We spent most of the weekend building a deck. We did the whole project, start to finish, in four very long days. It was definitely the most involved home improvement project I have ever done without professional help, and I think it turned out really nice. I'm actually not posting pictures here because we are still waiting on some of our outdoor furniture to arrive and I want to show true before and after shots. Stay tuned though. Our yard is looking great!
The night of the 4th, pretty much all the local firework shows were canceled due to Covid. This didn't stop people from doing their own though, and they went all out this year. Sitting on our roof, I can honestly say that we got just as good a show, if not better, than we would have had with the public ones. Wow.
Lindsey's Birthday
For the past several months you could ask Lindsey, any time, any place, how many days were left until her birthday, and she could tell you. This girl LOVES birthdays. And on July 3rd it finally happened. Unfortunately, due to Covid, we were unable to have a party with friends. We still celebrated as a family though, and Lindsey milked the day for all she could.
It is hard to believe that Lindsey is only six- her active and insightful conversations make you think she is much older. She also loves playing outdoors, even when it is snowing or raining. A common scene in our home is all the kids watching TV on a cold, windy, rainy day. All, that is, except for Lindsey. And then I look out the window and see her, in a dress up skirt and large winter coat, happily doing whatever it is she is doing. She is always the first to give me hugs when I come home from work, and she still loves to cuddle while I read her books at night.
Utah Climbing
The next weekend we drove down to Utah as soon as I got off work on Thursday to meet up with Jon and Liz for some rock climbing. Day one was mostly sport climbing with kids in American Fork Canyon, and I have to say I was proud of all of them. Addy and Jack both led, and Jackson even toproped a stout 5.11.
At the end of the day, we went to Jon's parent's house to relax and grill up some dinner. The kids played in the yard with their new friends, and we all appreciated the cool evening shade after a great day in the sun.
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| Rachel in AF canyon |
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| Addy was pretty disappointed when she failed to send a hard climb that Jackson had done earlier. She went and found this ledge to sulk on for a while. Here's Jackson consoling her and sharing beta (information about how to do the climb) while he takes off his climbing shoes. It's fun to see kids interacting like this. They really are good cheerleaders for each other. |
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| Relaxing at the end of a long day |
On the second day, Rachel and I were planning on a longer traditional route in Little Cottonwood. We got up early to beat the heat and were quickly through the approach staring up at the beautiful polished granite. Rach warned me that upon seeing the climb I may have to take a backseat while she takes the majority of the leads. She took first lead, and was loving it, and doing great. It was going to be an awesome morning.
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| Here's Rachel starting up the first pitch. |
But then things went a little sideways. Rach was already past the hardest part of the pitch, and she was run out a bit when her foot popped and she took a twenty footer right onto a ledge. Her .4 held, but her ankle was already swelling. We assessed the damage and determined that it was probably not broken, but that she was definitely done for the day. She was able to hop/limp out on her own, and we put her foot in a brace to help stabilize it and keep the swelling down. From there, we took it easy with a nice breakfast, and then met Jon and Liz (without kids this time) back in AF Canyon for more sport climbing. Rach sat in the shade and took pictures most of the day, and we actually ended up having a pretty good time.
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| All tied up. Since I am writing this three days after her accident, I can say that the swelling has actually increased quite a bit, and the bruising is worse than expected. She still has full range of motion and can put weight on it, but it hurts a lot to do so. If it doesn't start looking better soon then we'll get an x-ray to make sure it isn't broken. ***Update: We got an x-ray. It's broken. She'll be in a boot for a couple of months. |
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| Just chillin' in the shade. I sure love this girl! |
The third day we had the morning to ourselves and I took the three oldest kids to a large indoor climbing gym. They did awesome! They don't do a lot of gym climbing, and they were all happy to find that they could climb a grade or two harder in an air-conditioned setting with marked, neon colored holds. Funny how that works!
Later that day we met Shannon, Adrian, Brandon, and Kendra for an afternoon at the pool and then a nice dinner out before saying goodbye. We made our way from there to my parent's house for a quick pit stop, and then drove home the next morning.
Fun trip. Hopefully Rachel's ankle heals up quickly. We'll keep you posted.
Hamilton
As you probably know, a recorded version of the hit Broadway musical, Hamilton, was recently released by Disney. It is a fast-paced hip-hop opera that, in spite of my earlier skepticism, I have to admit was one of the best and freshest additions to the theatrical cannon that I have ever seen. I loved it.
Well, during this last road trip, we spent probably 8-10 hours of the travel time telling the story and listening to the music of Hamilton with our kids. They were enthralled with all of it. There were times when they were all laughing, singing at the top of their lungs, outraged, or crying. I think they understood many of the nuances and conflicts. They were able to spot recurring themes and we had multiple family conversations wrestling with certain issues with no easy answers. It was wonderful and I think I will always remember this trip for these talks we had.
When we got home, we did the best we could to replicate a "real" theatrical experience with our kids. We had a nice dinner before, talked about and enforced theater etiquette, and enjoyed ice cream at the intermission. I LOVED watching our kids watch the show. They were so emotionally involved. As soon as intermission came and they were allowed to talk there was an explosion of commentary and amazement. When the show ended there was not a dry eye in the room. It really was quite the experience for them, and watching it WITH them was quite the experience for us. It also led to a neat conversation about how it was a "difficult" show compared to most of the things they watch- how it required an investment on their part not just to follow the story, but to understand and feel it on a level where they could really dig in and grapple with it. And about how worth it it was.
I think that maybe...just maybe...our kids are starting to understand the concept of "art" as a separate entity from "entertainment."
But that is a whole 'nother can of worms.
Anyway, next week we were planning a backpacking/climbing trip down near Boise (Elephant's Perch), but I think that because of Rachel's ankle we'll have to do that another time. I'm sure we'll do something though. Stay tuned for that, as well as for pictures of our deck. I really am pretty proud of it.
Have a good week!
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