Rock On

Yesterday the kids and I spent the day at Planet Rock, the local rock-climbing gym in Ann Arbor. What a cool experience! I am definitely a rock-climbing newbie, and now, 16 hours later, I have the aching triceps to prove it. And the embarrassing thing is, all this soreness is due to scant little climbing, since my real purpose in being there was mostly just to belay the kids. "Belay" means "to hold" — so my job was basically to stand on the ground with a death-grip on a rope that was keeping my beautiful babies from careening down a 40-foot rock wall to their deaths. No pressure there.

Fortunately, the kids were quite comfortable with all this, especially Maria, who immediately emerged as the knot-tying expert of our little trio. She had learned all about knots earlier this summer while sailing in Maryland. Joe and I happily deferred to her when roping ourselves in. Here's an example of her lovely little figure-8 knot, which became the basis for the tie-on to our harnesses:

And here's my girl, climbing like a monkey:

Joe made quick work of the initial wall. He scampered straight to the top and touched the ceiling.

We'll definitely be going back. I'm already trolling the REI website for harnesses and chalk bags.