The Best Vacation Ever

Wednesday, July 19th 2006.  Up early.  Gear to retrieve.  Oatmeal.  Usual fair for me, but Susan and Wilson's MO (Morning Operandi) has been to get a 10,000 calorie breakfast at a local joint.  Waste of time, IMO, but does provide a good start to the day.  Breakfast is the most important meal, after all.  This was to be a short day.  Susan had plans in Connecticut (she always has plans somewhere; popular lady) and this was an L&T climbing day so Babs was left alone with the kids. After the heat, rain and her recent illness she'd prefer help,  but the vicissitudes of the weather and the necessity of gear retrieval dictate no other course.  I promise not to have too much fun.

Easy promise to keep.  The heat, the crying and the whining of the kids have squeezed from me any any climbing nectar I might still possess.  I'm just pulp and rind at this point.  Nevertheless, I make a go of it and lead Child's Play a 5.6 a few feet from yesterday's Kiddie Crack.  Mistake.  The climbings not hard, but I struggle with gear and moves.  I make it to the anchor, but there is no joy; just relief that I can get my gear and go home.   I  lower off yesterday's anchor, using most of the 200 foot rope.  Susan unties and heads for her shoes.  I start to pull the rope and end up with her end 30 feet off the deck.  Brilliant.  Never done that before.  Never.  Shows where my head is at.  Susan's a good egg and bears it well. (Actually, she owes me one.  A few weeks ago in The Gunks she forgot her shoes and had to run back to her car -- 20 minutes, round trip.  Never berate your partner for non life and death mistakes).  I run to the truck and retrieve another rope.  She leads up to the top rope, ties in, drops the lead rope and continues to the anchor.  We talk and realize  there's no time for any of the fun stuff.  She raps, we pack and she drops me off at the park in town with Bean, t and Babs. 

The rest of the day is spent at the park and pool.  Not much to say so here's some photos of the kids:
 

I don't catch her when she does this -- and she does this over, and over, and over -- she insists on plunging under water and pushing off the bottom (the pool is 3 feet deep) to pop to the surface.  I'm just there to keep her from going under again.  Proud Dad Alert: She is, by at least 2 years, the youngest child doing this type of thing and the only one without any sort of flotation device.

Peace At Last