Cousins and siblings

One of the more fascinating aspects of our trip to Montana was watching Zach interact with his cousins. Since Zach was an only child for so long, it's always interesting to see how he does when he has the chance to spend any significant time with other kids.

In general, the cousins got along great. It was wonderful for us to have someone else to entertain Zach all day - and I do mean all day. Those kids were on the run from the moment they woke up until we forced them to go to bed, usually well past their normal bedtimes. Inside, outside, on our adventures - they had a great time together.

What was interesting was the difference in Zach's relationship with Bryn versus with Maryn. I think if strangers observed Zach and Bryn interacting, they would assume they were brother and sister, not cousins. Perhaps it's a case of being too alike in some ways - both are used to being in charge and are stubborn!

Examples? On our first hike, Zach was complaining that Bryn was running ahead. She turned around and said "oh yeah, well, you're whining!" On the drive up to the Palisade Falls hike, Zach and Bryn rode with Mandy and Teri. And reportedly, the racket from the backseat did not make for a nice leisurely drive. At one point, Mandy turned around and saw that they had quit arguing over who got to hang on to a particular leather strap, instead they were both clinging to it possessively, ignoring each other. And they both participated in the "he's touching me," "she's poking me" tattle-taling from the back seat.

My favorite? When Bryn later informed me that while "Zach was parented good, he didn't always act like it." (I couldn't agree more)

And then there's Maryn: if you had to stereo-type her, you'd put her in the "middle child" slot. Always peace-keeping, always happy to play with either or both the other kids. She was game to play cars with Zach whenever he asked, and he asked often. She and Zach spent hours jumping on the trampoline, giggling and laughing the whole time. And while Bryn often prefers to play independently, when she wanted to partner up with her sister, Maryn was always ready.

I wish I'd had a tape recorder when we took the kids to a local park. I'm not sure what the exact dynamics were that day, but for some reason it was a high demand day for Maryn's presence. Instead of playing on the very cool play equipment, it seemed all the kids did was call "Maryn! Maryn! Maryn!" Bryn would get her attention and then would lead her off to a trickier part of the park, so that Zach couldn't participate. So then Zach would be left to yell for Maryn. And when Maryn would eventually return to Zach, then it was Bryn's turn to yell. At one point, a complete stranger got into it too; a kid we didn't even know started chanting Maryn's name!

Since we've gotten home, it's been fun to hear the different ways Zach remembers his cousins. When we went to a baseball game, he saw the vendors selling root beer and decided Bryn should have come to the game because she loves root beer. And whenever he's gone to the neighbors to jump on their trampoline, he's mentioned the fun he and Maryn had. I suspect he's counting the days until he can see his cousins again!