Super Angie... my little fish

This week has been swim lessons for my boys. Level 2. They have had a wonderful week and we found that Dallin is actually quite a natural at swimming and the coach, Josh, has huge hopes for him to reach level 4 quickly.

I was SO impressed Josh Daniels of Pleasant Grove. He teaches from his backyard pool. Josh really gets on the level of these kids and is a perfect match for them. Hes a natural teacher and the kids adore him.

These pictures were from the first day. Today, after just 5 days, Dallin was swimming the entire length of the pool, doing side breathes! I'm so impressed with my little swimmer!

--Super Angie

Super Angie...dog gone day

On Wednesday, we met Shannon and kids at a fabulous park in Orem. It had been a long day already, with lots of rushing around and I was feeling a bit stressed after arriving more then 30 minutes late!

This park has a very cool swing set thingy. Its like those YOYO amusement park rides, except its not electric--you have to push it, which is actually quite hard. But the kids LOVED it.
After everyone got a turn on the swings, we headed to the fountain. Ah, it felt good to wade it in, until we saw the sign that said, "NO WADDING! UNTREATED WATER". Not sure if that meant we would die just from touching it, or we risked getting some rash, we got out. Bah Hum Bug! Attention city of Orem: TREAT YOUR WATER!
They have a very nice little duck pond there, so we all went over there. Dallin and Thatcher started trying to catch fish. They did find a dead crawfish. YUCK!
Lots of ducks and wildlife. Look at all these babies!
Aynslea and Brennan. Brennan almost immediatly fell in and got his shoes all wet.
Adelaid is just so dang cute!
Isn't this bird pretty?
How does Celise really fell about Tanith kissing her?
All the kids having fun....until they realize that some teenagers threw Ella and Ellie's flip flops in the water.
Aynslea put on Dallin's boots and tried to wade out to get the boots. Too deep!
So, I saw some college kids with a dog and a fishing pole. I asked them if they could help. They sent their dog out to retrieve the flip flops.
The dog got a lot of cheers for his heroic efforts. HE SAVED THE DAY!
Look at Adelaid hold Tanni's wrist as they walked back to the car. TOO CUTE.

Super Shannon with Celise--truely one of the nicest and "real" people I know.

It was a great day at the park with lots of laughs and smiles. Thanks Shannon! We had a BLAST!

--Super Angie

Super Angie... a night at Momentum

Tonight, after a very FULL day of swim lessons, errands and an outrageous adventure with Shannon and kids at a park (I'll blog about it tomorrow), we went to Momentum to get in some laps. Since its summer, we aren't being too strict with the kids on bedtime, so we climbed until day care closed at 9:30.

GUESS WHO came to climb tonight? JOE KINDER and COLLETTE MCINERNEY.

We are all huge fans of Joe and Collette--not just because they are SUPER AWESOME climbers, but they are also down to earth and friendly people. The boys have an autographed poster of Joe in their room--its been signed twice by Joe. He has also sent Dallin a few personal emails and congratulated him on his 3rd place at his rock climbing comp. Anyway, it was great to see them both and watch them climb. Joe called over for me to do 5 more laps on this 5.10 I was lapping so, I did 7 laps on that, 5 laps on another route and then I did a few random mystery routes--most of which sucked. lol It felt good to do a bunch of laps and I really have this 5.10 dialed in--I just love that route!

It was a really fun evening except that for some reason, Rick grabbed the wrong bag while leaving the house, and ended up only with his climbing shoes--no harness or anything. SUCK. But since his birthday is coming up, and he has lost so much weight, I told him to go treat himself at REI to a new harness. HAPPY EARLY BIRTHDAY BABY! He was able to climb a great route after getting the new harness. Looked good BABY!

The kids went CRAZY when they saw Joe. He is so sweet and got down on their level to chat with them. They told him all sorts of funny stories about their day and what they are doing (swim lessons, park playing, climbing etc). Then they got physical and started doing hand stands, cartwheels, head stands and anything else they thought would be "cool" to show off with. lol It was so funny. Dallin and Brennan also bouldered and traversed the wall. They were really and wanting to impress him. Tan too got in on the action...she was actting really silly. I guess I now know what happens when she stays up until 10!!

We got to see Joe's new shows that aren't even on the market yet. The La Sportiva Speedster. Seriously, these were the most interesting shoes Rick and I have seen. They are SO SOFT--almost like socks. I have never felt shoes like this before. They look cool. Both Joe and Collette commented about my Scarpa Magos and told me they like my shoes. I told them about how these shoes have helped me climb 12s. I love my shoes. :)

It was a really fun evening, watching two of the best climbers in the world, doing some laps, getting a good workout and just enjoying life. On our way home, we stopped at JCW's in Lehi and got shakes. Yummy!

What a shock to see Joe and Collette at the gym tonight. Thanks you guys for taking time out of your climbing to chat with us. YOU ROCK!

--Super Angie

Super Angie... okay, I'm going

The past week, I have been giving the Teva Mountain Games more thought, and have finally decided, yes I will compete this weekend.

I'm actually looking forward to it. I did some great bouldering last night and feel ready and excited to go!

--Super Angie

Super Angie...Colorado National Monument.

Yea! A family pic!

On our drive home, on Sunday, we took a side trip to Colorad National Monument. The kids had never been there before. We decided to pose for the tradional pic by the park sign.
A more serious picture.

WHAT A CUTIE!!!Tan was so thrilled to be outside, playing in the national park. Heres the gang at the first trail area we visited.
No matter how I import this pic, it still goes sideways. LAME! But anyway, we enjoyed seeing lizards all over the place.
I'm so happy there was a fence by this cliff edge, although Brennan and Tanith still climbed it and scared me to death!
Rick and Brennan out on an adventure.
Balance Rock.
The lizards were so much fun to find. Heres the gang spotting one.
We took a the short Window Rock trail and the kids just had a blast!
Look at Tan's look in this pic! LOL

LOL I had to include this picture...I tried taking a picture of myself at the lookout of Monument Valley. Guess my aim was off.

It was a fun side trip on the way home. Lots of hikes and exploring to be done. Lots of lizards to hunt and ant hills to discover. It was also a great way to break up the drive home and squeeze in some more family time.

--Super Angie

Super Angie...Keystone..SMORES

I love the tradition we have of making a fire in the fireplace, watching TV together and making SMORES. YUMMMM....

--Super Angie

Super Angie...Keystone-Saturday evening..hanging in Breck

After shopping at The Northface Store, Mainstreet Outlett and The Shirt Mine (where I found a DARLING Harajuka Lovers dress (by Gwen Steffani), we headed over to Bubba Gump for some seafood and fun. Brennan took this picture of Rick and I. He was so funny--couldn't get the camera to work.
Tan enjoyed tasting my Blueberry Lemonade.--look at how sunburned my nose is!
STOP FOREST STOP!

RUN FOREST RUN!

We ate way too much food, but it was so good!
--Super Angie

Super Angie...Keystone-Saturday car ride

After lunch and a bit of rock climbing recovery, we took off for Breckenridge for an afternoon of shopping and eating. But on the way, the kids all fell asleep, so we went for a car ride instead. We ended up by Mt. Quandry and took the Blue Lakes road. It was a beautiful area, with an alpine lake and lots of rustic houses and cabins....

and a MOUNTAIN GOAT! Check him out. It was so awesome to see him out in total nature. Just a lone mountain goat, hanging out and watching us.

--Super Angie

Super Angie...Keystone-Saturday morning

Saturday morning, we got up bright and early and headed out to hike and rock climb along Swan Mountain Road in the beautiful White River National Forest. Rick went to explore some larger cliffs to rock climb, so I stayed with the kids.
We found this squater's shelter. We had heard last year that there was a squater that lived off the land in this area, but this shelter was right in the bouldering area, so we think this isn't his "house" but rather a shelter some teens probably made. There was a firepit inside. The kids just had A BLAST playing in and around this house. Tanith called it her class room. If you wanted to enter, you needed to say, "DING DONG". It was really cute and made me so happy to see them playing like that.
Brennan--our little yogi?
A line of hikers--follow that dad through the log pole pines.
Rick standing by the cliffs, overlooking Lake Dillon and Buffelo Mountain.

We had such a delightful time climbing, bouldering and hiking. Everyone practiced some free soloing skills, by climbing up a 20 wood wall, with no ropes and harnesses (well, Tan didn't do this). Rick practiced his anchor skills by building 2 fantastic anchors at the top of the traverse wall. I worked through my fears by climbing what is probably a 5.9 or 10--but if I had fallen off, I would have taken quite a swing. Rick was able to climb pain free. Dallin got over some of his fears of being lowered off the top, and Brennan ran a bunch of laps. Tan sang Spider Pig and entertained us all.

We got to the car just before it started to down pour. Good timing!

--Super Angie

Super Angie...new makeup?

Last week, Tanith had some fun with sidewalk chalk. What a cutie!

--Super Angie

Super Angie...mark your calenders!

I'm heading out to Keystone in an hour, but wanted to let everyone know...

GIRL'S WEEKEND
August 21st- 23rd.
We'll leave at 3pm on Friday (OR, if possible, its even better to leave at noon since its a 7 hour drive) and we'll arrive back home Sunday night around 10pm or so.

Shoping, playing, swimming, hiking, walking, girl time, eating, games, movies.... lots of fun.

Mark you calender and hopefully we can make it happen.

ALSO...

Is your family looking for an affordable family getaway this summer?

We are having a HUGE sale in July and August at our condo, so if your family wants a fun vacation for 50% off, check out our condo blog for more info!

Regular price: $149/night SALE PRICE: $75/night

mykeystonecondo.blogspot.com

--HAPPY SUMMER!
Super Angie

Super Angie...blink and smile

Tonight, Dallin did something amazing. He climbed to the top of the highest wall at Momentum. He wanted to "earn" a special Ben 10 toy. Usually we have him climb a harder route on a short wall, but this time we want to really push him, so we had him climb a really simple route, but on a VERY tall wall. Dallin is horribly afraid of heights (and I mean HORRIBLY!).

His coaches did their thing and encouraged him. They kept telling him to remember what they taught him, "blink and smile"--when you get stressed on a route, smile and blink your eyes--it calms you down naturally and slows you down as well. He did FABULOUS and actually climbed the route REALLY FAST. There were so many supportive folks around cheering for him as he was lowered, but the poor boy was terified. I gave him a BIG hug and wiped away his tears. He is such a great boy and I'm so proud of him.

Tonight's climbing was different. Usually I only climb with Rick, but tonight, before Rick arrived, JC Hunter (pro climber) asked is we could top rope together. Rick was VERY supportive and let me go off and climb with JC. At first, we just warmed up on some easy 10s. Then she had me try an 5.11d. It was sweet getting beta from her. I didn't finish the route, but it was so awesome to work it the way I did and get her support and advice. I watched and learned as she climbed--I swear Gravity doesn't effect this girl! She told me I should only be working 11.d and higher! HELLO!?!?!?! What a compliment. She found me two 11.a routes on the inverted wall that she also wanted me to work. They are easier then the 11.d route but because of the inverted wall, they are more of a mind game. I did awesome, making it half way up both. I can't wait to start working them more and more and getting stronger and stronger.

Before all of this though, I belayed Tanith and Brennan. Tani climbed the rainbow route and did so great. She is such a little smiler and so cute while climbing. Then Brennan climbed a 5.7. I am working with him on having clean feet instead of smearing the whole way up the wall. He is learning and trying so hard. I'm very proud of him, even though he didn't finish the route. He is growing and maturing in his climbing.

Rick, thanks so much for sacrificing your time tonight so I could climb with a pro like JC. I love you and greatly appreciate your love and support for my climbing. I LOVE YOU!!!

And Dallin, CONGRATS! I'm so proud of you for making it to the top of that route.
--Super Angie

Super Angie...yesterday's 10

10 things that made yesterday SUPER

1. I vacuumed the main floor--GASP! I cleaned and my house looked fabulous! (until the kids got all the toys out again)
2. My visiting teachers came to visit. I sure do love them!
3. It was overcast!
4. I found someone to sub for our primary class and made a new friend in the process.
5. We went for a bike ride--just me and the kids.
6. We played at the Fish Park and rode our bikes through the sprinklers.
7. I took a nap!
8. We went rock climbing and I did 5 laps on an 8 and 5 laps on a 10. :) Plus finally finished an 11 thats been kicking my butt.
9. Rick and the kids hung out on the couch, looking so cute and watching cartoons.
10. Rick and I cuddled on the couch and finally watched the last episode of The Amazing Race.

--Anything Super happen for you yesterday?
--Super Angie