A day of firsts!

Today was an awesome day!
So the first of the firsts was,
Dmitri was babysat by his first
[non relative] babysitter!
I was worried a bit because
he woke up at 6AM this morning!
And was just up.... blah.
So I decided to go with it and
keep him up - in hopes that he'd
fall right to sleep for his sitter.
Well - that kind of worked.
She said he was great - and didn't
act up - but he was so into his
new environment and new people,
that he stayed awake for awhile.
I was so happy though - she said
he fell asleep and I guess was out
for a few hours - so that's very
nice!
But he had a great day - and got
to hang out with his friend Ava
[they were babysat together].

Well they were babysat because we
went out rock climbing!
Yee!
So yea - a first for me! We went out
with Nate and Chelsea. They've
been rocking for a while - so they
knew what they were doing.
Daniel actually took up rock climbing
for a few months - but it was
some time ago. But yea - first
for me. And let me tell you -
nothing like the rock walls.
Which I also have not climbed -
but they look easy.

So I totally loved it! My nerves
got the better of me tough.
I didn't realize I had such
a fear of heights! But oh my,
the view was gorgeous!

It was a little bit of a hike - and
actually on the way up, there's
a WW2 bunker that you pass.
It's really cool! So I of course
had to get a pic :)
Once we got to our destination,
and everything was set up, we
went to climbing.
I held back a bit and let Daniel
go first.
He did awesome! He made it up
the rock pretty fast - I was so
proud of him!
Next went Chelsea. Who did
awesome as well! They both
made it look so easy, so I mustered
the confidence and went next.

EEee! It's such a crazy feeling!
I was nervous - and super excited,
and repeating "you can do this"
in my head over in over again XD
I think I actually did pretty well
for my first time.
I didn't make it all the way to the
top though - but so close!
And looking down - it looked so far!
But it was awesome.

Repelling was interesting.
I had total confidence in Nate,
but it took me a bit to figure out
what I needed to do.
Repelling was actually pretty fun :)

So Nate belayed for all of us
[secured us at the bottom, while
we climbed up] so he went last,
and Daniel belayed for him.
Holy smokes - I swear he was up
to the top in like a minute. It
was crazy!

So that was the first climb, then
we moved over a bit for a
second climb.
Yea - I totally wimped out on
the second and didn't do it.
Now I wish I had! So
definitely next time.

So that was our adventure
today.
:)

Tonight they came over for
dinner and games.
I made salmon, rice and asparagus.
And Daniel handled the bread,
which I was totally in love with.
Then cheesecake for dessert.
We played a bit of guitar hero
and then they guys played
Mario Kart on WII.

Dmitri was totally loving Ava.
I was surprised to see how gentle
he was being with her.
It made me so happy!
:)

They got ready to go home,
loaded Ava in her carseat - and
Dmitri goes over and is standing
in front of her carseat grabbing
her toes. It looked like he was
tickling them, and he was just
talking and talking to her.
It was sooo cute!
Lol at least that's what I think
he was doing.
:)
I tried to record it - but of course
he stopped so he could start
at the camera.
Ohwell.
But here's the video anyway!
:]


Now get ready for picture overload!
:}
The view on the hike up
Daniel observing
Surprise/candid shot on the way up
The view at the top
Daniel getting ready
and climbing
and climbing....
And there!
Eee! Me! And my awesome bright
pink/red shorts. Be jealous :}
The trippy view when looking down
:]
Daniel switching shoes
Daniel's second climb
Repelling down
He's so adorable :)
Chelsea's second climb
Nate belaying
Almost at the top!
Nate's second climb
Daniel belaying
Nate untying the ropes at
the top. Scary.
See - gorgeous views!
Heading back down
Mmm standing water :]
But this pic is totally zoomed in - and
I thought it was cool.
Sweet ride!