Joshua Tree

On Wed after school, we jetted out to Joshua Tree for what was likely our last trip before the heat of summer sets in. We got there around 4pm and had such an incredible evening. I got to top-rope one of our old test pieces called "Hot Rocks", its one that is a super easy top-rope and an impossible lead (which has given it a timeless reputation as a free solo). I was thrilled to find that it was still somewhat easy on top-rope. The kids had a blast exploring on the way out to the climb and goofing around at the base of the climb while Jon and I gave it a couple of goes. That evening we had a lovely dinner by the campfire then all crawled into the tent to snuggle together. Unfortunately we all went to bed way too late and woke up way too early to be of any use the next day. Consequently the following day was anything but the sublime evening we had the day before and we ended up cutting the day short because of sour attitudes and poor tempers. We headed home a bit disappointed but also reminded that going on trips with the sole purpose of climbing is hard on the kids, and wherever I think we might be with this whole climbing with kids thing, we are not quite there yet. Right now any climbing we do needs to be a mere part of the day (as opposed to the whole day) and extremely kid centered. As long as we keep it that way we will all have a lot of fun. 

The kids and I making our way to the climb while Jon sets the rope (you can barely see him on top of the rock).

The kids were into this spot because it took them through a couple of really cool caves.

Zion loves to help with the rope. I definitely feel like he is gonna be into rope climbing someday.

An Eden pic of me on Hot Rocks.

Zion Pics!

I love these pics that Zion shot! To me they are very poetic and extremely true to him.

Jon's shadow as he ties in to climb.

Here Eden is demonstrating the art of chimney climbing to Zi.

Of course Zi wants to do it his own way.

Hidden Valley in the sunset light.

Eden loves to boulder. I feel like she has it in her blood from all that time we spent doing it when she was very young (her first bouldering trip was at 3 or 4 wks old).  Jon thinks it's just natural for any child to love the freedom of bouldering around. I think it's different for Eden but only time will tell.

Zi on the other hand is always messing with the rope and spends much less time {than Eden} trying to scramble up the nearest boulder.

Getting some pure kid activity in to work out all of that sleep deprived angst - and it totally did the trick.

The swing helped too. So stoked we were able to leave on a happy note after our rough morning start.

For the most part, all of my pics are of happy smiling faces but this was closer to our reality that day.

Eden invented this game to play with Zion while she swung - every time he grabbed her feet he "scored a goal". But  he would get a hold of her feet then go flying through the air with her. It was an absolute nightmare and completely entertaining/hilarious all at once. 

Desert Flowers

The spring flowers were in full bloom. I could have spent the entire day trying to capture each one of them, but that would have been another kidless activity - so instead I snuck a pic of the ones that I could. This also irritated the kids to no end as it was yet one more thing drawing my attention away from them, and had they not been so sleep deprived they likely would not have minded one bit. I feel a little guilty for adding to their frustration that day but I feel like it was sort of worth it for the memory of these sweet little desert flowers. 

These were Eden's favorite and there were quite a few right around camp .