Having fun at the Denver Zoo

Well waiting 2 months to post definitely makes for some catching up and for some forgetting. We have been busy as usual and I am grateful to the pictures for reminding me of all that has happened the past 2 months. I will let the pictures tell the story.
Some updates on the boys -
Isaac is doing so well. He is now 10 months old. He got his first tooth at 9 months and his second one today. He is commando crawling like crazy and so happy to be mobile and follow his brother around. He laughs a lot, is almost always content and is enjoying eating more and more. He is an absolute joy. His favorite thing to do is to swim. He has been doing so well in swim lessons and is able to swim underwater and is kicking really well. It is amazing.

Kai is as busy as beaver from the moment he wakes until the moment he falls asleep. He is a chatty kathy and never stops, has an amazing imagination, loves to climb, loves to play dress-up, loves to watch machines at work, and loves to make his brother laugh. Kai will start kindergarten at the end of this month which amazes us all. The kindergarten is a 2 year program normally and Kai may be in there 3 years since his birthday is the cut off date for entering and he is the youngest.
A great quote from Kai last week. He said this as we drove past a construction site. "Oh my gosh! I can't believe my eyes or talk even, because there are so many machines and I love them all!"

As always, we are living life to the fullest. Wishing you all well.
I am so grateful to all of you who supported me for the triathlon with donations and good thoughts. Many thanks.
Wishing you all well.
The Jacksons

Chasing a peacock at the Denver Zoo

So many choices of animals for the carousel.

As Jeff and his dad would say, It was hotter than 6 feet up a bulls ass on Saturday in Denver. Isaac was wondering what we were doing walking around and many of the animals were hiding to get out of the heat.
Halleluiah for a race completed! Lots of fun.
Getting ready for the swim.
The hill to the right is where we were headed.

Bib

FName

LName

City

State

Div

Age

Sex

ClockTime

Overall

DivPl

1628

HANNAH

JACKSON

CARBONDALE

CO

35-39

36

F

01:40:56

754

104

Swim	Swimrank	Trans1	Bike	Bikerank	Mph	Trans2	Runrank	Run	Pace
00:17:59	758	00:05:36	00:39:36	552	17.2	00:03:51	1095	00:33:52	00:10:55

I just discovered how to find out all my times. I can now see what I can work on for next time which is good. My transitions times and run time could improve. But yeah, I did it and had a great time. The swim/ bike transition was the most frustrating because not only did you have to run against swimmers coming in, but you also had to walk your bike about a 1/2 mile. Of course if you were a competitor, elite, older, or a survivor, your transition area was much closer to all the start gates. As my friend said, "As we get older, we will get closer to the gates." Something to look forward to :)

This was an amazing experience. One that I am very happy to have participated in. It was emotional in many ways, but all very good ways. It was beautiful to see the survivors start, to experience the absolute stillness brought on by the National Anthem being sung and to see that I can do something like this. Awesome all around! I am grateful for the experience.

To look at the swim was a bit daunting and to do it was crazy too. Trying to move forward, keep away from bodies, avoid taking in water, stay on course, see out of super foggy glasses and make it to the end. 1/2 mile swim in 17min. 59 sec. I felt good considering I quickly put goggles on top of my head, did a mixture of freestyle and breath stroke with my head above water.
Me and my kick ass friends who did the triathlon with me.
The coolest shirt ever! Race Like a Mother!
You can't see it, but my shirt says that I am doing the triathlon for Mary Kercher, a dear friend fighting breast cancer now, and for my Grandma Moyer!!! Celebration Time!
Beautiful 12 mile ride through Cherry Creek state park. Pretty much all up a gradual hill 1/2 of the way.


My transition area for the triathlon
Getting an early start. The triathlon was at Cherry Creek State Park in Denver, CO.


Hannah and Isaac at Mountain Fair helping out at Aunt Jessica's booth for her jewelry.
Aunt Jess and Isaac


Unchi and Kai ready for the rodeo.


Kai's cool Knight costume that I picked up at a garage sale.

Isaac, Hannah, Kai, Unchi and Aunt Jessica

Chowing down. Isaac got his first tooth at 9 mos.

I spied this amazing spider in our garden on the clover.


Kai pointing to our new garden friend.


Fascinated




Story time with Unchi.
Nakey baby bottom

Brother love Brother bottoms
Sitting up so good and playing

I found this bat suit at a yard sale and Kai wore it for 3 days straight until I put it into the dirty laundry.

Bat makes a wish. "I wish I could go see Nana and Grandaddy."

Hanging by the pool.

Puppets at the library.

Kai picking out books on CD. I think he had about 6 in his arms. He asks to go to the library all the time. We go once a week and Kai now picks out all his own books and the bag he fills about bursts at the seams each week. This boy LOVES books.

Happy Baby

Yoga baby

Papa time
One cool dude



Crossing Potato Bill Creek that runs through our property.











Kai and Papa on top of Lookout Rock in City of Rocks.

Picture showing route Jeff and Kai took to top of Lookout Rock.


Hannah and Melissa.




Our friends Erik and Henjay and mama Melissa joined us for a family vacation at City of Rocks.
I swear this picture shows rock that looks pretty easy. Just around the corner where I am, the holds were not so nice!
Heading out to climb.
Our beautiful son in the hueco.

This little tent was great to have at the crag and offered both boys a place to go hang out if they were sleepy or just wanted a sun-free, dirt-free fun place. Kai loved it and napped in here rather than the pop-up.
Isaac snoozing in the pop-up.
Our little visitor, Chippy.
Isaac's first climb. A 5.9! Go Isaac!


Badger in the water hole.
Our pop-up. LOVE IT!
One view from our site. The rock behind the table is Lookout Rock. Jeff took Kai up to the top on our last day after having trained on a "short rope" for the whole week. Below is Jeff's story about that experience.

TNB: Kai's First Climb

Tuesday, 26 July 2011 11:13 | Written by Jeff Jackson | |

Three weeks ago my wife and I visited the City of Rocks, Idaho, and my son Kai completed his first climb: Lookout Ridge (5.5). He’d just turned four, was on his first road trip, camping and rock scrambling and hanging out with his best friend Hen J. They rallied around the base of the routes with toy trucks, conversing at volume 10, sometimes erupting into hoots and screams until I forcefully explained that screaming is the one vocalization you can not make at a climbing area. I felt bad about subjecting our fellow City of Rocks climbers to Kai, in particular. He projects his voice like an opera star and his lamentations can break eardrums.

The boys tried climbing for the first time about halfway through the trip. We taught them the commands and we talked about how important it is to play quietly so that climbers can hear those commands. Then we talked about using your “climber’s voice,” the one that precludes ape calls and screeches. After that, the boys learned how to tie a figure 8 and I explained the concept of lowering.

Both boys looked stunned so I tried again.“When you’re at the top, just lean back, keep your feet high and walk down."

Kai stepped away from the base and surveyed the anchor, a nest of cams plugged into two cracks about 50 feet up a granite runnel.

“For real?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“In real life?”

“Yes."

He put on his harness, climbed up about six feet and said, “I want to come down.”

I lowered him and Hen J tried, declaring a summit at the same spot. After trading out twice more and climbing to the six-foot mark, the boys lost interest and began a game they called “dump.”

The next day I decided to try something different. Right after breakfast I helped Kai get into his harness and I tethered him to my belay loop with two long slings. We walked out toward a granite ridge that extended like a causeway between our campsite and the summit of a squatty 200-foot cap of granite called Lookout Peak. The ridge was narrow and winding, with short fifth-class up and down climbs. The end of the ridge is only eight feet wide and drops steeply for a hundred feet on each side. That’s where the wall rears up and the real climb begins.

“This is called short-roping,” I explained before we began the trek.

“Why?”

“That’s just what it’s called.”

“Because of this short rope?” He held up the slings.

“Well, yes, actually, that’s right, Kai. Do you remember the commands?”

“Use my climbing voice.”

“Yes. And when you’re ready to climb, you ask me, ‘Am I on belay?’”

“Belay on,” Kai said.

“OK, I can see you remember. Let’s start again. Say, ‘Am I on belay?’”

“Am I on belay. Belay, that’s a funny word.”

“You’re on belay. Now say ‘climbing.’”

“Climbing.”

“Climb on.”

We scrambled along the ridge until we came to the first steep down climb. Kai eyed it nervously.

“That’s a big drop off.”

“Sure is.”

“We need another command for when I get scared.”

“You can say ‘up rope,’” I suggested.

“No, if I get scared I’ll be a baby tiger and I’ll say this,” he let his face drop into the slack-jawed position that I recognized as his impersonation of a baby tiger. “I’ll say, ‘Papa Tiger!’ and then I’ll jump into your arms and you can hold me like a little monkey.”

“But, son, we’ll be rock climbing. You can’t jump into my arms.”

“Yes I can.”

“OK,” I assented, “we’ll give it a try.”

All went swimmingly as we traversed the rock course. Kai climbed up and down the steepest boulders and fearlessly charged the end of the ridge to the base of the climb without once having to use the “Papa Tiger!” command.

He checked out the summit of Lookout Peak and said, “I want to go to the tip top.”

“If you use your climbing voice, listen first-time-asked and only use your gentle, golden hands with Hen J, we can climb to the tip top on the last day of the trip.”

“For real?”

“Yes.”

Each morning we’d short rope down the ridge to the base of the climb and Kai would express his earnest desire to go for the summit. I politely refused to guide him, however, preferring to delay the ascent as long as possible and use it as a behavioral carrot. But finally the last day arrived.

During his nap I soloed the peak and fixed a line down the route. When Kai woke up, we set off.

He romped down the ridge singing, “fee fi fiddly eye o, strumming on her old banjo,” over and over, ad nauseam. When he spotted the rope he shouted, “Look, Papa, the fairies have been here!”

“I see that. And they left us some water.”

Kai guzzled about half his weight in water, then I helped him pull down his pants and we watched his urine stream rush down the slab.

“That’s fun,” he said.

I clipped the rope with a Mini Traxion and we started the climb. About 50 feet up, the route crossed a big drop and Kai pulled out the “Papa Tiger!” command. I shortened his leash and he wrapped his arms and legs around me and hung from my belly as I smeared up the friction moves, thinking: I hope nobody calls child protective services. But we made the crux without mishap. He jumped down and we cruised the rest of the climb.

On top Kai was reserved. He said he wanted to “sit quietly for a minute.”

That was strange. With Kai, it’s like a switch is flipped at 5:40 a.m. and his earsplitting voice doesn’t cease resonating till he stops it with his thumb and falls asleep at 8 p.m. When I asked if he was OK, he shushed me, finger to his lips, and took in the 360-degree view of the City of Rocks. Then he asked me to point out the formations and I named the ones I knew—the Breadloaves, the Clamshell, Morning Glory Spire, Parkinglot Rock, Bath Rock, The Dolphin, Elephant Rock. From the summit of Lookout, all the namesake features were discernable.

“Papa, I just discovered something really, really, really fun,” he said.

“What?” I asked.

“All the rocks and trees are little.”

“That is fun.”

“Why do we do this and say ‘shhhh?’” He held his finger across his lips.

“It’s just a gesture.”

“Is it because your finger blocks your wind and you have to have wind to make a voice?”

“Could be.”

“What does ‘furious’ mean?”

“Really mad.”

“Is there pirate treasure up here?”

“Probably.”

“Golden ingots?”

“Maybe.”

“Let’s look.”

We short roped around the perimeter of the airy summit, but finding no gold other than the views and memories, we descended, had lunch and began the 560-mile drive back home.

"Short Roping"



City of Rocks, Idaho. Beautiful and lots of fun.
Badger at the crag.
Isaac taking care of mama's shoes.
4th of July fun with friend Henjay!
Playing with sticks and stones.
All time camping favorite!
Kai's first climb. He would climb up about 6 ft. and then say, "okay, I am done now" and then want to do it again

Papa teaching Kai all the important climbing commands.
This boy was finding lizards and giant beetles left and right. This was the first time we had to really talk about how wild, living creatures can't be played with too much. Unfortunately a few of these dear creatures suffered.
Okay. Imagine driving through the Salt Lake, UT hell highway stretch, discovering your AC doesn't work, it's 109 degrees and the only thing non dairy and cold in the gas station is a giant SLURPEE. Kai's first and boy was he excited!


Kai went through a week where almost every day he was hurting himself. His head got scraped by falling down the front steps onto the cement.

His knees got bashed up from falls off his bike and hiking. And...he stepped on a nail - ouch!
The lilacs were amazing this year. We made lilac jelly, sugar and sorbet. Yummy!
I am boy, see me climb.