My Maren. What a sweetheart. For the past year I have had the chance every week to drive her to and from her dance class. Toward the end of the school year we also had a standing Thursday afternoon date for "MAD Schooltastic!" a name she came up with to indicate the time her and I spend together, usually at a local ice cream parlor, doing math and reading homework. Out of all our kids, I probably spend the most one-on-one time with my Maren, and I have to say that I love it. She is so sweet and smart and funny, but too often goes unnoticed because she is also super chill and doesn't like to rock the boat. But seriously, what an amazing girl.

You know who else is amazing? Rachel. Her most recent project was the organization of a CDAide event for about 50 of its best volunteers. She worked hard making phone calls and setting things up, emceed the event with class, and basically pulled everything off without a hitch. All this while maintaining a full work schedule, spending time with the family during the kids' summer vacation, and training for an upcoming triathlon. I definitely married up.

And here are our summer dad-day photos for this week- rope swing at the swimming hole! I love that we live in a place where this is just a quick drive or a bike ride away. Woo!

Have a good week!

 This week I want to do a highlight of Jackson. The words that first come to mind when I think of him are "confident" and "composed." There are two standout stories that I'll use here to demonstrate:

The first was a few weeks ago when our family was climbing. He jumped on a route that was near his limit, with a fairly runout section of slab climbing. As he led the climb he moved slowly, but confidently through the delicate moves. Even during moments when he was facing some long, scary falls, his movements were extremely deliberate and poised. When he finally clipped the chains at the top, any observer would have registered more relief on my face, as his belayer, than on his, who was actually facing the risk. It wasn't until he got down that he confided in me- "Hey Dad, that was really scary." 

Alright. On to the second story. But first, a lot of background to set the scene. Last week, Jackson "graduated" from cub scouts and moved onto boy scouts. As part of this, there was this ceremony thing they do where the boys walk away from their current leaders and friends, cross a bridge, and are welcomed into the new troop (Patrol? Pack? I really don't know) consisting, in this case of a bunch of older boys who they don't know, along with an unfamiliar cadre of adult leaders. Upon arrival, they are supposed to do some scouty salutes and handshakes and stuff that, to my understanding, are slight variations from the ones they usually do. All this is meant, not only to symbolize advancement, but to also instill within the boys a sense of reverence and achievement regarding the steps they are taking. For all the fanfare, one would think they were being sent out on an exploratory mission to Mars.

Anyway...

It appeared to be a very nerve-racking experience for most of the boys, at least for a brief moment. We watched as some of the other boys walked stiffly across the bridge, arms and eyes aimed carefully about two steps in front of their feet. There was much fumbling with the handshakes and welcome process before they were (finally) allowed to stand to the side, out of the limelight, and able to relax a little. Well, a few minutes before Jackson's turn to go, I saw him pull one of his leaders aside. They spoke briefly, and then his name was called. (Turns out he was making sure he knew what to do).

What I saw then was the same thing I had seen a few weeks earlier on that climb. Jackson, in striking contrast to most other boys, proudly bounced across the bridge with a full smile, arms up in celebration. He met the other troop and delivered the required salutes, I think, with more assurance that the kids who were receiving him. It was almost like he was saying to them- "Congratulation, you get to have me on your team!"

Was I surprised? Not at all. Was he nervous? Well, he had told me earlier that day that he was, and he usually doesn't just say things like that. But I'll tell you what- when his time actually came he looked like he owned that place.

According to Adalie, Jackson is one of the coolest kids in school. I can see it. At the same time, he is just Jack. Idiosyncratic, creative, extremely prone to melodrama, and just naive enough to be disarmingly charming. That's my Jack. Cool kid.

As for the rest of our family, we are enjoying our Summer. Here's just a couple photos of our week. 

We were part of another clean-up for a local crag. The kids are great helpers!

Lindsey planned a "Dad day." This is us getting ice cream after swimming at the beach.

We are looking forward to seeing all my siblings and their kids this next week at our annual reunion. The kids have each planned a dessert to share, and spirits are high.

Have a good week!

In this post I want to feature Evelyn. I have to say, I am so proud of this girl. In the past year she has matured into such a phenomenal young woman that it is hard to believe that I get to be her dad. I am not great at gushing, but seriously, she is about as cool a kid as one could ask for.

This is her being inducted into the National Junior Honor Society. To achieve this she has had to maintain straight A's, be in good standing with all school/community rules, and take part in several hours worth of community service outside of school. For Ev, this was a breeze. She does all these things anyway!

I really wish this photo were better quality because I absolutely love her sense of style. She has cultivated a grungy look that fits perfectly with her drumming and skateboarding. Honestly, she could be featured in a music video in the 90s. This year she was the only drummer in the 7th grade, so on most days she had to carry the rhythm section all on her own- a position that I think she both stressed over and relished at the same time. In these photos she is standing in with other grades to help out during the band concert last week (That's why there are other drummers in the pics).
 

She is already looking forward to next year when she can join the more exclusive Jazz band and lead the percussion section on the kit. Besides band, she goes to a weekly anime club and has a tight group of friends that she hangs out with. 

I had to include this photo of her (climber on the right) for two reasons. First, because we hardly ever get her to tie in and this is a unique moment. And second, because I think it shows a lot about her personality. She definitely does her own thing. Most of the time she is very content to explore the area, read her book, take photos, or offer an extra belay when needed. This last week she walked up to a route though, and tied in like it was the most natural thing in the world. She then proceeded to climb the route three times in a row, getting higher and higher each time, until she finally reached the top with no falls. Coming down, she untied without a word and walked away, obviously proud of herself but without doing much at all by way of celebration. I think I managed to get a fist bump out of her before she was off to other things. Cool and accomplished, yet understated. That's Ev in a nutshell.

*****

As for our family, we went camping last week at local area owned by a climber who has developed, in essence, an outdoor climbing gym. He has done tons of development and allows people to camp on his land for free, asking only that they leave things better than when they arrived- something our family tries to do anyway. We had a great time camping and climbing, Jackson belayed a leader for his first time, and Rachel sent her hardest outdoor route to date. Pretty good week.

Hammocks are always a favorite place to hang out. Get it? Hang out? Ha!

Campfire stories and songs

What a beautiful area. If you look really closely (and maybe make the picture bigger) you can see Jackson climbing on the wall by our camp.

We have the coolest family! A lot of the climbing here is on friction slabs, a new style for our kids that is scary to get used to- especially on lead.

Here's me watching Jack do his first leader belay. Addy is the climber that you can't see, but she also did a great job.

Sausage, pancakes, and eggs. Breakfast of champions.

Rachel ugly-crying out of pride after her send

Looking strong!

Well, that's pretty much it. We also did a bunch of scout stuff, but I'll wait for next week to write about that. 

At the top of one of my projects that went down recently. I've still got it!

Have a good week!

 Wow- what a week! As the school year wraps up, a lot of other activities tend to come at the same time and we have definitely been busy parents. Rather than write about this whole week at once though, we will save some things and highlight certain kids individually in later posts. For now, we'll focus mostly on us as a family.

Actually, first we'll focus on Rachel and me. We had heard of a little climbing competition that was happening and we thought we'd check it out. The idea was to see who could do the most routes on a certain cliff in a 48 hour period. Spoiler alert- I climbed every route there in less than 6 hours, sight unseen, and with no falls (onsight). For those who care, that is 24 pitches, ranging from 5.7 to 5.12a in difficulty. I feel good about that. Rachel also led four climbs and didn't take any falls either. It was a fun day of climbing. We gracefully (I think) bowed out of the competition because we didn't think it would be sportsmanlike to stay in, but we kept climbing and made some new friendships along the way with other participants. That night we hung out around a campfire until well past dark, told old climbing stories, played the ukulele, and watched climbing movies. Climbers are cool, and it was a good time.

The next morning we woke up and packed our trailer before heading out to Priest Lake with the crew. A quick drive got us there and it wasn't long before we were exploring, swimming, eating, and just hanging out as a family. There really isn't too much more to say. Camping has become very easy for us, and it seems that there is some sort of mountain magic that makes it so that people just get along better.

Most obnoxious kid ever. Don't even know who he belongs to, but I'm pretty sure Rachel was ready to throw him off the dock and then laugh at him. And she's not a mean person. But this kid...

No more obnoxious kid. Ahhh.