An Apple a Day

I've mentioned before about how much I really miss Claire while she's at school, and I'm not the only one. Ben has had a hard time adjusting to not having his favorite playmate at his beck-and-call all day. I'm generally asked to "play trains" or "play cars and trucks" with him about 52 million times a day. And while this can be a bit annoying, to say the least, I have really enjoyed getting to spend some one-on-one time with him. I fondly remember those few years I had with Claire before Ben arrived, and now I get to have some time with him.

While Ben is, no doubt, benefiting from being the second child in that he doesn't have to deal with the neurotic first-time-parent craziness, he has also missed out on all that the first-time-parent craziness can bring - like, say, having his picture professionally taken on more than one occasion (yes, just once) or being enrolled in fun gym classes or going on trips to the museums and parks.

It's sad, really.

But, every once and awhile, he does get to do something special. And, upon announcing said "special" event to his older sister, weeping and gnashing of teeth ensues because she doesn't get to participate. This dramatic scene only makes said event even more special for Mr. (gloating) second born.

Thus, he was totally psyched about our trip to the Apple Orchard.

Mom and a sun-struck Ben on the tractor ride. Please notice the apple in his hands (and ignore the tacky shot of the port-a-potties in the background!). We were given an apple upon entering onto the trailer. The ride lasted about 5 minutes. Watch that apple disappear.

YUM!

Crunch, crunch!

Almost gone!

He finished the first apple and was quick to look for apple number 2.

At first, he thought picking them off the ground would be the easiest bet.

But I eventually convinced him to reach up and pick one for himself.

Which he did, and then immediately began to devour it.

"Look at me swing my apple bag around! How cool am I?"


So cool, son, so cool.

As you can see from this picture, this particular section of the orchard contained small trees specially planted for kids. They were planted in a maze and every so often, there were tree archways like this one.

Running the hay bale maze after we were done picking.

"Cheese!"

It was a fun day with my little guy.

We did miss big sister.

But just a little bit.