Ha-berfday, Haboey!

Hadley decided to try for a party this year. It's always tough to schedule in the summer, especially around the 4th. But it worked out well to have a small rock climbing party (this girl loves to climb things) just before the end of the month!

 

They started off on the bouldering area, which is climbing without a harness or ropes. It has a cushy, padded floor around it if you fall. We quickly figured out that we had three excited climbers, one timid climber, and one would-be climber who had just done her nails. 😆

From there, we moved to the junior belay climbing (harness and rope, but auto-belayed) area. Once you hook into the rope, it can catch your weight if you fall, and you don't need a partner. Can you tell who our 3 climbers were?

They spent a little time in the kids bouldering area, including a pow-wow on top of one of the walls.

They admired the speed climbers and full-belay route climbers from afar.

Then the brave 3 actually got to try a belay route when I came across our sweet neighbor, a certified belayer, there with her son! That's H in blue at the top! All 3 made it up and even completed a second one.

Finally, it was cupcake time! We went to a nearby cupcake shop where each girl got to pick out her own flavor. Yum!

A few days later, we celebrated Hadley's actual birthday!

Hadley wanted an ice cream cake (mint chocolate chip, of course), so I called up Baskin Robbins to place the order when their online ordering system wouldn't work. You have to see the name on the cake! Happy Birthday Haboey! 🙄 This is why I hate talking on the phone, haha. 

At least the mini-ice cream cones were cute and edible by themselves!

Her one specific request, other than a sushi lunch, was to do an escape room. I had just done one with some friends a week or two earlier, which had really piqued her interest. So we found one that was family-friendly and we successfully broke into the school and submitted our test to the lock box after hours! It was fun, and we finished with two minutes to spare with just a few (ok, maybe more than a few) hints! We started with an hour and had to find clues in 3 different rooms (two of which were locked) to complete various tasks, like finding the code to a combination lock and noticing a pattern in the classroom decor that seemed out of place. It was great to see everyone using their thinking caps and working together. Highly recommend!

For the 4th of July, we kept it low key at home and enjoyed the neighbors' fireworks. We did make one of our favorite patriotic desserts: strawberry pie, this time with blueberries!

Finally, Hadley spent another week at T Bar M camp, since she enjoyed it so much last summer. A week of games, teamwork, Bible Study, songs/chants, and fun - she loved it and is looking forward to next summer already!