rmncwrtr

Muffy - do not even consider this side of the river unless bf's new job ends up in WA. We would have never moved over here from LO had hubby not been able to work out of the 'couv office. I've made that bridge commute a few timed due to appts, dance lessons, etc., and it's not worth it. Plus having to deal with the traffic and pay OR state taxes would totally suck. Don't know about the schools in Sandy, but it seems like a nice little town. Along the river is beautiful. And you can't beat the location especially if you're a skier. The Fusion season pass is really reasonable. The boys could get their homework done and hit the slopes. Not a bad way to grow up!

...guess I missed it....and either so did Rob, or he's still mad I missed it, too. That poor kid, but the other two...

No, no, no. I'm a National League fan myself, but since others in this house are die-hard Yankee fans I gotta root for the boys in pinstripes (plus Jeter is pretty cute). Sorry, but I hope you end up owing your sis another salmon, Jim.

I found this on a blog. You have to watch the entire thing or you won't get it. Kudos to the creative ad agency. They so deserve the big award they won at Cannes for this. 2mTLO2F_ERY

Here's a local article about it.

Thanks for the recipe, Sherri! Looks delicious. And at your disclaimer. I may wait until I lose a couple more pounds before making this

I knew I shouldn't have peeked in here, but Sherri that avocado soup sounds almost as good as your chocolate pudding cake. Yummmmmm. Any tips on the proportion of cream and sour cream to pureed avocados. I need to go on a super long hike to burn mega calories and then try making this

Not sure where you're located, Wopper (we're near Portland) but every rock gym I've looked at has kids programs. The problem we had was finding one that would take a four year old so we ended up at two different places. The 9 and 7 year olds did the camp at Club Sport. 3 hours for 3 days. The four year old went to the Firstenburg Community Center in Vancouver. 1 hour for 4 days. And having experienced this introducing a sport and wanting them to love it with snow skiing the last couple of years, I really see the benefits of having someone else teach them. Granted ski lessons aren't cheap, but the long term payoff will be worth it. On that end, I highly recommend the Mt. Bachelor ski school

mr.rmncwrtr is from Long Island and used to work at a classically preppy yacht club. He was as we watched. He knew many prepsters like that. He particular remembers two he'd met from Hamilton College, a Buffy and a Kippy (male wearing a pink Izod Lacoste, topsiders and drinking G&Ts.)

Camping would definitely make it better, lizard_brain. The drive from our house in WA to Terrebonne was maybe 2.5 hours. I'm guessing. We stopped in Madras for a bathroom and snack break and I can't remember how long we were there. From Sunriver it was 50 minutes which wasn't bad at all. You might want to try eBay for used kids' rock shoes. Maybe have them try on new ones so you know their size in a certain brand.

Thanks all. It's nice to be able to share the trip with people who get it and don't think I'm endangering my children by letting them climb. SmilingWhiteKnuckles - enjoy your little one. They grow way too fast. Something I probably should have added that I forgot to was the rock wall camp and climbing really helped my kids with the lowering. They knew the position to be in and how it worked whereas the two who had never climbed didn't quite grasp the concept even after multiple lowerings. Haha! Well, it was a safety issue, Bill. We were up in the rocks, and the kids could have gotten stuck or slipped or fallen really easily. I thought it very smart of the guides.

The guy with the ice cream/shack was closed. Plus our guide said he only sold huckleberry ice cream. With 8 of us, we needed more of a selection so hit the other place!

Trip: Smith Rock - Guided Family Climb @ North Point Date: 8/7/2007 Trip Report: Last week, I decided our upcoming annual summer vacation in Sunriver would be the perfect time to take the kids climbing outside. My three (ages 9, 7 4) had attended rock wall camp in June. My best friend from college and her kids were meeting us so I asked if they'd be up for rock climbing. She wasn't, but her two boys (ages 11, 9) were, even though neither had climbed before. Since we're all newbies, a guide seemed the wisest choice. I searched the cc.com archives and also talked to a few people to figure out which guide service to use. I chose First Ascent because they have a great reputation working with kids and that was going to be the key for this being a successful outing/intro for the kids. I managed to get all three of mine loving snow skiing this past winter so rock climbing is next! I booked a guided half-day tour for seven of us: me, hubby and five kids. My friend wanted to tag along and take pictures. We left Sunriver at seven o'clock in the morning with a lot of excited faces in the back of the minivan. I was psyched to climb again, but mainly I wanted to get the kidlets & hubby outside for the first time. As we approached Terrebonne, hubby pointed out Smith Rock to the kids and told them that's where we would be climbing. Suddenly the minivan got very quiet. The excitement drained from their faces. The smiles disappeared. No one seemed excited to climb. "That is so high," a shaky voice said. "Do we have to go all the way to the top?" a high-pitched voice asked. "No way," a voice cracked. All five kids thought they would be climbing the huge rocks they could see from Hwy 97, hundreds of feet into the air. Hubby, of course, didn't correct their wrong assumption. Before the fear and trembling got too far out of hand, I explained we would be climbing different routes that were much lower and easier. I also added that no one had to go all the way to the top and could come down whenever they asked. A huge group sigh of relief could be heard. Crisis one averted! We arrived at Redpoint a little before eight o'clock. We filled out the paperwork (release forms, helmet forms) and the other six got fitted for shoes. Then we were off to Smith Rock Park. It was our first time there so we had no idea what to expect. My friend and her family had been in Yosemite last week and saw climbers at the base of El Capitan. She assumed Smith would be the same-a flat area with a few trees where you could sit and watch the climbers, not being up on the rocks right there at the ropes. We were climbing at the North Point area. One of our guides, Zach, had gotten me setup with all my climbing gear back in April at Redpoint. I asked if I could go with him when he set the top ropes. I figure the more times I see it done, the more comfortable I'll be doing it myself. We set off while the others got the rest of their gear. His first route choices were taken so we moved to the other side and put on our harnesses. Once again, the scariest part for me was up at the bolts. But as soon as I clipped in, I felt a lot more secure and that was my last height issue for the day! I got a lesson in setting anchors and top ropes. I learned about SeRENE and how to set two top rope routes using one rope in a W configuration. As usual, I asked question after question. These are the two routes we climbed: Jersey Shore and Lean Cuisine. Our other guide Nina (pronounced Nine-ah) led the rest of the crew down to the climbing site. There was a lot of scrambling over rocks. They suffered one injury during the approach and the first tears of the day. My eldest fell and her hand landed on something that stuck a bunch of white splinter-like things in the palm of her hand. We picked as many as we could out and used water to wash out the rest. Luckily it didn't keep her from climbing. Crisis two averted. Zach and Nina talked to us about what we would be doing out there. They showed us techniques like smearing, edging, jamming, bridging and stemming. They also went over a few rules such as keeping our helmets on due to rock fall, and not bouldering while waiting to climb. Then it was time to climb. They went over the figure eight knot with each of the kids as their turn came up. Mr.rmncwrtr is on the left being belayed by Nina and our oldest daughter is on the right being belayed by Zach. Rock climbing was harder than mr.rmncwrtr thought it would be. He kept using his arms too much. That kept him from reaching the top because they kept getting pumped. But he liked it and wants to go again! I really felt myself moving up the climbing learning curve. Of course, I suck so any progress is huge. A few of the techniques I learned the first two times out started making sense as I put stuff together on these climbs. I felt better and more confident with the hand jams in the cracks. Stemming didn't quite seem so foreign to me and I made upward progress. I actually made it to the top each time so that felt really good. My friend's oldest on Jersey Shore. He struggled, but never got frustrated. He just listened to the advice being offered and tried his best. When he couldn't go any higher he would come down then wait for another turn. When asked what his favorite part of the day was, his answer: "Everything." My friend's youngest is a natural athlete and he rocked. It took him a couple of tries to get the hang of it and then he sent both routes, loving every minute of it. My friend told me that she might end up hating me for introducing him to rock climbing. When asked what his favorite part of the day was, his answer, "Making it to the top twice. Our oldest got over the splinters in her hand and gave each of the routes multiple attempts. She found the hand holds difficult, but didn't give up. Each time she hit a route she went higher than the time before. She made it past the roof on Jersey Shores, but just couldn't continue on. When asked what her favorite part of the day was, her answer: "The climbing." Our son has been the most timid of my three kids when it comes to gym climbing, but he was the first one to step up and want to climb. All five kids had problems understanding how they could get through trouble spots, but they all did excellent thanks to the guides who made sure everyone felt safe. When asked what his favorite part of the day was, his answer: "The hike out" (which was the "spicy" scramble up to the top.) Our youngest was a real trooper. She would only let Nina belay her, however. The two became fast pals. We think it might have had to do with the saying on Nina's T-shirt, "Climb like a girl." She fell and scraped her knee on her second attempt up Lean Cuisine, which led to the second round of tears, but a bag of candy we had hidden in one of the packs (thanks RuMR for that tip) worked its magic and as soon as I pulled it out, the tears stopped. One piece and she was ready to climb again. Crisis three averted! This time, Zach came over to give her a few pointers. Here's another shot of our youngest making her way up Lean Cuisine. She didn't make it all the way up, but she did great considering it was her first time out and she's only four! She was much more interested in showing off for those watching her than the actual climbing. She also gave Jersey Shore a shot, but it was getting close to her naptime and she just wanted to be done. I asked what her favorite part was. Her answer: "The hike in and the girl belaying me." This was the "spicy" way out that my son loved so much. Zach carried the youngest out to make sure she reached the top safely. It was an awesome day. Worth every penny the guides cost. I loved watching the kids climb and seeing them improve as the day went on. We topped it off with ice cream cones at the Sun Spot. The best part is everyone wants to go again, even my best friend wants to try it now. Her mom lives in New Paltz, NY which is near the Gunks. A free place to stay. Yay! Climb on! Gear Notes: First Aid kit and bag of candy (must haves when climbing with kids) Approach Notes: Hike/scramble

I'm sure that nice lady who is so fond of consonants will offer you a ride. Of course I will! Just need to check dates:)

Well, he just got it. #756.

Darn, I was just working on a TR of a guided family climb to Smith I took this morning with kids ages 4-11. Guess I'll have to find another climbing site to post it at Can anyone suggest another climbing site for this newbie to use?

Go Feck! I gotta put in a word for Selkirk's Torta recipe in the Weight Gain Thread. It's definitely worth a peek!

Hey, bud, you're not the only one. I'm still focused on slimming down. I can't help it if the scale isn't budging. I am still watching what I eat and working out and am down a size, almost another one I discovered while swimsuit shopping. Pilates twice a week, climbing once a week and hiking when I can. Today I biked and swam. And btw, Feck's still here and a couple other guys, too!

His former mistress, who was recently in the papers and writing a tell-all, would say yes.

Thanks for the explanations, Porter and Muffy. Sounds fun

Oh, Elvis is cool, Sherri. Barry, too. Whenever I'm in a funk, I like to listen to this song of his: Spirit move me every time I'm near you Whirling like a cyclone in my mind Sweet Melissa, angel of my lifetime Answer to all answers I can find Of course when Take That did their cover of Could it be Magic, they left out the very best line

Could someone explain to this newbie what the Ropeup (both kids and adults) is? Thanks.

Family Climb Night at a rock wall on Friday night. Packing for vacation and buying two kids new bikes since the youngests have grown so much this year on Saturday. Driving to Sunriver, relaxing and drinking beer after the kids went to bed on Sunday.

Maybe you should sue CBS, Porter. They've run with that idea and have a new show premiering this fall, Kid Nation or something like that. They take a bunch of kids (young grade school to high school age), turn them loose and have them be in charge of everything for a month or so.

It's Monday, you know what that means! Check in please! I'm in Sunriver, no scale, and forgot to weigh-in yesterday so I'll have to wait until next week.