Perfect way to spend a Sunday...

Last Sunday, we went rockclimbing with Tamara, Dave and Cassidy. It was beautiful weather and we were able to hang out and climb for most of the afternoon. Rockclimbing is not as difficult as it may seem and it's the best workout and mental challenge! Sometimes you feel like you are stuck and there are no more footholds or handholds to progress up the cliff. Then, you realize, you are either going up or down, and if you don't want to give up you just have to find that next hold...and that's what you do! Even if it is the smallest little crevice, you dig your toe in, push all of your weight into it and reach for the next little ledge that your fingertips can grab onto. It really is so much fun. If any of you ever want to go, let's do it!!

Dave and Brandon are our official "lead" climbers. This is where they have to climb up first and take the rope with them, hooking it into anchors as they climb. They are still belayed from below in case of a fall, but I don't dare to do this yet, considering that if you fall, it can be up to a 12 foot fall. I'm just not that daring yet :) We are sure glad that they are good at it though so that we can climb up after them with a top rope.

We like climbing together, because we can have conversations as we climb. Girly conversations and the boys can't hear us because they are 50 feet below us. Ha.

This little monkey might be the best climber out of us all. She just scrambles up that cliff and her little toes and fingers can grab onto things that our big fat toes and fingers can't. Way to go Cass!!

Like mother, like daughter.

Yup, she made it all the way to the top!

Tamara and I tried belaying each other for the first time. We can't belay the boys because they weigh more than us, so we are perfect for belaying each other! Weeee!

Camping Extravaganzapalooza

We finally made it out to camping with friends this Summer and had a blast! We were able to try out our new (well, new to us) canoe and we love it. We can't wait to do more canoeing in the fall! Camp was crazy and fun. We had ELEVEN dogs. Yes, eleven. We are dog people. The weekend was filled with dutch ovens, yummy drinks, horseshoe tournaments, girl pee parties in the woods, campfires, guitars, pinatas, horses, lakes, fish and great memories.

Camp. Or an XTERRA advertisement, you choose. :)

Mike setting up horseshoes with his old man pipe

Brandon setting up camp..sort of...

What is that you ask? A pinata. A pink elephant pinata.

Little Jack is the cutest!

This is Brittany. She makes me laugh.

Drinks @ Noon! Wahoo!

Meag & Britt

Mehuh?

Play that funky music white boy...

Camping is not camping without a fire.

We love our canoe!

Chica enjoying the ride

Relaxing day on the lake

Dave and his fish

The Thomas Raft

Cassidy and Isabella - Cute cousins!

Sean and his fish

Sunset Hike

After work on Wednesday, Brandon and I decided to hike up Mount Grandeur to see the sunset. We've done the hike a few times before and knew we'd have a good view from the top! The hike takes about an hour and a half each way. We hiked up in time to relax for about an hour, sip on a beer, watch the sunset and then we hiked back down with headlamps on. I must say it was a little eerie on the trail in the dark with just the headlamps! The hike was invigorating and an awesome mid-week adventure.

At the top!

This picture doesn't capture it, but the lighting was so peaceful and beautiful.

Cheers to Summer