Luke came home last week and we were pretty excited, to say the least. He passed two written exams with flying colors and flew his check rides with ease. I am proud to say that I am married to a certified multi-engine, and single-engine commercial pilot! It has been great to see Luke learn and learn and learn over the last 6 months. He is almost done with flight school - next step is the flight instructor portion - and we will see him meet his goals. All of us are so very proud of him. Thanks for doing this for us, Luke! We love you!!
In celebration of Luke's homecoming, we decided it would be fun to do a bit of camping and a little rock climbing. He has been indoors studying 14 hours a day and I have started back to a very busy semester and we thought a little outdoor time was the ticket.
We left in the evening, ate delicious Mexican food at a restaurant (I have cleaned up enough camp site dinner messes and didn't feel like doing another), and headed up to Prentice Cooper State Forest for a night under the stars.
Layton was psyched to help get the firewood. He equates camping with marshmallow roasting so that is the only thing on his mind. Here he has his stick all ready and (semi) patiently waits for dad to build the fire. 
Kestrel also gets a marshmallow, unroasted, and sits down for a treat.
She is not so sure of it. She prefers salty snacks to sweet things so she took a bite, spit it on her shirt and threw the marshmallow on the ground for the bugs to devour.
The boys begin the roasting and Layton thinks his dad is the man when it comes to making them just right, so Luke gets the honor of roasting all marshmallows at Layton's command (he says please, of course).
Handing over the goods...
Enjoying the treat...roasted to perfection!
After that, the night went by very slowly. Layton enjoyed the fire before bed and Kestrel was completely out of her element. She really didn't sleep and proceeded to kick and wriggle until she got 1/3 of the tent to herself. Layton was smushed in a corner and Luke was laid out in a straight-jacket position. I spent the night curled up, trying not to touch Kestrel (the princess who yelled if anyone touched her), staring at the stars. It had been wayyy too long since I quietly looked at stars while laying in the woods. Though I didn't sleep, I had a somewhat peaceful night.
The next morning we woke up, ate breakfast, jumped in the car and headed to the Tennessee Wall for a little rock climbing. The temps were nice and the humidity was relatively low. The conditions were pretty good for August in the South. Layton did great on the hike up and was psyched to get on the rock.
Layton is all ready to begin. He yelled, "Climbing!"
The first crux for him...knees were in order.
Yes! He made it to the top of the block. That was about it for him and this climb. He lowered off and played in the dirt.
Next it was my turn. It was an easy route with my favorite type of climbing!
At the top of the route, I did something very important. To those who know me, it was a milestone for me...I cleaned the anchors and rapped the route!!!! I had a horrible scare of vertigo almost 15 years ago and have been terrified of taking control while rock climbing since. I was paranoid to clean routes, rappel and belay from a ledge. Today, I conquered a huge fear and leapt over a large hurdle in my life. I was so proud of myself when I got down that I burst into tears. I just felt like I proved something to myself that will transcend into a lesson for my kids one day. It was the perfect ending to a not-so-perfect camping adventure. We hiked back to the car and left on a really positive note.
Since Kestrel did not sleep the night before, she passed out in the pack on the descent. Oh, to be a baby. I just love the chocolate smeared on her cheek - and a bit up her nose! Teeheehee!!
