2 1/4 Years Old

I've been meaning to write a post for a couple of weeks with an update on the kids, but I've been procrastinating as there is always something else I should be doing and I feel like they are doing new things every day so it is hard for me to document it all. Here is a snapshot of our kids at 2 1/4 years old.

Bye-Bye Baby Stuff: I believe the last of our "baby stuff" has finally been put into storage as we no longer have a bottle drying rack in our kitchen! I feel so happy every time I see space on the countertop where the drying rack resided since we moved into our house 18 months ago. Although we haven't used bottles in five months (I can't believe it's only been five months!) we continued to use the drying rack for sippy cup parts, but recently we weren't using it as much so I put it in storage. Sometimes it's the little things that make me happy.

Bottles are becoming a distant memory but all of sudden they kids are asking us to "feed them like a baby" and they want us to hold their sippy cups for them. They also like us to carry them like a baby when I'm taking them out of the car and when we put them to bed at night (especially the girls).

Weight: The kids have continued to steadily gain some weight and I believe their weight gain is "normal" for their age according to my Google search. It might seem strange that we still stress about their weight gain, but I think having preemies that don't eat well makes any parent a bit obsessive about their kids' weight. Their weights as of 9/14/15 were:

Alexis 23 lbs 13 oz (1 lb 3 oz since 5/28/15)
Jack 22 lbs 8 oz (1 lb since 5/28/15)
Faith 23 lbs 6.5 oz (1 lb 1.5 oz since 5/28/15)

Eczema is Gone: I don't know if I ever mentioned this in any previous blog posts, but beginning last summer both girls struggled with eczema behind their legs and sometimes on the inside of their arms. We treated it with an over the counter lotion twice a day and whenever it got really bad we used a steroid cream. When you have three babies or toddlers to change every morning and every night you really don't want one extra thing that you have to do, so putting the lotion on them twice a day was kind of annoying. Thankfully the eczema seems to have disappeared in the last couple of months! We were told that it normally goes away around age 2, and it seems that it went away for Alexis and Faith around their adjusted 24 month date.

Comfort Objects: We gave the girls Beanie Babies as replacements for their pacifiers the day that we threw them all away in the beginning of May, but as it turned out they both became the most attached to stuffed doggies that we already owned. Of course there was no way of knowing that they would be most attached to things that we already had and it was exciting to open something new after throwing out the pacis, and both girls still insist on the sleeping with the Beanie Babies as well, but when we check on them at night they are usually both snuggled up with their stuffed doggies. Alexis sleeps with a stuffed Snoopy and Faith sleeps with a stuffed Husky dog that Micah actually gave to me 15 years ago. We really want Jack to stop sucking his thumb so we decided to buy him a stuffed guitar for a comfort object. I searched high and low for a good one and I found the perfect one on Etsy! Jack loves his stuffed guitar, and during the day it does work to tell him to hug his guitar instead of suck his thumb (or strum it!). Now we need to find a good strategy to get him to stop sucking his thumb when he sleeps.

This particular night the girls were having trouble falling asleep so I let them sit on the couch with me for a little bit. Thankfully this hasn't been happening often. Of course their doggies had to come downstairs with them.

Jack looking pleased with his new stuffed guitar

Complicated Outings: Although Alexis, Jack, and Faith are all very much mobile, they still cannot be trusted in parking lots and stores as they are prone to "2-year-old moments," so I have to plan ahead how to move them all safely from a car into a building before I leave the house if I'm by myself. Recently I had to buy cat food at the pet store and go to Target, and although these two stores are almost in the same parking lot I did have to be strategic since I wanted to use the triple cart in Target but I couldn't use that in the pet store. So when we got to the parking lot I loaded everyone in the triple wagon and we went into the pet store, then we dropped the cat food off at the car and I put everyone's backpacks with leashes on, I then got everyone out of the wagon and put that in the car, and then we all walked into Target (with the leashes on) and got into a triple cart. I explained this whole process to the kids before we did it and during the process, and luckily everyone was extremely cooperative. I look forward to the day when I can run simple errands without having such a strategy in place.

On an evening stop at Trader Joe's Micah and I decided to let the kids walk, but of course then they decided they all actually wanted to be in the cart so this is how we shopped!

Becoming Independent at Home: Although the kids still need a lot of supervision when we are out in public, recently they have begun entertaining themselves so much better at home. Although fights can break out quickly, there have been short periods of time that the kids have played in the backyard alone while I was inside working in the kitchen. Luckily our kitchen window and slider door overlook the yard so I can keep an eye on everyone, and I just use the screen door so that I can hear them and they can easily let themselves in and out of the house. We are having small glimpses of independence like this all of the time and it gives us so much hope that we won't have to commit every moment to our kids when they are awake in the future (Mommy and Daddy have other stuff they need to get done too!).

Cooperative Play: Although we have had glimpses of our kids playing cooperatively with each other in the past year, for the most part they have been doing "parallel play" (playing near each other but not really interacting) and "associative play" (joining in on the same activity, such as building with blocks, but not working together), which is common for young toddlers. Recently, though, we have been seeing more and more "cooperative play" (interactive playing), especially between the girls. They will ask each other if they want to play ball and then they each take a different post in the living room and they throw or kick a ball back and forth (at least, as best as a 2-year old throw and kick). We don't see much cooperative play between the girls and Jack yet as he seems more interested in doing his own thing at this point, but often they will imitate each other and getting each other laughing, which is really cute to see. From what I've read online, this is a bit early to be starting cooperative play, but I believe the girls already have a very special relationship so it is easier for them to interact like with each other than with other two-year-olds.

Usually we see "associative play" like this where they are all doing the same activity but not really interacting, except for the nonstop giggles. In fact, this ended soon after I took the picture as the girls ran straight into each other when going in opposite directions so they both fell into the puddle and got soaking wet.

I don't know who decided to put bubbles on their face first, but it soon looked like fun to everyone!

More copying...both girls have their legs in the air

If one has a toy phone, everyone needs to get theirs out

Pretend Play and Drawing Something: When the kids are playing with buckets and spoons outside I often ask them what they are "making" and almost every time Alexis says donuts, Jack says pancakes, and Faith says pasta. I guess we know what their favorite foods are! The other day Jack was drawing on his Magna Doodle and then he came up to me and excitedly said, "I drew a violin!" It actually looked like a pretty good circle, but to him it was a violin (and then he continued to draw more and more violins as he was quite proud of his accomplishment). Their imaginations are definitely running and soon I'm sure I will hear stuff like this all of the time.

Feats of Strength: Everyone is testing their limits when it comes to climbing, jumping, and other strength activities these days. I'm glad that are kids are strong and that they dare to climb high and try new things, but it does make me a little nervous as I can't be in three places to catch everyone if they fall.

Jack loves to hang on things

Faith thinks it's fun to climb on the railing 

Jack can get to the top of the climbing wall on the play structure in our backyard 

And Jack can climb the entire ladder at our neighborhood park

Climbing up the steps to the slide is obviously for babies. All three are always creating new ways to the top of the slide.

Lexi has abs of steel

People Preferences: Faith is in a stage where she only wants me to do something, or she only wants Daddy to do something, and sometimes she only wants Alexis to do something for her. Although all three kids have had their Mommy or Daddy preferences in the past few months, Faith is the only one who will choose who can push her chair into the table at dinner time (much to our frustration!). It's funny to me, though, when she wants Alexis to buckle her booster seat straps and push her into the table! I guess we know who wants to be in charge around here.

Alexis pushing Faith's chair to the table per her request

Speech: Some days our kids shock me with what they say. One morning Alexis was in bed with us and when we woke up she said, "I have a doggie named Snoopy." First of all, we never talk about the fact that her doggie is named Snoopy and second of all that was definitely a complete sentence. I was shocked. I've heard all of the kids look at something and refer to it as being "cute." The girls love to tell Jack that he needs to take his thumb out of his mouth. I also often hear the girls ask when someone falls, "Are you okay?" Thankfully this seems to have tapered off a bit, but for awhile all three were saying, "I NEED more!" That sounded super bossy to us and we tried to stop that one right away. Jack loves to get my attention by saying, "Hey! Mom!" Does he think he's 10? And the questions have started: What is that? Where are you? What are you doing? Thankfully they are not questioning every move I make yet, but I'm sure this will be happening soon. I am so glad they are talking more and more every day as life is so much easier when one can say what they need or want.

And here are some random photos from the last month:

Alexis trying on Daddy's sunglasses

Alexis just hanging out

Happy Alexis coming down the slide

Alexis' first ponytail, per her request

Jack having fun pouring water over his head

Jack excited about his new (to him) guitar PJ's

Jack proudly showing me a dandelion puff that he found

Faith in the backyard

Faith running in circles at a park

Alexis and Faith hanging out in the backyard

Faith, myself, and Lexi

If we really get around to potty training before next summer we won't have any more cute diaper shots like this one!

Update on Jack's Health

It has now been three months since Jack was discharged from the hospital after his three night stay for having low platelets and neutrophils (a component of white blood cells). The good news is that we made it through the rest of the summer without him being admitted to the hospital again. The sad news is that we have had to go to the infusion center at the hospital every 10-14 days for the past three months for blood draws to check his platelet and neutrophil levels, and as of right now there is no end to these appointments in sight.

A normal platelet range is between 150,000 and 400,000. Jack's platelets were below 3,000 when he was admitted to the hospital in June and they were up to 42,000 the day he was discharged. Since then his platelets went up a bit, with one count in the normal range, but lately they have been going down. Today was his lowest count since being hospitalized as his platelets were only 51,000.

A normal neutrophil range is 1,500 to 8,000 and Jack's were at 100 when he was hospitalized. Since then he has had one count at 1,500, but the rest have been much lower and today they were down to 500.

So what does this all mean for Jack? At this point we are not sure and the best explanation that the doctors can give us is that he has some form of ITP (idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura) that is also affecting his neutrophils. Overall he has been very healthy and he has not had any abnormal bleeding and bruising since his hospitalization, which is amazing considering his abnormal counts, so the doctors are not overly concerned right now but they do want to keep monitoring him. The hope is that in time his body will heal itself and he won't need further treatment (he received a platelet transfusion while hospitalized), but we have no idea how long that will take and although we hope it will only take a few more weeks or months, we know that it could take years.

In the grand scheme of life we know that Jack's condition, as of right now, is not a big deal. He gets to live a mostly normal life (although the doctor said today that we have to stay away from trampolines and other things that might cause big falls, and we've been told to avoid McDonald's play areas because of the germs). But his condition is always in the back of our minds and we have been living with the resulting low level stress for the last few months. When Jack takes a big fall or when he's exposed to germs I think, "What if his platelets are really low right now and his blood doesn't clot properly? What if Jack gets sick and his body can't fight off the infection due to low neutrophils so he ends up in the hospital?" Both of these things are possibilities and we have to be extra aware of changes in Jack.

Going backwards down the slide is fun for Jack, but I'd be lying if I said it didn't make me nervous with his low platelets!

Honestly, besides the low level stress that his condition has added to our lives, the most annoying part of it for me is the appointments every other week. We have a 20 minute drive to the hospital and the parking situation isn't good so we always have a long walk in. When we go in for a blood draw we have to sit and wait for the results, so the whole appointment ends up taking about 1.5 hours. That is a long time for a 2-year-old to sit and wait, and many times I have all three kids with me for the appointments (thanks Val for watching the girls the last two times!). The appointments end up taking our entire morning, and lately I haven't walked away feeling very encouraged since his numbers have been dropping.

For Jack, the worst part is definitely getting poked. Unfortunately he is always a bit dehydrated as he doesn't like to drink much and it seems the more I try to push fluids the more he avoids them, so it is super hard for the nurses to find a good vein. Jack usually gets poked two times every appointment as the first vein doesn't end up working, and one appointment he got poked four times! He is very brave during the first part of the appointment when they take the vitals, but as soon as the band is put on his arm for the blood draw he loses it, and quite frankly I don't blame him. He has no idea why he is getting poked so much and it definitely hurts him. As soon as the blood draw is done he is back to his normal, happy self, but he always avoids eye contact with all of the nurses and doctors at the infusion center as he doesn't trust any of them.

Someday I know this will be behind us and it will seem like a small hurdle, just like our two month stay in the NICU feels today. During the midst of unknown health issues things are stressful, though, so we appreciate your prayers for Jack's health.

Denali Trip Report

Micah applied for the "Live Your Dream Grant" for his Denali trip through the American Alpine Club, and he was one of the recipients for our region. He was awarded enough to pay for a plane ticket and a few other expenses, and the grant was greatly appreciated. In return for the grant, Micah had to submit a trip report to the American Alpine Club. Unless you are an alpinist yourself, it is hard to imagine what is involved in a Denali ascent, so I decided to post his trip report to my blog (with his permission). 

I am proud of Micah for setting this goal and sticking with it even though it meant many hours of training each week on top of his already busy schedule. He made sure that his training had very little impact on his time with me and the kids as he woke up early before work to train, and he scheduled his long weekend runs around the kids' nap time. Some day, when the kids are a bit older and can comprehend what it means to climb a 20,310 foot peak (the highest in North America), they will be very proud of him as well.

When I was 18 I saw Denali off in the distance for the first time while on a NOLS Alaska Mountaineering trip, and my dream to climb the mountain was born.  After the course I asked one of the instructors, a young Alaskan native who had yet to climb Denali, if she was looking forward to summiting while instructing a NOLS trip.  She responded that the mountain meant too much to her to climb it without the company of good friends and on her own terms.  Her notion of respect for the mountain inspired me to decide that, when I got my shot at Denali someday, I wanted to climb it via a proud route – one that paid respect to the mountain and one that made the most of realizing a dream.

Fifteen years later I found myself balancing a demanding job and a busy family life with 2-year-old triplets, and the idea of climbing Denali began to feel more like a pipe dream.  Yet through the years I had continued to climb and build trad, big wall, ice and alpine climbing skills that, in combination, had me at a point where I was ready to take on a technical route on Denali. But I was now facing a different kind of challenge: Balancing my profession and my family life with trying to realize a long-time dream and my passion to climb.

In December 2014 my friend Mark and I committed to climbing Denali in June 2015 with the hope of ascending the famed Cassin Ridge.  We felt we were up to the technical challenges of the route, but we knew we’d need to train hard to be able to endure three full days on the route.  I’d heard about the coaching programs offered by Skyward Mountaineering and Mark and I decided some professional guidance was worth the money, so we committed to it.  The four months of training that Steve House laid out for us was demanding and at times pretty brutal.  At the start of June, after about 600 miles and 100,000 feet of elevation gain/loss of running and pack carries (not to mention plenty of weight lifting and climbing), I felt the fittest I’d been in many years and ready for Denali.

The period of time between the day before I left for Denali to the day I returned home has honestly been one of the wildest rides of my life.  The range of events and emotions I experienced in that period has only been second to having three children brought into my life at once.

The day before we left was my kids’ second birthday.  It's amazing where they are now given that they each started off life with six weeks to two months in the NICU.  Despite my excitement for climbing Denali, walking out the door and heading to the airport the day after their birthday was so much harder than I thought it would be.

We had 18 glacier days planned for our trip, which was as much as I could afford vacation and family-wise.  We got held up in Talkeetna for the first three days because it was dumping snow on the mountain.  During that period my son had a health problem manifest that very quickly led to a Leukemia diagnosis, but shortly thereafter the diagnosis was changed to a benign auto-immune disorder.  The day that Jack received the Leukemia diagnosis was the worst of day of my life as I spent the evening and night trying to come to grips with that would mean for his life.  I booked a flight home as soon as possible. Fortunately, we got a better prognosis the following day and my wife was incredibly supportive of me continuing on with the trip after we got this much better news.  Thankfully most of this occurred while we were in Talkeetna waiting for the weather to improve and we could communicate easily, rather than while we were deep into the Alaska range.

We flew into Kahiltna Base Camp four days after arriving in Talkneeta with amazing weather.  However, our 18 glacier days had now become 15. That amazing weather was forecasted to persist for a long time, and it did.  On day one we waited until the evening and skied the ~5.5 miles to 7800 camp.  This was my second trip to the Kahiltna and I was psyched to be back, loving every moment of the trip to 7800 camp.  On day two we carried to 11k camp and on day three we moved up.  Day four was a quick trip to just past Windy Corner where we cached some gear.  We enjoyed a fun and quick ski back down to 11k camp that night.  Finally, on day five, we moved up to 14k camp and started really putting our minds toward the task of climbing the route.  The weather was amazing and we both felt great.  Mark was adamant we move at a conservative pace each day to conserve energy and it worked – we were both never tired or sore from any of the carries and we arrived at 14k camp fresh and full of energy. 

Day 1 leaving Kahiltna Base Camp 

Day 1 at 7800 camp

Day 3 at 11k camp

Day 6 at 14k camp

We acclimated to 16700 on the West Buttress on day six, and we rested on day seven.  On day eight we planned to acclimate higher on the Buttress, possibly to the summit, and we were looking at another good forecast.  When we hit Denali Pass at 18200 that day, though, we both felt headaches coming on so we decided we’d ascend 500 feet at a time and re-evaluate. Before we knew it we were at the Football Field at 19200 and, with the gift of continuing perfect weather, we went on to the summit.  We made it there in seven hours and some odd minutes.  It was hard moving from Denali Pass on up, but we felt great and the weather couldn’t have been better – it was warm and there was almost no wind!  Mark and I were glad to have summited and to have it go as well as it did, but we knew that this summit was just the tune up for the main event.  Now we hoped the good weather would persist.

Day 8 view of Denali at 17k

Day 8 on top of Denali via the West Buttress

On the way down from the summit it started to snow and this turned out to signify the end of the awesome weather and the start of the unstable (but still warm) weather.  We rested on day nine and talked with our meteorologist about the forecast (we’d hired Chris Tomer out of Denver).  He said the all-day-long blue skies were over and we should expect afternoon snow squalls and low visibility until an approaching large low-pressure system hit.  If we didn't want to get trapped by that we'd have to get back to Kahiltna base camp two days earlier than planned.  

So, there we were, looking at launching for the Cassin on day 10 of what was now only 13 glacier days.  We contemplated the idea and the likelihood of being able to approach, climb the route, and return to base camp to fly out in four days with the current unstable weather and low visibility and no margin on the back end due to the approaching storm. We both agreed we couldn't afford to get stuck in the range because of the storm as we needed to get back to our families and jobs.

Nonetheless, we decided we'd launch for the route in the afternoon of day 10 and see how things went with the weather.  If the weather seemed like it was working in our favor then we’d go for it.  One rest day removed from our Buttress summit acclimatization was not ideal, but we felt remarkably good – the four months of hard training was working well for us.  Our plan was to head to the West Rib Cutoff and down the Rib (we'd been talked out of the Seattle Ramp by several rangers and other climbers who'd just done it).  As we moved closer to the Cutoff the clouds started to envelope us.  After making it to the cutoff we waited a while, and with no improvement in conditions we decided to bivy there and wait for better visibility.  The following morning we could see up the mountain but everything below us was socked in.  At this point we were at day 11 of 13 and we felt our chance of a legitimate attempt on the Cassin had just slipped away.

Day 10 Bivy at the West Rib Cutoff

We pondered our options given our current situation and decided we’d head up the Upper West Rib.  Once we made that decision, we moved with the lightness of making a wise choice in the mountains, but the weight of knowing we wouldn’t be climbing our objective.  It’s a feeling I’ve felt before – knowing I’ve prepared mentally and physically for a climb but wouldn’t be getting the ascent – and it wasn’t any more welcomed this time around.  We made good time up the Rib and we were somewhat surprised by how easy the route felt. We summited again, then descended to 17k camp and spent the night there.  We were tired from the day, thankful for another summit via a great route, but deep down we were sad that we didn’t get the Cassin.

Day 11 climbing up the West Rib

Day 11 on top of Denali via the West Rib

On day 12 we descended to 14k, rested during the day, packed up and left early in the morning on day 13, and then flew out late-morning on day 13. The storm hit the evening of day 14 and I later learned that TAT didn't fly again until after our scheduled flight out of Anchorage.  Had we gotten stuck by the storm we would have missed our return flights home. That offered me some consolation, but it also left me wondering what could have been if we’d gone for it.

Day 12 resting during the ski down

Day 13 on the plane about to leave the glacier 

I've analyzed our decisions quite a bit since leaving.  The uncertainty we had in our ability to climb the route in three days with less than ideal weather and the uncertainty we had in the storm's arrival and strength I think is due to our general lack of climbing and weather experience in Alaska.  This led us to be conservative decision-wise and it meant our shrunken time window wasn't enough.

All said and done, though, I believe we had a trip many would kill for.  We had two summits in 13 days with outstanding weather for the first eight days, and pretty good weather for the remainder.  I don't think that happens very often on Denali.  I went to the mountain one person and I came back another as I endured both mental and physical challenges with the mountain itself, but also the emotional torment of being away from my family during my son’s health issues.  The trip cemented my desire to adventure in the alpine, but it also affirmed that that desire is secondary to my family and my relationships.

Labor Day Weekend in Monte Vista

It seems that we are starting a new tradition as this is the second year in a row that we spent Labor Day weekend in Monte Vista visiting Micah's parents. We were a little worried about the four hour car ride as when we traveled to Monte Vista for 4th of July weekend the kids refused to sleep, even though we drove during their regular nap time, and they weren't completely entertained with watching shows on the iPad. But we were happily surprised with how well the kids did on the drive this time!

We decided to leave on Friday after an early dinner so that we didn't have to stop to eat. Although we like to give the kids a chance to run around, sometimes it's hard to convince them to get back in their car seats and there aren't many good places to stop and play. This strategy ended up working great as the kids all had good naps before we left so they weren't hungry, and they were content watching shows on the iPad. Whenever someone did start to get antsy I gave them various snacks and toys which helped them get through the four hour drive. The most amazing part was that they could actually ask for snacks and toys by name, which helped me know what would make them happy! Hooray for growing vocabularies!

We ended up arriving in Monte Vista around 9:45 p.m., which is way past the kids' bedtime, so after a little bit of running around Grammy and Grandpa's house, they went down to bed quite easily and everyone slept well.

The first thing the kids did when we arrived on Friday night was sit at the piano. This trip the kids spent A LOT of time "playing" the piano.

2014 Labor Day Weekend Pic...they could barely reach the piano keys!

On Saturday morning we hung out at Grammy and Grandpa's and played outside for a bit, and after awhile Jack noticed Grandpa's Willys Jeep in the garage. Jack loves to sit in the driver's seat of a car and pretend to drive so he was so excited to do this in the Jeep. There is a dirt lot in front of Grammy and Grandpa's house so we all sat in the Jeep and drove in circles, which the kids thought was great as they are never in a car without their car seats let alone without a roof and doors! They then took turns sitting in the driver's seat, pushing buttons, and buckling seat belts.

Jack "driving"

Faith posing in the driver's seat

The Jeep

Faith and Lexi

One thing I enjoy doing when I come to Monte Vista is looking for kids' clothes at the local thrift stores as I can find some good quality items at great prices. This time we all walked down to the stores with the kids in the wagon, and then stopped at a park to play, which is always a hit. After the kids' nap it was a little rainy so we weren't able to do much, but after dinner when it was no longer raining we set up the slack line, started a bonfire, and played outside for a bit.

Riding in the wagon this year

2014 Labor Day Weekend in the wagon. There was a bit more room last year!

Lexi using a light as a microphone. All of our kids love music!

Lexi, Grandpa, and Faith by the bonfire

Jack practicing his slack line skills. He did not want to take turns with anyone, not even Daddy, and he cried whenever he wasn't walking on it.

Micah is getting a little better at the slack line too

On Sunday morning Micah and Grandpa took Jack on a hike. They drove for about an hour to a trailhead and hiked for almost four hours. Of course Jack mostly rode in the hiking backpack, but he did get out to walk for a few minutes. Micah said he did great the entire car ride there and back, and during the hike. He didn't cry, whine, or complain even once!

Jack following Grandpa down the trail

Since the guys were out hiking on Sunday, the rest of us had a girls' day. Grammy and I took the girls to the park and then we went to church. Although we were hopeful that the girls would be quiet and content during the service, Lexi struggled a little so we ended up bringing them to the nursery during the sermon with a few other kids but they didn't seem to mind the unfamiliar setting or people at all.

Lexi and Faith going down the very tall but very slow slide at the park 

Lexi

We played outside before dinner and then we took the kids to a park after dinner. The great thing about having 2-year-olds is that they really don't seem to care what they are doing as long as they are doing something!

Everyone seems to like to sit on our laps more these days, which is nice. This actually wasn't a pose...we were just hanging out like this enjoying each other's company while Grammy and Grandpa made dinner.

The girls really enjoyed digging in the dirt

On Monday morning we left Monte Vista at 8:30 a.m. and  drove two hours to El Rito, NM to meet our friends, the Turners, at a climbing area. I was super skeptical about how our kids would do since they aren't always the best at obeying, and there are a lot of dangers at climbing areas, but they surprised us and they did great! We were at the crag for FIVE HOURS, which meant they didn't get an afternoon nap, but overall all three were very content. They ate a lot of snacks, played a bit with some toys we brought, climbed on a fallen tree trunk, interacted a little with the Turner kids, and watched part of "Cars" on the iPad. The adults took turns climbing and watching kids, so there were always two adults watching the six kids, and we all got in three (long!) routes. Definitely a successful climbing day with kids in tow!

The kids with their backpacks on and shovels in hand, ready for the five minute hike to the crag

The girls entertaining baby Griffin for a few minutes

Watching "Cars" with Daddy while Mommy climbs

Downed trees are fun

Me on the wall

The two hour drive home was a little rough as they all slept for only 5-25 minutes once we got in the car, which was not enough after such a big day, so everyone was a bit overtired and ready to be home. But Micah and I feel very excited that we might actually get some real family climbing days in the near future! This is life changing for us!