Rock Climbing!

Yesterday we went rock climbing with some friends from my fire class! It was really the most fun we have had for a while. We have been pretty busy with work and yard work and more work, so this was a very fun release for us. We went to a climb called Devils Dong, (I didn't make up the name.) which is only about 15 minutes from our house. It was such a blast. Everyone,(me being the exception) was pretty experienced in rock climbing, so it was extra cool to get some tips especially from the other two ladies who were there. (Men always make it look sooo easy.)

We took Mckinley with us also....and she is a fearless rock climber now! She loved it. JJ had a kids harness that he brought for his son Jesse, and we let Mckinley try it. We thought she would be scared but check out these pictures.



So this is an up close picture of Mckinley rock climbing. Pretty cool right?



Now THIS is where she was! She was up there laughing, and yelling "whee!" and I was at the bottom having a heart attack.

In this picture she was swinging, she really thought it was a ride. And here she is practicing her correct stance. We kept telling her to "sit down," she did pretty good!
David really made everything look so easy. He was up the mountain (ok, DONG) in like five minutes.

Here are pictures of Brandon and Amanda. I thought this was such an awesome picture of Amanda. She is really reaching. Brandon is also an outstanding climber. He was already at the top by the time I got the camera out. (Sorry Brandon.)


Here is a picture of Jesse, who was the youngest person there who knew what he was doing. JJ and Valeena were so cool because they didn't try to coax him or bribe him to do anything. They just let him try things out at his own pace. He was a pretty good little spider man.


JJ was swinging Elijah in the harness. Elijah is a one year old studd.


JJ was probably the most experienced out of all of us. He brought the equipment and also did the lead climb. See, no rope above him. Yikes!And last but not least, this is Valeena. She is an amazing rock climber.(She doesn't think so but she is.) She is actually afraid of heights but you would never know it until she is coming down. JJ warned us that she is a screamer, and he let her slide a little bit to prove it. (He got in trouble when she was down.) It was the day before JJ and Valeena's anniversary which was the reason for the trip. It was so much fun. I can't wait to go again!