Where Have We Been?

A TRIP TO THE NEW RIVER GORGE IN WEST VIRGINIA
Uncle Mark came to visit! We love Uncle Mark!
Uncle Mark crushing Apollo Reed 13.a.
Daddy sending Apollo Reed 5.13a.
Lucas climbing on Yoda's Wall for orange skittles.
Daddy sending Super Mario Boulder 5.13a. (Daddy did 3 - 5.13's in 4 tries this weekend! We are so proud of you!)
Fun with Uncle Mark.
Mommy gettin' her climb on.
Lucas, Fred & Axel hanging out at the crag.
Morning coffee.
Afternoon nap!
WEEKEND TRIPS TO THE RED RIVER GORGE, KENTUCKY.
Always fun when Karissa shows up at the crag!
Aunt Kate takes the cake! Lucas & Kate wrote stories all weekend in his new favorite notebook.
Axel got lots of Aunt Kate time too!
Mommy got to climb and get photos...what a treat! Here I am on a climb called Swahili Slang 5.12c. It was a mental challenge for sure but I'm so glad I did it! Yahoo!
WE'VE BEEN CLIMBING!!!!!

Imagine that....

D.C. (Part two)

After the rally, we had a day to spend seeing the sights. We headed to the Air & Space Museum to see the Space Shuttle and other cool aircraft.
I love this photo!Chris joined us too.
Daddy had to fly to Boston for a week but I stayed with the boys for a few extra days. We went trick-or-treating again! Lucas was done after about 5 houses which was perfect. Adam (our friends son) had never had candy and didn't understand the whole tradition. Axel was happy once his hands were full.

A big thanks to Dana & Phil & Adam for opening up their home for us. It was wonderful to catch up and we really appreciated the hospitality.

Here's the crew, Dana, Adam (Tiger), Mommy, Axel (Yoda) & Lucas (GI Joe Snake Eyes)
Adam just assumed we would go inside each house.
After a quick outing, it was tasting time.
Good stuff!
Check out these eyes!
Here's one tired boy...
Which one first?
The next day we met a dear, dear friend and former boss. Mildred Bonilla is near and dear to my heart. The boys and I made the journey downtown to have lunch with her. I went prepared; I stopped by Target on the way and purchased some Bakugans (cool little magnetic robots) which kept the boys busy...they were angels!
Our last day in D.C. was spent at the National Zoo. Lucas loved the octopus and this one sure was active.
The jellyfish were also high on his list of favs.
Axel was completely enamored by the big fish! He was SO excited and kept pointing and talking all about it.
The real treat for Mommy was getting to see her dear friend Sara. Sara and I met back in 2002 while deployed together back in our Air Force days. It was so fun to see her and her two beautiful girls. I should have taken a better photo of the three of them. Here they are checking out the cocoa tree.
Cruisin' around the zoo...Lucas was in good hands!
I thought this bug was pretty cool, it was made out of real beetles.
Lucas was insistent that we see the flamingos too. The poor little guys WERE FREEZING!
Here's my girl! Love you Sara!

Washington D.C. (Part one)

Two weekends ago, we headed to Washington D.C. to join the crowds at the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear! It was nuts to-say-the-least but a fun adventure for the family. Even better, we were able to see some dear friends! Here is part one of our adventure!

It was about an 8-9 hour drive so we stopped a few times along the way to let the kids out. First stop was Coopers Rock, WV. We have been curious about climbing here and will definitely go back, it was beautiful!
Our second stop was to summit Pennsylvania's high point, Mt. Davis with an elevation of 3213.
IT WAS FREEZING!
Lucas felt no need to hike up the lookout tower in the freezing wind for a less-than stunning view. I think Axel wished he had a choice in the matter.
He opted for the rock! Smart boy!
On Saturday morning we headed to the metro station to hop a train to the Washington Mall along with the other 200,000 people. Here is the line just to get the tickets...which took Mike 1.5 hours to get through.
We had fun meeting people and staying occupied in the terminal.
Three hours later, we made it to the mall. We (me and the boys) finally shoved as hard as we could to push on to a train. Daddy didn't make it until three trains later when he finally shoved himself and the stroller on board. It was truly nuts!
Jesus was even there!
The one time in Lucas' life where he could scream as loud as he could for as long as he wanted and of course, he chose to pout in the stroller the entire time. This resulted in him taking a long nap while we enjoyed the chaos. He said he didn't like the screaming....go figure?!
More people! We could only get within three blocks of the stage.
After the rally, the crowds cleared quickly and we made our way to the stage!
We even found our friends, Chris & Sarah.Lucas was back to himself making friends and lovin' every minute of the evening.
It was something we were glad to take part in but something we would probably not do again with two kids. Although, Axel loved saying "Hi" to everyone which equated to a few thousand "Hi's" when the day was done.