Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Back to Kentucky

 Despite the long drive, everyone was on board, once Lucas was cleared to miss another day of school. The boys were such troopers and really understood how important making these trips was to Daddy. Daddy was quickly reminded just how awesome his family is too. :)

Dirty crag boy!

He decided he needed a bath so collecting water was his plan.

He lasted about 5 minutes until he realized that collecting bath water drip by drip was going to take a week!


Back at the cabin, Ed made Bananas Foster for dessert and it was delicious. Here he is lighting it on fire!

Lena (on the shorter side) + Noah (on the taller side) = smiles for all
Too fun and nice to have great people to share the cabin with.
My weekend climbing became focused on redpointing Jesus Wept a 5.12c/d route which I fell in love with. This was no easy climb for me and became a wonderful learning experience. In the end, I almost broke up with it but I'll let you read to see what really happened.

This is a view of the climbing area called "The Sanctuary" and you can barely see Daddy in the blue shirt below my route.

Lucas made some climbing movies of me on Jesus Wept. Here is a view from his perspective.


The boys stayed very busy in their rhododendron forts.

This is in the living room. They each had their own fort and visited each other for various occasions...birthdays, meals, etc. They get along so well and kept each other occupied for hours. Well, they get along for the most part. There was one incident when Lucas was supposed to help open Axel's Kit Kat but took a bite of it after telling Axel to look away. It didn't take long to figure out what happened. After denying everything, Lucas got a quick lesson in being honest and telling the truth. :) Love those learning experiences. The hardest part is keeping a straight face...  

This is Mommy and Daddy's fort!

Lucas climbing.


Lucas freezing.

This deceiving smile does not show any hint of the sad face we saw because of the cold rock. He was one unhappy camper and I guess very relieved to be done with climbing that morning.

Axel giving it a try.

He too learned that the rock was very cold and decided to call it a day early on.
 As for the adults, we thought the cold rock was perfect!
Shaun planning out his next moves.

Look for the blue shirt...another huge cliff (Midnight Surf) with beautiful routes.

Daddy had a blast and did great....look for the red shirt!

Nope, he's not falling but his feet cut loose for this exciting photo. It's a weird perspective because I'm looking straight up and left to get the photo.


 It was then Mommy's turn to finish up her project...or so that was the plan!

I made it through the steep hard start.

Found a decent rest.

Made it through another hard section...

Found an even better rest spot. If you look closely, I'm showing Daddy my bloody finger.

A little more easy climbing then a rest before the last hard section. You can see how close my hips have to be to the wall. I do this and then straighten my arms out so my muscles can get a little rest. The last moves are on tiny little pockets.

And I get the pocket...

Go to make the last hard move...

And FALL! Yep, this happened to me about 4 times that weekend. I fell at 4 different spots all at the top of a long route.
Discussing what went wrong and how to prevent it next time.

There was time to try again and guess what?! I DID IT!!! WHOOT!
Mommy did a "chocolate cake" climb so the boys were just as excited. Anytime anyone in our family does a hard climb, the family celebrates with yummy dessert...it's usually chocolate cake! However, sometimes it's coconut cake or berry pie which are two of Mommy's favorites!
Happy Mama!

I love seeing the boys smile when I lower down after climbing....makes my heart smile.
  I'm so happy we made the long trip to the cabin. It was just what everyone needed...FAMILY TIME!!!






Easter with Daddy


 Daddy had missed so many holidays this past year and Easter came just days before he was scheduled to come home. I talked to the boys and we decided that we would postpone Easter and wait to celebrate with Daddy! It was awesome to have him join in on all the fun.

We had two weekends before our big trip to Oregon and we set out for two long weekends in Kentucky to get in some mini-family vacations. We also had to get Daddy on real rock again. He did what he could in Afghanistan on homemade climbing boards but he needed to get back to the real stuff.

Driving to Kentucky from Florida is not easy and takes about 10 hours each way. With a car full of  snacks and movies, we drove north. Once climbing again, Daddy didn't really miss a beat. He jumped right on  and gracefully danced up the rock. It was so fun to see. I know it probably didn't feel that easy to him but he has this way of making things look easy. It's been his way of getting me to try new climbs for the past 13 years! HA! :)

Anyways, we had a wonderful day climbing with old friends and giving Daddy time to get reacquainted with the rock and crowds that inherently come with climbing at the Red River Gorge. Once back at the cabin, it was time to color some Easter eggs. We forgot to bring vinegar so they were very pale colored but beautiful none-the-less. The boys then came up with a great idea which really helped out the Easter Bunny. They filled all the eggs with treats and then proceeded to hide the eggs all over the cabin. It was adorable (and yes, very helpful)! They were a little surprised in the morning to find that the Easter Bunny had re-hide some of their eggs. :)

Axel taking egg dying very serious.

Looks like Lucas is pretty serious himself.

The Easter Bunny did not disappoint.

Axel excited to see what was in his basket.

Lucas diving in too!

Watch out Axel...potential candy thief has an eye on your basket!

Looks like the Easter Bunny left some clues on where to find the grand prize.

Hidden in the shower!

More Legos?! Who is this Easter Bunny??

A Furby!!! Ok, next year I'm having a little chat with the Easter Bunny! :)

Climbing skill put to good use.

Axel checked each and every corner of the cabin.

Eggs found upstairs.

In the kitchen.

Lucas...use that cool green bag to carry all those eggs!

Axel still searching.

Outside?! That Easter Bunny!!

They both paused for a quick photo to make Mom happy.

After the hunt, it was time for Legos with Dad.

Lucas dove right in to his Magic Wand Science Kit.
 We had another wonderful day climbing. The boys got to climb too and did great!
Axel climbing up.

Happy boy!

We were so proud. He likes climbing but LOVES lowering and just giggles with delight.




Lucas was cruising up quickly.

He has improved so much and really has a comfort on the rock that most people wish they had.

He tried hard!

Tested out a "back step" to make his Dad proud.

Blew Dad away with his "heel hook!"

Movies are a must after a long day of climbing.

Daddy starting to realize that he really is back!  He had been dreaming of our cabin for 7 months!!!

Above Photo: Downtown Portland Oregon Bike Ride

The Danger Zone needed a little update to include not only LUCAS DANGER, but also his little brother...AXEL ADVENTURE!

Welcome to our family blog now known as:


DANGER and ADVENTURE Around Every Corner!!

Enjoy!!