Garden of the Gods

Andy had State cross country meet this past Saturday down in Colorado Springs (sidebar: Andy has LOVED being the Asst. XC Coach for the high school team and the team improved leaps and bounds this year over previous years, yea go Coach Goodwin!), so we decided to make it a family affair and take advantage of some outdoor time. The morning was of course dedicated to the race, so the boys and I hung around and played while all of the running heats progressed. Andy's school's race was around noon, so by 1pm we were free to go explore. We chose to go to Garden of the Gods, which has some really spectacular rock formations. Gabriel was instantly awed as we drove up the main road, asking "can I climb up that big rock?". Indeed!

We have a kids climbing wall in our neighborhood that we've helped Gabriel climb several times, and he seems to enjoy rock climbing, but as soon as he spotted a rock that was permitted for climbing he literally started climbing up this vertical crevice without assistance. Andy and I jumped in to spot him, but he did most of the climbing. We were amazed at how natural the hand and foot holds came to him. We had to drag him off the rocks when it was time to go home. 

This wasn't the one he climbed, but ti was just as steep

Gabriel about five feet up, on his own!

Mom, providing a back up spot

Dad took over once he reached over six feet, still just spotting!

Finding a hand hold

Still hanging on, vertical

He was SO excited about his progress

Found another crevice

Another rock to climb, this time not vertical though

PS - Judah slept through the whole thing!