Inspirational Sites

I have been on the hunt for sites of women/mothers doing cool outdoor adventurous things for years now. When I find one, I cherish the words written there. As you know, us outdoorsy chics are few and far between. And the numbers deplete as women enter that next phase of life, motherhood.

I've added a few awesome blogs/sites to the 'Blogs of Interest' link list, so you can always come back for more. My favorites are:

• Into the Mountains- from what I gather, she & her husband are guides that live in Chamonix. Rough life! They recently had their first child but life hasn't slowed down that much, really.
• Tales of a Mountain Mama- a couple kiddos and some good hiking tips; also some great giveaways.
• CragMama- amazing climber chica that climbed until the week before she was due, I think.
• Adventure Parents- really great site all about families continuing their outdoor adventure;  in addition to his own good material, he has a great list of more blogs to check out. 

Happy reading!

Mother's Day Weekend

On the Saturday before mother's day, I got to go climbing with some old-time climbing friends.

Carrie had not been on the rock in 3 or 4 years so we had to use some coercion methods 

but we did get her to climb a bit.

Robin was a rock star on lead, working through crux sections with ease. 

This 5.9 was generally easy with a tricky move that seemed harder than 5.9. Each of us pulled it differently. Robin did an off-balance traverse on a ramp. Joanne did a reachy high-step move. And I used my favorite, the 'lie-back scrunch your feet up' move.

 Joanne

 Wearing 'Red Roamer' harness...6 month baby belly sticking out a little 

but hard to see at this angle.

Robin & I

This was a particularly momentous mother's day weekend. We were celebrating my mom's birthday, mother's day (of course), my pregnancy, and her retirement.

 In mom's yard, after our brunch in the sun 

(80 degrees that day...crazy for around here).

Then, we headed to see Brandon's mom for lunch/dinner. Brandon found this great beach for a picnic. Views of Mt. Rainier, a relatively uncrowded beach, and the warm sun.

Brandon and mom

Belly Bump

A bit more noticeable now...at 6 months this week.

Nothing Too Exciting

We've been getting out and about lately, but not doing anything too extraordinary. A couple weekends ago, I went climbing at Vantage with Joanne, sporting the super cool full body harness.

 I've nicknamed the harness 'the red roamer' b/c it tends to roam a bit, if you know what I mean.

(The shutter didn't open all the way...makes for an interesting pic.)

 Joanne was the awesome rope gun, 

giving me a break from leading since I'm prego.

The following day, Brandon got off work so we headed out to ski Silver. It was smoking hot that day, hot enough that we stopped to sit in the snow to cool down. 

Last weekend, we enjoyed some time with friends Arielle, Doug, and Gabe, here for a visit from D.C. I have no pics of our time in Seattle b/c I completely forgot my camera. We had a great time doing the touristy stuff and catching up with missed old friends.

On Sunday, tired of the gloomy weather, we drove 30 minutes east to the sunshine and rode the Moose and Bone trails in Roslyn.

You'll note that there are more pics of me...

that's b/c I'm going super slow now (nearly 6 months prego) 

and Brandon has lots of time to wait.