Cottage Week 2009:

Cottage Week 2009 pictures here: http://thegearharts.smugmug.com/keyword/cottage%20week#602469993_f5x6v

Cottage Weekend 2008:

Cottage Week 2008 pictures here: http://thegearharts.smugmug.com/Vacation/2008-08-14-Cottage-Weekend/5742907_s34FP#354834988_bCkUk

*Disclaimer: This is 2 months old, but a lot of stuff was going on and I just didn’t have time to fit this into the blog.
*Disclaimer 2: I know that this kinda makes the post not “Wordless”. I’m sorry.

So, one week after Tyler’s second birthday, we went from this:

Through this:

To this:

Sarah didn’t like it for one single reason. It completely erased his little boy looks, and made him look much older. It was sad for her, but we both absolutely love the look!

On June 28, this year, my beautiful little boy completed his second trip around the sun and clicked his counter over to two. I, however, was not at home for this event. A work-related project had me a few states away for that particular week. But, I was home for the birthday party two days before his actual birthday. It was a very good day.

Tyler has recently developed an affinity towards Toy Story, and its characters, so we (let’s be honest, Sarah’s the event coordinator of the household, so I use the term “we” loosely here. To be even more honest, it’d be more fitting to say “Sarah and her BFF, Mel”) decided on a Toy Story themed party for Tyler.

Cupcakes, decorations, and games all oozed Woody and Buzz goodness. Sarah and Mel craftily made games and activities to keep the children happy. I did my part by putting up said decorations and making Toy Story-themed signs, directing people to the lemonade and the bathroom.

Tyler, the other children, and the adults all (presumably) had a really good time. When it came time to sing the “Happy Birthday” song to Tyler, the only thing bigger than the unflappable smile on his face was the garage we used as shelter from the blistering heat. The kids – and a couple adults – used the sprinkler.

And myself? Happy. Truly happy. I stuggle with some demons in my life; depression being the primary shadow that clouds much of my sky. That’s not to say that I’m never happy, because I am, quite often nowadays. At any given time, though, I feel a sadness/numbness/depression stalking me, always keeping its presence in my peripheral. But on this day, being with family and friends, playing with the kids, and watching Tyler have such a good time… Well, it made my heart warm. Whatever door Tyler has been pushing open within me over the last two years opened a little wider on June 26th, 2010.

Of course, I can’t discount the fact that Sarah has been instrumental in helping me to feel more balanced and comfortable in my skin. She has helped and supported me through all of my dark periods. Just the simple fact that she has put up with my crap for seven years – and counting – should speak volumes to her character. Or to her foolishness.

I suppose that’s enough of my soapbox rambling. Let’s take a short journey, through pictures of Tyler’s birthday party.

Sarah is not pleased

Birth:

One:

Two (two weeks ago):

On the fourth day of our five day camping trip, my big brother and his two sons stopped up for the day. It was a nice treat, because Sarah, myself, and Tyler hadn’t seen them in a while. Here’s a quick rundown of the day, via pictures…

The very first picture I took on this day was taken just so I could dial in the manual settings on the camera. Upon later inspection, however, it was decided that I had to keep the picture. It seems that I have busted my big brother being a bad uncle. See for yourself. Here he is, giving Tyler a piece of gum. BUSTED!

Later, Tyler and his cousin Shawn had fun drinking water directly from the spigot.

Wait, see that bottle of water in the last pic? Directly above Tyler’s head? That’s Uncle Scott (my brother) pouring water on Tyler as he drinks the water. Always the practical joker, that one. Tyler didn’t seem to mind, though, if these pictures are any determining factor.

Later, Tyler and Shawn took pictures together:

Monkey see…

Monkey do….

Then, we went fishing. What do you think is going through Delilah’s mind here?

Cousin Kevin caught a frog for Tyler and Shawn to touch!

Later, just Shawn and I went fishing together.

And even later than that, after our very welcome company and made the drive back home, we (my parents, Sarah, myself, Tyler, and Delilah) all went into town for some Dairy Queen. Even Delilah had an ice cream cone. Then, Sarah and Tyler sat on the edge of the lake for a moment.

This was our last full day at the campground, and it was a very great day.

If you would like to see all of our camping pictures, they are here. Or you can view them one day at a time (Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4). Thank you for being a part of this journey with us. This was Tyler’s first camping trip ever, and we all absolutely loved it.

I may or may not have one bonus story to share, but the memories of all the dialog have faded a bit. I’ll try to get it up, because it’s awesome, but we’ll see.

You’ve already seen a glimpse of the third day of our camping trip on the last Wordless Wednesday post. Two very substantial things took place on this day, which I’d like to share with you now.

Early in the afternoon, while Tyler was napping, I took Delilah for a walk. She seemed pent up, so I wanted to take her to a secluded area where she could run free and burn up some energy. We had a great time walking running through the woods, and through the marsh (which I found purely by accident). I could have taken Delilah back to camp covered in mud. I actually wanted to, so I could show off the fun we had. The problem was that Delilah crashed into me while running around. This was while I was snapping off some landscape pictures. She knocked my foot off of the fallen tree that I had presently been perched upon. When said foot contacted the earth, it promptly sank eight inches into warm black mud. This, my dear friends, was unacceptable. Next stop, the lake.

I share a trait with Delilah in that neither of us can swim. I promise to write about my reasons later. Delilah just thrashes around. This day, our third day of camping, Delilah “got it” and simply started swimming.

Later, my step-dad (Ganpa) and I had just finished a little fishing and were walking up a hill when he brought my attention to a snake slithering by. Minutes later, Ganpa was (nervously) driving us back to camp while I tightly gripped a thirty-six inch snake in my hands. I looked down to see blood on my hands. Resisting the urge to drop the snake, and likely cause Ganpa to send the truck careening into the lake, I carefully inspected my hands as the snake redoubled its efforts at escaping my grasp. I began to suspect that the snake was poisonous and had injected me with an anesthetic-like venom, because I didn’t feel any pain. Just as I processed that thought, the snake performed a barrel roll in my hands and I spotted a wound on its tail. It appears to have happened recently, but I know I didn’t do it, so I just made a mental note to scrub my hands later.

We arrived at camp seconds later, and I beckoned Tyler to me. Ganpa was able to get some video before his batteries died and caught me being an evil daddy by scaring Tyler with the snake.

In case you don’t have 2 minutes to spare to watch the video – really, you should watch the video – you can forward to the one minute mark to watch me scare Tyler with it.

Tyler helped me release the snake a few moments later.

Tyler then decided to make like his daddy and set off chasing the snake. AND CAUGHT IT!

He held it up by it’s tail and said, “Lonnnng.”

Then, he held it with both hands and STRETCHED it. I was preoccupied with laughing and taking pictures, so my mom (Gamma) had to tell Tyler it wasn’t nice to stretch a snake.

For reasons unknown to all of us, Tyler then put the snake up to his neck like it was choking him.

Afterward, Tyler set the snake free and we all went back to camp. The fearlessness of my son amazes me and warms my heart.

On the first day of our camping trip, Tyler learned some very cool things from his Ganpa (grandpa). After camp was set up:

and after Tyler played in a bucket of water:

Ganpa showed Tyler how to pump water. Tyler helped by holding the bucket in place:

Then, Ganpa showed Tyler how to drink water using his hands:

Tyler also washed his feet while over there:

Then, Ganpa showed Tyler how to skip stones on the lake:

Then, Tyler learned what happens when your “sensitive area” touches the cool water in the lake:

Delilah also had a lot of fun splashing around in the water. She doesn’t know how to swim though, so she doesn’t go deep, and she kinda freaks out if she goes out to far:

All of the pictures (119 of them) from our first day of camping can be found here: Camping Trip, Day 1

And that’s how our first day went. We grilled chicken and had smores that evening. Tyler fell out of bed and rattled his brain, but slept well otherwise. On the second day, Tyler almost died… seriously. Stay tuned for that story.