!

Memorial Day Weekend

We kicked off the summer vacation with a visit from Gramma and Grandpa.  They joined us for our inaugural visit to the Fort Jackson water park, as well as our first water fight of the season, and much other boisterous fun.

And maybe a nap or two . . .

Strawberry Picking

As usual, we went strawberry picking.  This year, Daddy joined us for the first time!  Zola ate so many strawberries that her face was stained red. 

Sadly, this was our only strawberry picking expedition of the summer.  Cottle Farm's strawberry season was shortened greatly by the crazy rain we had down here.  So we ended up with no strawberry jam this year. 

Field Trip to the Zoo

At the end of school Calder went on a field trip with his class to the Riverbanks Zoo.  Zola and I tagged along and got to observe Calder goofing around with his buddies, like Regan above. 

Mother's Day 2010

Yes, I know it's August, but I am about to play catch-up for the whole summer, now that I have a new computer that I can actually use and edit photos with.  So here goes.

We spent Mother's Day doing one of my favorite things:  a long hike!  I dragged the family on a four-plus-mile hike at Harbison State Forest down to the Broad River where we had a picnic lunch.  We found a snake swimming in and around the rocks on the river bank and found some shedded snake skin on the trail too, as well as a little toad hopping around.  A woodpecker made music for us as we trekked up the rolling hills.  It was a lovely day with the family.

Still Crazy After All of these Months

It has been a while since we last posted anything on the blog. We hope to catch up on some old happenings and report on some new ones, but in the meanwhile, here's a picture of Calder wearing a fire truck for a hat. Lady Gaga's got nothin' on him.

Downtown Scene

I caught a brief show this evening at the Waccamaw Music Gallery. It was a solo improvised performance on piano. The pianist added some percussion sounds by making strange tapping noises with his mouth as he played. A bit out there, but maybe this kid--Milo something or other--will go places. Check out this bootlegged excerpt:

Click here to listen to Milo solo improv April 28 2010.mp3

She Loves To Dance

Sunday evening we went to the USC Horseshoe for a picnic and performance of the university's symphonic and concert bands. The boys listened a little bit but found the wide open spaces irresistable and spent much of the time running around with their friends, far away from the bands. Zola, however, was moved by the music...

A future Martha Graham, perhaps.

Milo's First Piano Recital

Milo has been taking piano lessons for about 14 weeks now. His teacher, Sonya, is an accomplished undergraduate at USC who will soon be off to graduate study in piano performance and pedagogy.

Today was Milo's first piano recital. He played two duets with Sonya. He did a great job. Calder and Zola were in the audience, and pretty well behaved. Calder is planning on taking up piano, too, along with violin and drums.

Camp Grammy-Oompoppa

The parents snuck away to San Francisco for a few days at the beginning of April, leaving the kids with Grammy and Oompoppa in Pennsylvania. What did the kids do there? The better question would be: What didn't they do? The Train Museum, The Baltimore Aquarium (including the dolphin show), Hershey Park, Construction Sites, plus playing with model trains in the basement, running around with the neighbor's kids (Andrea, Allison, and Anthony), splashing around in giant bubble baths... It was really no surprise to come back from our trip and hear Milo say that he wanted to stay with Grammy and Oompoppa for another week.

Milo kept a journal. Here's a page from it:

Electric Art

Milo made this using Flame, an interesting online drawing tool. He titled it "Plasma."

Mother-Son Dance 2010

  

This dance would be more aptly named the "Mothers Watching Their Sons Mosh, Break Dance, Jump Off the Stage While No One Is Looking, and Wipe the Floors With Their Nice Clothes Dance."

Really. No matter how much we discussed "behavior" beforehand, the guys went into crazy dancing (maybe you could call it that) mode the minute their friends arrived.

Makili, Milo, Isaiah, AJ, & Calder
(Milo's classmates)
 
 
 

 

 

 

Calder and his best buddy Regan