On belay!

When they asked George Mallory why he wanted to climb Mt. Everest his reply was 'Because it is there.' That is pretty much how Max and Zoe feel about climbing anything. They seem to climb everything 'because it is there.' So today I took them to an indoor rock climbing class to see how they liked it.

The class was at Vertical World climbing gym in Redmond. They do a class called Rockin Tots for 3-5 year olds. The maximum number of students is 4, and the teacher was 'teacher Dan.' As with all climbing instructors he had a massive beard and a pony tail and was very zen and soft spoken. He was wonderful with the children and his enthusiasm for climbing really rubbed off on the them.

The class began with stretching, warming up and then Max and Zoe had to traverse along the rock wall following the teacher. They were naturals and did well. After that Dan placed all these little boxes and plastic monkeys just out their reach and that had to climb up and get them.

When they were used to moving across the rock Dan asked for a volunteer to climb up to the top of the wall and get a balloon. No surprise that Pixie couldn't get the rope tied fast enough and after she had said her safety commands she danced up the wall like she'd been born to climb. The teacher was quite amazed at her bravery and skill and she reached the purple balloon easily.

I have a little bit of rock climbing experience and can tell you that coming down is a lot scarier than going up, and Zoe felt the same. She got scared coming down and Dan had to go up and help her. She recovered quickly though and then it was Max's turn. He did a fantastic job giggling his way up to the top and 'rescued' both the remaining balloons. He came down with an enormous smile on his face, and couldn't wait to go and get the stuffed animals that Dan said are trapped on the ledge. He had them thrown down in no time and proclaimed 'I am fireman Max, Yeah I saved the day', and gave himself a big cheer.

After all that excitement the final part of the class was being hoisted in the air and swinging on the rope. They hung about 10 feet in the air just swinging and giggling, it was hilarious.

Max already wants to climb again tomorrow, but Zoe got a bit spooked I think. We'll see how it goes next week, but she'll let me know. One thing is for certain the Pixie won't be doing anything she doesn't love. She's just that shade of pink.