Boldly Going Where a Big Boy Goes

I know these aren't the highest quality images. Sorry about that. But all I had at the park was my phone, so they will have to do. Because it was too cute not to share.
My son was in an adventuring sort of mood during our park outing the other afternoon. He went in and on and through everything he could reach, and surprised Mommy a few times with just how far that could take him.
I looked down at my phone for just a moment, and looked up to find that my son had climbed up the metal stairs on the big kid playground equipment. Whoa. I didn't know he could - or would - do that. This is the kid that still wants to hold my hand when we walk down the front steps. Needless to say, I kept my eyes peeled on him from then on. I try hard to adopt the motto of "letting boys be boys." Or letting kids be kids, for that matter. Yes, he will fall sometimes. Yes, he will get hurt. But that's life. That's how we learn. But that doesn't mean I don't have a natural tendency to panic. So I talked to him about how big and strong he was and smiled at him and clapped for him, every bit as much to calm myself as to encourage him. He managed to catch me by surprise one more time when he quickly and confidently walked over to the big boy slide and slid down. My heart jumped into my throat as my arms instinctively reached toward him. I pictured him face planting into the gravel at the bottom, but thankfully there were no injuries. I was sure he was gonna be freaked out by how fast and how far he went, but there were no tears. He loved it. He laughed and ran straight back to those big, metal stairs. These pictures are from round two. There was also a round three, and four, and five...
After he finally tired of the slide, he decided to explore the park a bit more. I ran around after him as he discovered hidden corners behind bushes and under picnic tables. And then we found the big puddle. My little boy lit up as he stomped through that thing, soaking his jeans with his big splashes. What glorious fun.
We ended our outing on the swings, a nice lazy way to round out a neighborhood adventure. Don't you just love his relaxed and calm manor in this picture? Such a big boy, just gazing at the sky...
I'm such a sucker for this kid.