2012 will soon be in the past, and, in a few hours, we launch into 2013!

Image from http://scienceblogs.com/startswithabang/files/2011/07/fireworks.jpeg

And, by all accounts, we will fall off the fiscal cliff!

Image from http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2012-12-23/fiscal-cliff-through-eyes-cartoonists

So, since we can’t do anything about the fiscal cliff, or about the clock ticking away inexorably toward midnight, we packed the kids into the car to spend the day at the Maryland Science Center in Baltimore. They were celebrating New Year’s 12 hours early with a kid-rock band called Milkshake, and “dropping the ball” at noon. The whole thing was called Midnight Noon, and in addition to the band, we caught the Davis Planetarium show One World One Sky: Big Bird’s Adventure, and caught the Pig Tails puppet show, with a story about preschool sharing and taking turns that had J chuckling and singing along to the song they taught the audience, which was a recurring theme. We also managed to fit in the IMAX 3D movie, Flight of the Butterflies, and also played in the water exploration area, and S reviewed the solar system with Dad.

On this visit, J was very nervous about a lot of the exhibits that have fascinated him in the past. He didn’t want to venture into the dinosaur area, because of the growling (recorded, of course) of Tyrannosaurus rex and Astrodon, the former taking a bite of the latter. We couldn’t enter the exhibit called “Your Body: The Inside Story” because J didn’t want to see any skeletons (he was very concerned about where these skeletons came from, and I think he was worried about the former owners!). He was even nervous about walking past the area in the Kids Zone, on our way to the Water Play area, that houses some skeletons of various species (human, included).

At 3pm, the overhead announcement informed us that there would be ping pong “fireworks” in the main lobby, so we ventured out to watch, but with the first Bang, J was running back in retreat, and we spent some more time in Newton’s Alley, one of our favorite areas, where you can explore hands-on with gravity, mass, acceleration, viscosity, and other physical properties.

We ended our day in Baltimore with a quick dinner at Noodles & Company, a family favorite, and then headed home.

Although J, as expected, was sound asleep by the time we arrived home, he didn’t stay that way, thanks to a wound-up and very loud older brother. Dad channeled some of that energy into homework, reading, and practicing his “wall words”. We had him alphabetize them – he’s got the concept, but he still has to recite the ABC’s all the way from A to figure out what comes next.

And, finally, the boys are in bed, and quiet. J’s definitely asleep; S will take care of himself. Tomorrow is the last day of winter break, so we have one last night of not worrying too much about an early start in the morning.

We don’t really have any traditions on New Year’s – every year, we figure it out anew. This New Year’s is our third since adding boys to our lives, and it looks like we might actually stay up until midnight. We finally seem to be getting enough sleep.

Resolutions? No! (Just a setup for failure, IMO)

A listing and revisiting of the past year? I have no patience for that – although, my increased blogging has left a nice trail for me to revisit, and I’m enjoying having the documentation to help my memory.

So, this post marks the arbitrary calendrical marking of the end of one year, and the beginning of another. My general impression of the past twelve months is that they were good, and I’m optimistic that the next will be better (fiscal cliff, notwithstanding).

So, bring it on!

Image from http://thebrightside-jenn.blogspot.com/2011/11/long-quiet-highway.html?m=1