apAdventures

The last week and a half has been nothing but playmates galore for Silas and Ivan. First they got an invite to a 3 year old’s birthday party. Not only were there plenty of other kids in attendance, but the party was held at My Gym, which is basically a giant romper room. Whoa. Next we hosted a Halloween Party with local friends and their kids, complete with costumes, backyard “trick-or-treating”, homemade popcorn balls and pretzel ghosts. Ooooo. And then last weekend we linked up at Hueco with a couple we had met in South Africa who now live in the states and have two kids of their own, as well as friends of their’s with yet another kid. Oh my.

Silas has so many little friends now I wonder if he can keep them all straight. Who am I kidding, of course he can. And I know Ivan loves them all by the permanent smile on his face as he runs around squealing.

Gotta love the little people.

Silas showing off his gymnastics skills at the birthday party

Ivan making a new friend

Prepping for Halloween. Silas’ toothy-grin pumpkin on the left. Ivan’s “excited Ivan face” pumpkin on the right

The ghost pretzels for the party

And this year’s Halloween costumes! Silas wanted to be a yellow jet. A jet that can put his wings out, or tuck them in for a landing. A yellow one with blue stripes. And a propeller. And Ivan had to be one too, only blue (This is all according to Silas of course. Poor Ivan didn’t get a choice. Although I don’t think he minded much. 😉

Wings out and ready for takeoff (Silas’ pointy fingers are his lights. The lights always come on when the wings are out. Even during storytime at the Library when he’s not wearing his costume).

Party time

I was a cooking witch this Halloween, not a flying witch. Hence the apron versus a cape.

On to Hueco. An East Mountain Tour, 5 kids and 6 adults. At least we weren’t outnumbered!

Silas must have taught his new buddies how to fly

And with all these climbing kids come climbing mama’s and dad’s. Strong mama’s at that! Magdel battling the first move of Better Eat Your Wheaties, v8

Linda sending Squeeze Me Tender, v3

Paul and Greg spotting Lee on the upper section of Chutes and Ladders, v9/10

The dads looking all suave

The “excited Ivan face”

And a happy Silas

posted by arr

…see you at Hueco!

My latest obsession (among many), Bush League v8

Still waiting for that first hold on Better Eat Your Wheaties v8 to magically migrate closer to my right hand

In it for the long haul. Downtime under The Bloody Flapper Traverse v9 again this season

Quite possibly Silas’ favorite place to sleep in the whole wide world: the van

And his favorite place to play: the rocks

He’s sturdy, he’s independent, and most importantly….he doesn’t eat dirt anymore. This season is gonna be a breeze compared to last!

posted by arr

Daytime temps are cooling, nights are crisp and we’re back to the same ‘ol same ‘ol that we love, Hueco Tanks, Texas. The start of this season has been a bit of a bummer though for Paul. His finger has been bothering him all summer so he went to see a hand specialist last week. Diagnosis: bone fracture! Paul has now entered the ranks of those climbers that have climbed so hard they broke their own finger. It probably happened sometime in the spring (ahem, the crimps on Nagual maybe?). It sounds hardcore and all to say it like that, but I can guarantee he doesn’t feel too hardcore watching me crank on my Hueco projects while he plays sherpa. With 2 shots of cortisone in the finger, he’s been directed to take six weeks off from any climbing/gripping activity. In the meantime, to stay psyched he’s continuing to train any way he can. He’s become obsessive over mastering the planche.

See the little bone fragment that the arrow is pointing to as a result of the fracture

posted by arr

For some self-centered reason I’m sure, watching video of myself climbing gets me amped. Paul too. So I put together this short snippet of footage we took last season at Hueco and thought I’d share. Hopefully it motivates for hard training!

Click on the picture to play the video

Posted by arr

Well, turns out there probably won’t be any grand finale Hueco weekend after all. Our plans of heading there one last time over the weekend got shut down by a nasty stomach bug…(which I suspect we picked up at Silas’ gymnastics class given the fore-warning by the grandpa of one of Silas’ little classmates of violently vomiting gymnasts). It knocked our entire family out Wednesday night through Sunday. Yep. Yuck. And now it’s hot. And the next few weekends are booked. So, that’s a wrap people! Hueco will just have to wait till the fall. I am a bit bummed to not be heading straight back to tick off Mr. Serious, v8, but as Paul pointed out this week, now I get to look forward to a quick send when we head back later this year…which will be a nice little motivating goal to keep me from lounging too much by the pool with margaritas in hand during the hot Tucson summer. 😉

As a parting gift, here are some of my favorite “playtime” photos from the season. Oh the places the kid’s toys have gone. Enjoy!

Truck on stick at the repair shop

Dump truck giving orders in the hueco

The jet plane (from Seb and Oren) towing the whole gang up the mountain

Not sure what this one is. If I had to guess, it’s probably a parking garage

Dinosaur eating his snack

A cool play spot in a precarious place

Parked for the night

After seeing an owl one night while peeing at the campsite, Silas’ fascination with Hueco’s dams was quickly replaced by Hueco’s owls. This stuffed owl from Aunties Jude and Ann soon emerged from the bottom of the toybox and joined us on many a Hueco adventure.

The owl in his nest keeping his eggs warm (yes, “he”)

The eggs

Bare belly in dirt. The usual.

Besides eating rocks and dirt, Ivan also loves to motor around with rod-shaped objects in his chubby little hands…like sticks, screwdrivers, wrenches, etc. Here, he’s fallen asleep with Silas’ socket wrench in his iron grip. What’s interesting is that we remember Silas loving to trail around strings and cords at this age. To each his own.

Dump truck being bossy again

“The train”

And here, nature got the best of the toys. No kid can resist a pile of leaves.

See you in the fall Hueco!

posted by arr

Even though we may be the only vehicle in the parking lot, the Hueco season is not over yet for us. My forced rest turned out to be the right decision because I had an AMAZING weekend! Sex After Death, v8 is done!! As well as Smokin’ Sausage, v4 (a pumpy endurance climb in the Sausage Factory with somewhat of a committing topout due to a slab behind your head; a climb I had always been either too pumped or too chicken to complete), a flash of Weenie Roast, v4, a repeat of The Give, v3, a near send of the 4-star classic Star Power, v5, and a link through the crux moves of Mr. Serious, v8!!!!

Although I am quite pleased with my tick of Sex After Death, I am just as excited about my efforts on Mr. Serious. I had never tried this line before because I’d always been “saving it” for “someday when I’m a v8 climber.” I hadn’t planned on trying it this season for not only the reason just stated but also because it’s in a non-kid-friendly sort of place. The line is on a massive boulder that’s wedged between and under a couple other massive boulders with a steep sloping, polished landing provided by yet another massive boulder. It’s a pretty sweet place – without kids, that is. Trying it meant no spot, no one to move my pads, and no one to even be up there with me because Paul would have to be down at ground level with the kids. However, thanks to my extremely psyched and motivating Paul, I was eventually convinced that my current crimp strength and lockoff power is suited perfectly for Mr. Serious and we’d figure out the kid situation somehow. We always do. Turns out, Paul was right. Alone, I quickly figured out my beta and nailed the crux move (moving off the small slopey pocket) with ease. And once it was time for Ivan to nap on Paul in the carrier, we grabbed some books for Silas to keep him stationary and I was able to have the whole family safely up on the landing with me, cheering me on. It wasn’t nearly as crazy as I had envisioned all this time.

I’m extremely psyched because I know I can most likely tick this one next trip. My only regret is that I may have forfeited an opportunity to send it in a day. On the go that I nailed the crux with ease I had started one dinky move in because I was, what I thought, still working out my beta. I was only able to nail the crux just that one time. It being day 2, that was my window of power. Had I started with my right hand on the start hold, that very well could have been a send in a day! Aahh, how easy it is to succumb to a climber’s greed, haha.

Meanwhile, Paul continues to make slow yet steady progress on Nagual, v13. He also cleaned up sends of Mr. Smiley, v9, Serious Legends, v9, and Shroom, v9.

Send! The opening sequence of Sex After Death, v8

Sticking what was the crux move for me for many years. After this I just had make big moves and hold on

Getting set up for a suuuper fun drop knee move to get to the small slopey pocket on Mr. Serious, v8

Grabbing the small slopey pocket

Working out my beta. Left foot up to do the crux move out right or right foot up?

Tried the left foot a whole bunch of times (shown here), then decided to change it to a right foot which was when I stuck the move. See the crimps up and right – the first is an intermediate, the second is the money

Happy that my boys can join me up on the landing

A small scoop in the sloped landing proves perfect for a small bum

Photo sequence of Paul on Shroom, v9

Sticking the big move on Shroom. “Send it dad!” yells a tiny voice from below

Giving credit where credit’s due: I really think it’s the hauling of 4 pads and 2 kids to Nagual that’s making us stronger, not all of our training and Hueco projecting, haha

posted by arr

Well, the kids stole the show this weekend. Ivan took his first steps (!!!!!) and Silas schooled me on all my Hueco projects. Paul and I climbed a lot. A LOT! We even ventured up onto West Mountain to try some different stuff…which took some extensive round-about adventuring to get the kids safely up to the climbs. But no big number sends to report. Paul tore a hole in his fingertrip on his first climb of the weekend and thus wasn’t able to even try to attempt the razor crimps on Nagual, v13. I came REALLY close to sending Sex After Death, v8 (and am totally blaming it solely on a botched move), all while Bloody Flapper Traverse, v9 slowly starts to bake in the warming desert temps while I continue to fall from the final move. Good thing we’ve got these kids with us to keep the action rolling.

Silas on top of his warm-up climb

Ivan warming up his newly found walking legs

Mama’s taking a rest from her project. Time to go “cookoo crazy”!

All chalked up and ready to try Sex After Death, v8

He pulls on…

“Did you see dat mama?!”

Meanwhile, with big brother busy climbing, Ivan jumps on the opportunity to play with the diggers!

Next up, Star Power, v5

“Mama. You jus need to put your weft foot here and your wight foot here.”

“You got it mama!”

Beta boy

Ivan eyeing up his own boulder problem to climb

Forget the walking, this is way easier

Paul trying to keep up with his boys by sending Long Dong, v6

The finish of Long Dong. STELLAR boulder problem.

Silas isn’t impressed.

posted by arr

The Hueco weekend rampages are still in progress and I feel as though we’re coasting on fumes. I had negative progress on the Bloody Flapper Traverse, v9 and was feeling beat, Paul has this interesting bubble starting to form on his ring finger and the van even pooped out on us and had a flat on the way there last weekend. We’re still managing to squeak out some good sends though so we’re not tossing in the towel just yet. Paul ticked off Whispers of Mortality, v10 in a session and had great progress on Nagual, v13. I repeated Baby Martini, v6 and Girls of Texas, v5 for warm-up and was able to do Sex After Death, v8 in two parts while feeling pretty tired. I’m hoping a week of rest will cure my Bloody Flapper blues as well as secure a send of Sex After Death. Stay tuned! Until then, we’re all gearing up for easter egg-coloring and birthday cake eating!!! Woo!

Silas getting bored at the Bloody Flapper Boulder wondering if Mama is ever going to send

You said “last try” like 4 go’s ago. Can we go now?

Back at camp and equipped with plenty of pads for Nagual

Parents need a break. Time for the playpen.

Silas at work with his construction while Franklin the turtle plays Foreman

Caught red-handed with two rocks destined for the mouth

Caught or not, he doesn’t ever seem to care

Ivan is TOTALLY into making motor sounds now while pushing around Silas’ cars and construction equipment. I kid you not. It’s very cute.

About to pick up a very, very large rock

And succeed he did (the boy has an iron grip!). It got taken away so he wouldn’t break a toe, or leg for that matter.

Paul on Whispers of Mortality, v10

Dan doing the “rose” move on Whispers of Mortality

The highball headwall of Whispers of Mortality

Silas feeding his little brother some snacks

Since we’ve got all the pads, why not give The Hand, v10 a try!

Dan about to crash down from The Hand into the pad pit

Ivan giving me the mischievous eye

What the heck?! Silas too?!!! 😉

posted by arr

Silas: “Mama, we go to Hueco Tanks Tate Park. We put baby Isan in his nosuit, and he jus eats dirt. Isan ohways eats dirt. Isan ohways eats dirt at Hueco Tanks Tate Park.”

(He’s right. We’ve had plenty more of these episodes lately with Ivan – no hands dirt-eating).

Silas continues: “Mama, I has an ideeea. We need to bring sumpin to put on Isan’s mouth so he doesn’t eat dirt.”

Mama: “Yeah? Like what?”

Silas: “Mama, we need some tape.”

Mama: “Huh. Dad, you listening to this?”

Silas: “Yeah. And when he wants to eat, we jus take the tape offs and put some food in. Dats what we do.”

Mama: “Huh.”

posted by arr

Woohoo!!!!!!!!!!! Another low gravity weekend at Hueco! We’re on a roll people! 🙂 Thanks to cool temps and a whole lotta psyche we’ve got some more sends and significant progress to report. Here’s the weekend rundown:

Typically, Paul and I like to come up with a game plan for the weekend prior to arriving at the rocks. With kid-maintenance (i.e. diapers, feedings, playtime, kid-climb time, cry time, etc.) it’s awfully easy to get side-tracked or lazy and waste the day away at only one or two areas. We’ve found that having a game plan really helps us ‘force’ the day along. I suppose a more fitting term is a “mission,” haha. No, we’re not drill sergeants. We just try to hustle.

So this weekend the plan was:

– E. Mtn on Friday (so we would be rested and fresh to tick off Hector in a Blender, v7 and Liane, v11)

– E. Spur on Saturday (to project Better Eat Your Wheaties, v8 and Nagual, v13)

– North Mtn on Sunday (to work Bloody Flapper Traverse, v9 and Loaded Direct, v12).

But, the plan changed. Due to threatening wind advisories on Friday and Saturday and not wanting to repeat crawling down the East Mtn slabs in 40 mph wind gusts or sucking dust at the East Spur Maze yet another weekend, we decided to alter the plan. We’d play it safe and stay on North on Friday so we could easily bail if it got nasty and not feel guilty about giving up a tour day. We weren’t all that crazy about this decision because we soooo wanted to tick off our East Mtn projects. Delaying them to Saturday or Sunday meant having to try them tired – risky. But we were sick of the stupid wind. To our surprise, the altered plan turned out to be the best decision of the season!

We went to the Babyface Boulders to warm-up. I wanted to add some new warm-ups to my season tick list so we did a few no-star climbs. They were EXTREME “bottom of the barrel”. They were so bad I’ll never repeat them or recommend anyone ever try them: A v1 that I’m too lazy to go look up the name and Itty Betty, v2. Done.

Apparently, no-star bouldering really warms me up well because I then sat down in front of Daily Dick Dose, v7 and climbed it (a repeat, but a send nonetheless). After a few laps on Daily Paul then gets on his nemesis v11, Rogered in the Shower. Paul has been on this one on and off over the last year or so. It’s not stellar enough to make Day 1 priority so we’ve always come to it at the end of a weekend when he’s tired. He eats it up. Done.

From here we head down to my big long-term project, Bloody Flapper Traverse. Excited that the shoulder-y crux move of Daily felt so easy I decide to start at the beginning versus the soft jug before the first crux like I had planned in my ‘working it in reverse’ strategy. I’m greedy. Heck, why not?

No, I didn’t send, but I DID crush all the way to the final move. Four times. For those that had witnessed me falling at that last move back in 2010 pre-Ivan, I want to clarify that these go’s were way more promising. Pre-Ivan I would get to that last move completely gassed without any hope of sticking it. On these go’s I was literally ripping off, losing skin, holding that final hold for a couple milliseconds before my tension would fade and I would blow aggressively off. So close!! SOOO CLOSE!

Moving through the first crux on Bloody Flapper Traverse, v9

Before we called it a day Paul put some effort in on Loaded Direct and stuck the first move for the first time. Yey! And it ended up not being windy at all that day, haha.

Day 2. The forecast was still threatening severe winds so we opt for a snow-globe of sand at the East Spur Maze versus getting blown off the East Mtn slabs like kites with the kids. Again, the weather turns out to be absolutely stellar with hardly any wind at all! We warm up at Tabloid Pass. I add Dwarf Toss Tragedy, v2 and Amazing Little Halfboy, v5 to my ticklist while Paul runs laps on Sex After Death, v8. It’s a much needed naptime for Ivan and I’d like to try Better Eat Your Wheaties somewhat fresh so I volunteer to take naptime duty versus try Sex After Death and we head to Nagual, v13.

Paul gets on Nagual for the first time and is pleased. He does the first couple moves and almost the big move out left to the first good hold. We realize we need WAAAY more pads, or spotters, or both. Unfazed by how the heck we’re going to hump 5 pads and 2 kids out to this boulder in the future, he declares it his new obsession and decides to take a break from Crown of Aragorn, v13.

The opening moves of Nagual, v13

Next up is Better Eat Your Wheaties for me. I kinda feel like taking a nap! Man, am I tired and my arms feel wrecked. I re-warm back up and then try to pull on. Whoa. I’m totally spent from the previous day’s efforts. I try a handful of times more (each go progressively getting worse than the last) and then finally decide to take the rest of the day off to rest up for East tomorrow.

From here we move to Scream, v11. Paul gives it a whole lotta go’s but doesn’t send. Tired from Nagual, I’m sure.

Scream, v11

Day 3, East Mountain. Finally!! It’s showtime!! (Positive thinking, haha. We’re both EXHAUSTED from Days 1 and 2). We start at Warm Up Roof. Ivan is napping again so I let Paul take the stage. He warms up and sends Liane, v11. Done!

Paul sending Liane, v11

Now it’s my turn. We go to the North Dragon’s Den area and I hang around on some holds to warm up and then send Instant Classic, v3 followed by the adjacent Jerry’s Not Home, v4. I feel tired, oh no! Paul apparently has just enough juice left for a v9 and flashes Man Gum. Nice.

A not-so-impressive photo of Paul topping out Man Gum, v9

On to Hector in a Blender, v7. I’ve already got it in my head that there’s no way I can possibly send it today because I feel so shot and Paul and I start discussing plans to return the following weekend just for this climb. I give it a go and fall. Another go, another fall. I feel horrible! A third go, a third fall. I decide to rest, eat a snack and give it one last go. Regardless of it’s outcome, we’re going to head home after this one. We’re spent, the kids are getting cranky, I already feel satisfied with my amazing go’s on Bloody Flapper Traverse and it’s late afternoon. One last try. I pull on, grab the heinous crimp with my right hand, barely snatch the left hold, desperately snatch the right hold, climb up to my high point and…and…and…I GRAB IT! Well, technically I didn’t actually grab the hold…I grabbed a little to the right of the hold but went with it anyway. SEND!!! Wooohooooo!!!!!

Reaching up to the heinous crimp on Hector in a Blender, v7

Set up to move off the heinous crimp on Hector in a Blender, v7

That’s a wrap!

posted by arr