It's been a long time since I've written, but things have been very busy here. First, my parents came to visit for a week and we had a lot of fun shopping, cooking and playing with the kids. Also, work has been VERY busy and tired me out on the computer so much that I've had no desire to be on in my free time!
But today was a fun and exciting day. Ben entered his second rock climbing competition. He competed in the Youth D league, which is for ages 10 and under. There were 11 boys in his division, and Ben one of the youngest, but not the shortest! He was far from the tallest, though, boys seem to grow a lot between 8 and 10.
The rules of this competition were different from the last one he competed in, so we had to learn the strategy. Here, you could take up to five tries on each route, and falling off didn't count against you. Also, each route had a point total, so your final score was the sum of the point totals of your five best completed routes. So, you didn't want to waste your energy on too easy routes, or spend your energy on routes too difficult for you.
I'm really proud of Ben. He came in 5th out of 11 (and he believes he won the competition ... goodness, we're really trying to work on his humility!!!!). The competition lasted 4 hours, and he climbed every bit of it. About 2 hours in, he'd had enough and was getting very frustrated because there were two routes he couldn't finish. We regrouped, took a break, got advice and encouragement from his coach, went back and finished an easier route and got his confidence back. Then he hit to two harder routes and stuck 'em out and made it to the top!! We were incredibly proud of him for overcoming his desire to give up and quit and his dedication to come back and keep trying.
He then went on to the next hardest wall, and made it part way up - that's how you want to end a competition. They always say 'fall off trying'!
Here are some pictures ...
But today was a fun and exciting day. Ben entered his second rock climbing competition. He competed in the Youth D league, which is for ages 10 and under. There were 11 boys in his division, and Ben one of the youngest, but not the shortest! He was far from the tallest, though, boys seem to grow a lot between 8 and 10.
The rules of this competition were different from the last one he competed in, so we had to learn the strategy. Here, you could take up to five tries on each route, and falling off didn't count against you. Also, each route had a point total, so your final score was the sum of the point totals of your five best completed routes. So, you didn't want to waste your energy on too easy routes, or spend your energy on routes too difficult for you.
I'm really proud of Ben. He came in 5th out of 11 (and he believes he won the competition ... goodness, we're really trying to work on his humility!!!!). The competition lasted 4 hours, and he climbed every bit of it. About 2 hours in, he'd had enough and was getting very frustrated because there were two routes he couldn't finish. We regrouped, took a break, got advice and encouragement from his coach, went back and finished an easier route and got his confidence back. Then he hit to two harder routes and stuck 'em out and made it to the top!! We were incredibly proud of him for overcoming his desire to give up and quit and his dedication to come back and keep trying.
He then went on to the next hardest wall, and made it part way up - that's how you want to end a competition. They always say 'fall off trying'!
Here are some pictures ...
Coach Jason and some of the Rock Stars climbing team - they all did really well!
What can I say ... a picture of Ben climbing ...
Ben's reach and ability have really improved since he's joined the Rock Stars climbing team in January.
Ben receiving his 5th place ribbon. He also won some of the freebies ... a block of climbing chalk and a really nice chalk bag ... which he gave to me for my new rock climbing belt (since he already had one).Yep, for my birthday I got my very own rock climbing belt. Keep in mind, I'm the belayer ... I get to hold the bottom end of the rope! But it's nice to have my own belt ... they are a little, ah, personal. You know what I mean if you've ever tried one!!
We're off to bed soon ...what a great day!
1 comment:
Very cool, that means you can climb now too with Ben! Great gift:) He amazes me at the wall's he climbs for his age. Good job!
You were the only one who really read our blog and left comments to be honest, and we thank you for that:) All of our family is doing the facebook thing now so it's just easier to keep in touch because you are on there also. The craft blog was crazy! You had to subscribe to a daily thing and I just do not have time for that. Of course, they didn't mention that until I joined. Figure LOL:) I love facebook, thanks for the recommendation friend! I am still doing Sparks too:)I have been doing that since Dec. I just went back under 200 again this past week.
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