ICF, Slackers, Casts and Metals, and a bit of Harry Potter

It is amazing to me how we seem to be more busy during the summer than during the school year and the last two weeks were no exception. On Monday Larr and Ethan came home from the International Climbing Festival (ICF) that took place in Lander, Wyoming, just about 6 hours drive away from here. They had an amazing and fun time. Most of our group is in the group shot. I think Suzanna must have been the one to snap the photo. Larr did some awesome climbs in Sinks Canyon. I am pretty sure he made it to the top. In addition to the climbing they watched movies about climbs and climbers. They took part in silly contests like handless speed pie eating, hula hoops, etc. One of the favorites was doing a slack line. It is intended to learn better balance. It is like tight-rope walking, but on webbing similar to what you find on a tote bag. On Saturday night Ethan was going strong, but then he felt while doing the slackline. His fingers grazed another taller line. This caused him to hyperextend his fingers. When he landed the heel of his hand hit first. This caused the impact to travel through his body instead of being absorbed by the fingers. At the hospital they told him that since he was young he ended up with a bone bend instead of a shattered wrist. Did you know that young kids can bend or twist bones? The xrays showed two greenline fractures on the bones and the bigger bone is sort of crumpled. It now looks like a chunky crochet hook. The doc says he will be fine, but he'll have a cast for at least six weeks. What a bummer - we are off to California on Sunday. That makes some rides at Disneyland out of the question for Ethan. Now we are fixing to get creative so he can still go to the beach.

While the boys were gone Ellie and I had our own fun. We painted our nails so they now sport polka dots. On Saturday she did the Mike Horgan Hill Climb in Nederland and placed second place. I was proud of her. It was a tough race!

Speaking of tough races, we have the daddy of them all tomorrow. She will be doing 11.1 miles up Mount Evans. The adults do 28 miles. It is the highest paved road in America. She is geared up for it. I am exicted and nervous. Some parents did not allow their kids to tackle this one. Ellie and I talked aobut it and I left it up to her. I respect that she knows her limits better than I do. I am working the race so I have thr luxury of being able to greet her when she gets to the junior finish line.

We are also anxiuosly awaiting Harry Potter and the Death Hallows. One friend reread all of them , is going to the grand ball and party at the book store to get the book. In the morning she and her kids will have a special breakfast that includes cinnamon rolls, gourmet coffee and special HP candy while they take turns reading chapters aloud to each other. I think it sounds like such fun! I wish I was doing that, too. I will simply get my copy after the race on Saturday. Then I will have to tempter myself so that I can read some and get packed for our trip to California!