Today marks a major milestone in both Ty's life and the life of this blog: Today is Ty's seventh birthday and this is the 500th post to "Growing up with Ty". Fitting that we have a cake to celebrate the occasion.
We hope you have enjoyed the ride so far, because it has been full of adventure. As an eyewitness, and an extremely proud Dad, the first seven have gone by quickly, but have been a gift that keeps on giving. Here's to hoping there's a 100 more birthdays for you Ty and all your wishes and dreams come true.
Last post from the Tahoe trip of 2010. We spent our last day doing some time hiking on the trails and enjoying nature and just listening to the wind rustle the tall grasses.
Serenity now!
When you need a break from the hot sun why not relax in your own private beach house? Ty has the secret here as he catches a snooze after we played catch in the water for awhile.
We stay at the base of Heavenly Ski Resort and every day, just like last year, Ty asks, "When can we take the gondola to the top?"
Today was that day as once again we had a perfect cloudless sky and almost infinite view of the surrounding mountains and the lake from the viewing platform at 9000 feet above sea level. Ty enjoyed the quiet ride first as we climbed from the lake up the steep slope watching the gondola cars glide by going the opposite direction. He passed the time by reading aloud the numbers on each car as Dad snapped lots of photos.
After the viewing platform we continued up to adventure peak where we spent over an hour exploring the trails and Ty climbed around in a giant inflatable spider web obstacle course. Even though this was our second time up to the top, it was still tons of fun and something we will likely repeat each year.
Ty was all smiles as we began a scenic bike ride along the Western shore of the lake. However he struggled a bit with a bike he wasn't used to, and got a bit frustrated having to stay in a narrow bike lane. Needless to say, this activity will probably be tried again next year when his confidence grows.
A photo of Dad's bike is not included, but picture a 1950's era bike with a front basket to hold our water and my camera, and you will enjoy a good laugh at my expense.
Some of our Austin readers might think this was a shot from our annual Eeyore's Birthday Party. But alas, this is Ty playing his own songs on a recorder recently won from a video arcade somewhere high in the mountains above Tahoe.
For some reason he was asking me to get him a flute, but when the opportunity to snag this plastic beauty came up the day before as a prize, his eyes lit up. I told him he couldn't play in the car (parent's you can understand why) so when we stopped here for another scenic view he broke out his recorder and proceeded to become one with nature.
Just past the official stop on the hill over looking Emerald Bay, there is a stretch of very curvy road with just enough room to pull over to the side and get the really good views. It appears Ty's choice of shirt this day works perfectly as it adds to the various hues of blue from the lake and sky in the background.
So have Ty's fans decided yet that if they haven't ever visited Lake Tahoe in the summer it needs to be on their bucket list?
Cue the music... bumba deeda, bumba deeda, bumba deeda ... Happy Trails to You...
We rose early one morning and drove out to the Camp Richardson stables for a trail ride up one of the hills in some beautiful back country along Lake Tahoe. Ty was a bit nervous as he had only ridden ponies led along by grownups at birthday parties. This involved him being in control of his own horse, Marvin (short for Starvin' Marvin because he always stops to eat along the trail). We had a blast and Ty was quickly a master (guess that's the Texas in his blood). At the end of the hour he climbed down and immediately asked if the next time we do this we go on a longer ride. Guess we should book that already for next year.
The top shot features Ty taken from Dad's horse following behind him. The bottom picture is Ty with our guide who was extremely friendly and chatted it up with Ty almost the whole hour.
