apAdventures

Posted by arr

A barge sighting, a labyrinth victory and a close-up train passing!…all within a short and lucky 20 minutes while down at the Monongahela River. The kids could hardly contain themselves. 🙂

posted by ARR

posted by ARR

Since we moved to Tucson 11 years ago we’ve traveled home to our eastern family and friends for Christmas every year except one, when Silas was a newborn. This year’s traveling is a bit different than all the rest though. We’re DRIVING! The money tree I’ve got growing in the garden didn’t quite produce the small fortune it now costs us to fly east, being a family of four with no kids under 2 years of age anymore. So van travel it is!

And wow, is this the life. All the legroom we want. Seats that fully recline. Fresh air with a mere crack of the window. Flexibility to stop and pee and stretch and sleep and fill up on coffee whenever we feel like it. A layover at a world class climbing gym along the journey to put in a quick training session. Waaaaay better snack selection. And the freedom to talk like robots without people looking at us weird. 😉 Holiday van travel rocks!!!!

See you in Pittsburgh!

posted by arr

“We force it.”

On more than one occasion I have used this response when asked about how we manage to climb with kids. My response is just as vague and open-ended as the question usually. Sure we’ve learned a few lessons and tricks along the way for keeping our children happy, rested, fed, safe, warm, etc. at the rocks. But for the most part, ‘forcing it’ has been our most common and successful course of action.

For Paul and I, giving up climbing is simply not an option (and I’m not even going to attempt to go into the ‘why’ of this statement cause we’d be here all day and then some). We will climb as long as we’re physically capable and that’s just the way it is. From our perspective, the choice is crystal clear: We’re either climbers or we’re not. We either finish this drive to the crag or we turn around and go home. We either haul our gear and kids to the rocks or we sit at the campsite all day. We either send this rock climb now or never. ‘Forcing it’ by our definition typically entails an extreme amount of patience, an outstanding ability to tune out distraction, a rock solid tolerance to withstand pure and utter misery, and just a smidge of silliness to make light of the worst possible situation imaginable. Lucky for us there are two of us, so when one falters the other can maintain course. No, we’re not superheros. We’re just two people that happen to be completely obsessed with climbing some rocks. And here’s a classic example of just that:

Paul sending Jewel Thief v10 on Mt. Lemmon a few weekends ago. Make sure your audio is on. 😉

Jewel Thief from Paul Vollmer on Vimeo.

Posted by arr

Costumes, pumpkin carving and good boulders to climb. What better way to spend a holiday?!

This year’s ideas: A crow and a crocodile. Thankfully these costumes were mostly hot glue and only a bit of hand-stiching. I’m afraid of what ideas they’ll come up with for next year. I really must get my sewing machine fixed!

Crow versus crocodile. Who do you suppose will win?

And to round out this party, me as Silas’ witch and Paul as Crocodile Dundee, Ivan’s crocodile wrestler

Good ‘ol Site 12 at Hueco

Pouring over their whole 5 pieces of candy each. (Shhh, they don’t yet know that other kids fill up pillowcases with the stuff on Halloween!)

(Silas starts school next year….they’ll know soon enough)

(and this mostly candy-free holiday will be no more) 😉

A “starry-eyed man” rock art replication and “a happy guy with crow eyes”

No open flames allowed at Hueco so we improvised with battery operated candles. To our delight not only did the candles flicker and actually look like real fire once inside the pumpkins, but it was so windy that day a candle never would have stayed lit anyway

At home sitting under a boulder and playing in the dirt

Paul testing out his post-surgery finger on Unfinished Symphony v10. So far so good!

No, not another dirt-eating episode – we’re well beyond that (thank goodness!) Just getting a little too cozy in the dirt while drooling and pushing around his trucks.

Silas finding more fall foliage. This time NOT poison ivy!

Me on the opening move of Nuns & Donkeys v6. Yeah muscles.

Cuteness

and more cuteness

Last week Silas turned FIVE YEARS OLD! Yes, FIVE. Can you believe it?! I can’t. No, really, I’m serious, I seriously can’t believe it. Four was still kinda-sorta-toddler. When one says ‘he’s four’ phrases like ‘awe, so cute’ and ‘what big boy you are!’ follow. Five though, is just so…big kid. When one says ‘five’ words like ‘school’ and ‘kindergarten’ and talk of ‘school bus rides all by himself without mama or dad’ coming spewing out! In gymnastics, the five year old mark is where the kids transition out of the coed-preschool class. He’ll now be in what’s called the “Beginning and Intermediate Boys Recreational Gymnastics Class!” I mean, some stores stop at size 4T. I’m finding myself now browsing the Boy’s Clothing department! This is serious! This IS SO big kid!

Ok, enough of this mama’s rant. Let’s calm ourselves. Let’s instead talk about Silas and truly what a big kid he is now. This is why I shouldn’t be in such disbelief that he is now five years old:

Silas can ride a two-wheeler bike, all by himself. He can jump in and swim across the pool, all by himself. He can wake up, walk to his dresser, pick out clothes and put them on, all by himself. He can take a box of legos and a set of instructions and build a helicopter or a plane or a bulldozer, with every piece in it’s assigned place, all by himself. He can play a harmonica, reading songs from a book or better yet making up his own. He can count. He knows his letters backwards and forwards. He can spell and write his own name. He can even dial 911 in an emergency…or so we’ve rehearsed at least. Silas is a dreamer, a planner and a do-er. His little brain is continuously at work thinking about what adventure he’s going to dive into next. He is excellent at follow-through. We sometimes find ourselves nodding without fully listening to Silas’ extravagant plans…like say if we’re busy trying to have an adult conversation or talking on the phone, or trying to make dinner, etc. This is dangerous….oh so dangerous. Cause Silas will hold us to it. Be it the tree fort he’s going to build in the backyard, complete with a list of materials needed from Lowes and a diagram of his vision. Or the tea party he has planned for our imaginary pet Water Dog. He’ll spend an entire morning “baking scones,” “setting the table,” and “calling all Water Dog’s friends so they can attend the party.” One time, Paul, Ivan and I were invited. Silas had planned a storytelling after our tea. Sure enough, when all the tea was slurped we sat down around Silas and he told this fascinating tale of a lost bear looking for his mother. Nevermind that it was past bedtime. He said he was going to do a storytelling and gosh darn it we’re doing it. His most recent notable brainstorm of a plan was formed about a week and a half into our anniversary trip. While tucking him into his sleeping bag one cold night in Colorado he announced what he was going to do as soon as we got back home. He was going to build a bridge with his legos. He must have talked about this plan at least 50 more times before we finally made it home, describing how big it was going to be, how it was to be supported, what it was going to connect, etc. And sure enough, no sooner did we unbuckle his car seat in our driveway did he race into the house, open his lego box and get to work. He would not rest until it was complete.

We get quite the kick out of this little guy. Or shall I say, this BIG little guy. Keep dreamin’ boy. We’ve got a million adventures ahead of us together. Happy 5th Birthday to you, Silas!

posted by arr

posted by arr

There are few toys that have stood the test of time like Legos have. I’m positive I’m not the first to say that (hello, Lego Movie). In fact now that I think about it, Legos might be the only toy common between my childhood toys and my boys’ current collection. …only because this is a house full of boys and thus we have no Barbies. Maybe we should get some! Or maybe not. Cause Legos are just way more fun than Barbies. I have no desire what-so-ever to sit down and play house and dress-up with my kids and a bunch of Barbies. But Legos?! Heck yeah. Thank goodness I had boys.

That’s not to say had I given birth to girls we’d be doing the same thing of course. 😉

posted by arr

Note: Despite the wetness on Ivan’s shorts that would appear to be pee but claimed as a monsoon mud puddle splash, it’s official that the boy is now potty trained! Woo! No more diapers in this house!!!!!

posted by arr