All Things Tyler

Here's me and my man-child. Is it possible I ever carried him on my hip, gave him piggy-back rides, or held him on my lap as we read books together? I'm so thankful he's finished with school, so we can enjoy each other again!

Tyler hates to have his picture taken. It's not like a teen girl, who pretends to hate to have her picture taken but secretly loves it; he really, really hates it. Here he's looking at his Dad in exasperation because he's taking his picture yet again. Frankly, I was with Ty on this one! Please note my way cool walking stick. It's the one thing that saved me on this hike!

We were on the top side of Rainbow Falls here. Tyler grabbed my hand and made me look at the view (he convinced me it was worth it, and it was). Here, he's pointing out the trail he went on last year, following ML and JS, because he thought that was what they were supposed to do (not knowing they were going to jump off the rock face). Ty's experience last year was not only not great, it was downright horrible.

We posed for this picture just before the final descent into the Rainbow Falls pool. I love the look on his face, because unbeknownst to us, it means, "I am not going one step further, and there's nothing you can do about it."

See, last year he followed ML and JS up the "trail." He was far enough behind them that he didn't hear ML warn about the wasp nest in one spot on the trail. Everyone else would take a deep breath, then scramble/run past the spot as quickly as they could.

Tyler climbed casually behind them, taking his time. He didn't stand a chance.

Himself was at the bottom near the pool area when he looked up to see Ty leaping and scrambling down the hill, bounding from rock to rock, waving his hands around his head, and trying not to break a leg in the process. It was so alarming!

He was stung not once, but six times.

There was no way he was going anywhere near that spot again. He stayed at the top of the trail the entire time we were there.

Himself says I light up when Ty enters the room. I can't help it. He's so much more than I ever dreamed a son would be! I know it's his destiny to leave us eventually, whereas a daughter is always with her mom and dad. There's such a delicate balance with a son . . . holding on while letting go. I guess this is why I give him as much room as possible, but grab on to each and every "moment" I can.

And Ty, because he's a great kid, lets me.