Sunday Adventures

It was a jam-packed day of activities. I woke up early and headed to TSNY for the first time this season. I got there early because I knew there would be a lot of beginners and I wanted to get in some good swings before the knee hangs started up. Classes with lots of beginners are sometimes annoying because the line moves so slowly, but on the other hand, it's really fun to watch someone the first time that they go off the board and to see someone conquer their fear of height. After flying for a while, it's easy to forget the initial thrill that got me hooked to begin with. Watching new flyers reminds me.

It was really perfect flying weather--early am flying is much better than afternoon flying in the summer months. It's been so long since I flew on a big rig and it was funny how it actually felt high! AND the bar was further out than it is at Streb, so I was definitely out of any comfort zone that I had developed. But it was so great to fall and bounce on the net again. I missed that.

I thought that my cutaway half was catch-able, but it did not happen.



Also tried some cutaway 540s just for fun, but I think that is a dismount trick. After viewing the video, I realized that I do a cutaway half (which could be catch-able) and then do another 360 twist post-catch placement down to the net. But it is still a fun trick to throw!



Then Galit, her girls and I headed to meet Oleg in New Jersey to go rock climbing. This may be a new great hobby! It was difficult, but I'm excited to learn more. I think it will be complementary to trapeze. Your core, the hand gripping muscles and the trapezius are key muscle groups used in climbing AND trapeze. And if this weren't enough, climber boys are hot. I'm going to learn to belay next week, so Galit, Oleg and I can all climb equally. Always generous Oleg belayed all four of us all afternoon long and hardly got to climb himself.

The girls used to be a little bit shy with me, but that has completely dissipated. Now I see their full blown personalities, including the feistiness that, clearly, they inherited from their mom! We had a lot of fun, but I also found myself taking "a stern tone" with them, reminding them that they could not climb unless an adult was spotting them and not to place themselves directly under a climber who could fall and clobber them. A told her mom that I was "very strict." I have to say, I felt like I was using the "alpha dog" skills that I learned when I got Trevor as a puppy. This is one of Galit's videos (her doing planche), but you can hear me in the background with the girls.





Being a mom seems like it's a lot of work. But Galit keeps telling me that I need to have my own kids so that I stop mothering her.

Oleg let me drive on the way back because he couldn't bear the responsibility of driving with children in the car. I love driving, especially Oleg's car, which has a lot of power and especially when it means that Oleg would NOT be driving. Somehow, when we arrived back at Oleg's house, A has climbed into the trunk from the back seat. So we arrived at the ferry and popped the trunk to let A climb out. I'm not sure if anyone saw us let a small child hop out of the trunk, but it could not have looked good.

It was a great day overall. I didn't even mind so much that I had to get on a conference call and turn commitment papers when I got home.