5.14...TIME TO CELEBRATE!

Daddy has had one of the best climbing seasons to date. All his hard work training, dieting and climbing has paid off with huge returns. Last week, he climbed his first ever 5.14! This is a pretty big deal in the climbing world and one of his life long goals. I don't know the exact number but very few people in the world reach this type of difficulty in climbing and crush it like he did!

The climb was called, God's Own Stone, at the Gold Coast Cliff in the Red River Gorge, KY. It's on one of the most beautiful cliffs in the whole area which adds even more to this awesome accomplishment. After testing it out for two days and working on specific movement and foot placements, he cruised up it making it look easy. The key was having the confidence in himself, breathing deeply and holding the holds just tightly enough to stick to the rock. It was so fun to see and I'm so proud of him.

On top of sending (climbing) his first 5.14, he also climbed a 5.13d called True Love, on-sighted his first 13.b called Table of Colors and in one day on-sighted three 5.13a's. I know there were numerous other climbs that he ticked off his list this season but there are too many to count!

We didn't get any photos of him on the climb but we did take a few after his big moment. You can see the red line in the back ground up the cliff. That's it!
Here's a close up. You can see the rope hanging down after he lowered off.

If you look closely below, you can see me in my orange jacket. It's a perfect place to climb with the kids. Lots of dirt and no cliffs to fall off. :)
Here's another view and check out that smile! This is one happy man!!! What he has on the back of his hands are little pieces of tape that say "HOLD" & "LOOSE" which were used during his climb to remind his brain not to over grip the holds. It worked!
What does a big climbing goal achieved earn in this house?

ONE BIG CHOCOLATE CAKE!!!

Axel did not want to miss any part of the celebration. His eyes did not leave that cake for more than a second at a time.
Lucas was right there too.
We tried to take a few photos of everyone looking at the camera but the cake was just to tempting.
Axel had enough of that, he was ready to eat this cake!
Finally Dad! Stop torturing us!! :)
It was so worth the wait and so delicious.
They dove right in of course.
Way to go Daddy! We are all so very proud of you.

Love,
Mommy, Lucas & Axel

Spring time.

We spent another beautiful weekend in Kentucky climbing. It was truly spring this past weekend and we had a wonderful weather and an amazing time. The boys were super dirty which is always a good sign of fun.

Dirt, dirt and more dirt! The boys love Kentucky dirt and I'm sure my washer hates it. :)Big brother tickles too.
Crazy pose!If you look closely you might see a little climber...
That's our boy, Lucas got his climb on this weekend. He did great collecting M&M's all the way to the top!Lucas on his big slab climb looking from a different angle.
Lisa just moved to Ohio from Colorado so we took her for a little tour. The boys instantly fell in love. She is awesome and we had a wonderful time climbing with her. We hope she'll come back! Luckily, she loves kids and climbing so we have a chance of seeing her again. Thank Lisa! :)
Lucas and Axel were able to do some big swings at the Motherlode crag. This is one of the most impressive cliffs at the Red River Gorge. I wasn't sure how Axel would handle it but once Lucas went, he was in and had a blast!
See the cliff in the background? That is where one of Daddy's climbs went up...steep stuff!
Lucas wanted me to take a photo of his turtle shell. Of course, Axel wanted to be part of it all too.
This is the face of a boy who was not so happy that I asked him to share with his little brother. This was about 5 minutes before heading home after a great weekend and Lucas was tired.
Thanks for sharing Lucas, it made Axel's day!

Passion.

One of our pet peeves climbing at the Red River Gorge, is the fine, moon-like, dusty dirt that our boys absolutely love. We understand that there is no way to stop them from getting dirty or playing in it. However, we constantly have to remind them not to kick it up in the air or on peoples climbing ropes or backpacks or people themselves.

It's tiring.

Sunday afternoon, Lucas decided to test us once again to see if our stance on the matter had changed or not. He likes to make dust devils or dust hurricanes which is totally fine in certain areas away from the climbers. He had a new plan in his brain (the "passion" angle) so he sat down in the dirtiest spot possible near everyone's climbing gear and started to kick up the dust.

Instantly, I asked him to move his operation to his "dust area."

This is what I heard after that...

Lucas: "Mom, dust is my passion. It's what I love. You don' think I can have a passion?! You don't think I love dust?! Fine! So I can never have a passion?!!!"

Mommy: "Lucas, you may play with dust where it does not hurt people or their stuff."

Lucas: "Oh great! So now my passion hurts people?! I can never have a passion!!"

Mommy: "Lucas, I am happy that you have a passion. However, I will not argue with you about this. You can be mad at me all you want but you will not be allowed to hurt others with your dust passion."

I have to admit, it was a nice angle to try and I could tell he had thought it through for the most part. Luckily for all of us, the boys favorite girls arrived to save the day and provide a little passion distraction!

Karissa getting Axel with a little tickle monster.I think Axel is in love and why wouldn't he be?!
Lucas being crazy with Rachel.
Lucas, Rachel and Jess...all smiles and no dust! Just how we (Mom&Dad) love it. :)
This is a funny photo that looks like it's upside down. It's actually taken from under the climbing wall looking up and out. This is just how steep the Darkside cliff is. If you look closely, you can see Karissa hanging out on the left side. Burly climbing!!!!
Here's a better photo of the rock which is really featured with pockets, crimps and side pulls.
As for that passion, I'm quiet sure Mommy didn't squish it and dust will once again be flying!

Brothers.

Lucas is discovering that Axel can be a lot of fun. Yes, he can be an annoying little brother too but that's part of being brothers right?!

Axel loves to tackle and wrestle. Lucas thinks it's pretty fun right now. It may not be as fun when Axel out weighs him. :)
On a side note, Axel received a book called Sticky Toffee Thomas. Both boys were very interested in what toffee was so we made some caramel apples the other day. Axel was excited but not quite sure what we were doing. He watched Lucas and jumped in himself.
Eating them was not as exciting. Axel loves apples and really didn't understand why we would put all this sticky toffee on them. About four hours later, he got brave and tried the caramel. I think he then realized that this sticky stuff was way better than the apples! I hope have haven't ruined him. :)

Spring Climbing

Here's a little cuteness I witnessed last week when Daddy came home from work. Axel was still under the weather a little but in good spirits and super happy to see Daddy.
The weather forecast predicted lots of rain and cold weather. This does not scare off Daddy, it challenges him. :) The forecast was correct, however, it was still climbable weather for the most part. We climbed at an area called the Darkside because it is super overhung keeping dry. Some water trickles from the top but the climbs we were on were dry. :)

Shaun working The Force 5.13a
Mike on-sighting (climbing it in one try the very first time from bottom to top) called Straight Outta Campton 5.13a.
You can see how steep this wall really is!
Lucas spent most of the time playing in the fine dusty, dirt trying to make a dust devil. It was entertaining for everyone.Axel spent lots of time in the dirt to but his goal was to bury Thomas & Henry train.The rain held off until mid-day Saturday but then it dumped and dumped and dumped all night long. We half wondered if the cabin was going to slide down the mountain side but it held on strong. During the rain storm, we drove to Kentucky's high point (forgot the camera) and ticked that off Mike's To Do List.

Here's what some of the walls looked like Sunday morning. WET! This wall is called Gold Coast and I think it's one of the most beautiful in the Red River Gorge.
This is a wall called Solar Collector. It has lots of moderate/fun routes with big huecos to climb into. You can see the waterfall on the right of the photo which is normally not there. You can also see the water stains running down the rock. Luckily, there were a few routes dry so we could warm up.
The day continued to get colder and colder...a whoppin' 37 degrees! IT WAS COLD! Axel was happy to sit by the heater most of time. We had warm oatmeal and hot cocoa for treats in this winter weather.
Here's Mommy working a climb called American Dream 5.12b.This was a result of cold fingers and frozen brain! :)
We were happy to get out!

A Bug

Not a cute bug. Not a fun bug. Certainly not a beautiful bug.

But, a bug none-the-less and it hit our family last weekend in Kentucky with furry. Axel was the first victim followed closely by Lucas. Daddy got a tinge of it and Mommy, a little nausea. Through it all, we managed to still climb three days and get some much needed fresh air and outside time.

Everyone is doing much better so hopefully that equates to more energy, more climbing and more blog posting!

Here's to a healthy spring!

With love,
The bugs....I mean, The Anderson's because believe you me....THERE WAS NO LOVE WITH THAT BUG!!!!