Quality Alone Time

The weekend before Lindsey was born, we took Ryan to the Delaware Museum of Natural History. It was our last weekend as a family of three and we wanted him to enjoy the solo attention while it was still an option.

It's been 21 months since that weekend and 21 months since we've had a real opportunity to spend a full day, one-on-one, with either kid. So when field trip time came around this year, and the kids were going to be going on two different field trips, to two different places, we decided this was the perfect opportunity to take the time and devote all attention to one kid at a time.

First up, Lindsey's trip to Coleman's Tree Farm. This was Lindsey's first real field trip and our first time at Coleman's. She LOVED it.

The hayride allowed us to see ducks, geese, turkeys, pheasants, old barns and tractors (and take some mommy and daddy shots with the star of the day).

Then it was time to pick our pumpkins. Lindsey knew just what she wanted and tried her hardest to pick it up.

After getting a workout walking through the pumpkin, gourd and corn fields, it was back on the tractor for the return ride where lunch and apple cidar awaited us.

Next up - Ryan's trip to Milburn Orchards. We've gone there a few times, but what made this trip even more special was how we got there. Ryan got his first shot at riding on a school bus!

And though I know he was excited for his first school bus ride (he sang the wheels on the bus both there and back), I think he was equally excited on the fake, wooden bus at the orchard simply because his best friend was along for the ride.

Once again, we had a hayride, with the standard mommy and daddy shots.

We fed goats and petted their heads. We laughed at the snorting pigs and marveled at the huge (or in Ryan speak - hooge) bunnies. We even hung out hung out with Johnny Appleseed.

Later on, we went into the orchard and helped Ryan find and pick the biggest apples we could find (they were almost as hooge as the bunnies).

And though we were very proud of the fact that we spent two days devoted individually to each of the kids, we're pretty sure the fact was lost on Ryan. He's a little infatuated these days...

One.Tough.Chick.

There are a lot of theories out there about how kids develop their own personalities. Some say birth order plays an important role, others look to gender stereotypes or parental involvement. I'm not sure what school of truth I buy into, but I can say that the end results - these unique, amazingly different personalities our kids have - is facinating.

Lindsey, for example, is one tough chick. If you follow the birth order theories, she's the baby of the family. This means she's likely to take risks, is highly competitive and can be equal parts charming and manipulative. Have you met her? Check, check and uh...yeah. Check. Taking these traits into consideration, it's no wonder she's already had several black eyes and has made a couple trips to the ER for nurse maids elbow.

Her and Ryan play rough (hence the two trips to the ER), but it's more than that. She's fearless. One could argue she's careless versus fearless, but she's also a smart little kid. You can see that brain working through a million scenarios at once and she picks the one that has the greatest risk, but greatest reward.

Right now, that risk/reward conflict may net her a black eye, but also earns her a prized toy.

It may net her a skinned knee, but earns her a ride on Ryan's big boy bike.

It may net her a dislocated ligament, but earns her bragging rights of being the first one down the slide and the first Bachman kid to rock a splint and sling (and when you're the baby of the family..."firsts" can be a pretty big deal).

Right now these risks and rewards are both minor, thankfully. I thought I had gray hairs now...wait until she's a teenager.