Part IV: Climbing @ Joshua Tree

Day 2 of climbing, we headed over to some close-to-the-road climbing spots near Jumbo Rocks. With two kids and minimal gear, the short skip and a hop to a climbing location was definitely ideal. A location with a little bit of shade made things perfect.


Thanks to Deb for getting the rare family photo of us.. AND with everyone looking in the right direction! Chances are this will be our holiday card photo for 2012!


The first location we settled at had a nice, flat area and with SHADE! The watermelon came as an additional bonus!

Watermelon is so much more delicious when we're out there in the dry heat of Joshua Tree. It's just a little messy. At this point, Emilia's already been rolling around in sand, dirt, etc. So what's a little more with watermelon juice?

Time to take Lily and Blankie for a walk. (Here's a photo of Emilia with Lily from the last time we were here.)

Okay, okay, here's some actual climbing. Ryan got a chance to climb a couple of climbs and both Emilia and Liam were cooperating enough that I could get some photos in.

Look! There's Ba-Ba!

It's like being at the movies.. munching on snacks and watching people climb. =)

We didn't do too much climbing, and while climbing was an objective, the best part was being able to go outdoors with the kids, spend some time hanging out with friends, and have something different than the everyday norm. It's nice to have a little get-away sometimes, even though it's still as much or even more effort than usual.

Just to give you an idea, for a 1 night, 2 day trip, this is how much stuff we needed to bring... and we do actually pack light compared to the average parents/family. We pretty much have a tent, 3 sleeping pads, 2 sleeping bags, extra baby blankets, 2 portable cribs/baby-tent, snacks/food, nursing stuff, kid entertainment stuff for the car ride, 2 baby backpack/carriers, multi-functional ground cover, 2 camping chairs, 2 small duffle bag of clothes for the entire family, diaper bag, and extra diapers/wipes.

One of the best parts of this trip was being able to see Emilia's personality in a different environment. She is curious and explorative. She loves being around the other kids, at the same time, she went off to do her own "things"... picking up random leaves, rocks, etc. And.. she is funny and goofy. She's my little goofball with attitude. She had so much fun and it was great to see her enjoying the time there.

(Notice the upside-down shades. That is totally her doing, even though I've told her it's upside-down.)

Here is a look back at our last JTree trip ... 2 years ago!.

And here's Emilia as we sign-off on another year of JTree camping/climbing fun.