Mountain reflections

Now that the oxygen has fully returned to my brain -- it only took about 48 hours -- I have some more thoughts about our Stone Mountain hike that didn't make it in to my original post.

First of all, you know those certificates that I was so excited for the the kids to get so they could show their friends at school that they did indeed climb a mountain? Yeah -- I was in such an altered state, i.e., struggling to regain my breath, that we forgot to get them once we reached the top. I do have a penny that we made in one of those penny press machines. It says "I climbed Stone Mountain!" and shows a fit-looking guy. Funny, there was not one that pictured a short, apple-shaped woman.

Second, if you recall, we took a picture of the kids at the base of the mountain. They were standing in front of a sign that listed rules and guidelines to consider before making the climb.

Maybe I should have read those before starting our ascent. They are too hard to make out in that picture, so let me help you:

GUIDELINES FOR HEALTH & SAFETY WHEN CLIMBING STONE MOUNTAIN:

1. If you have ever considered applying to be a contestant on NBC's The Biggest Loser, you might want to re-think climbing this mountain.
2. If bending over to tie your shoes leaves you a little breathless, this might not be the activity for you.
3. If your idea of exercise is going to the freezer for seconds on ice cream, consider riding the Sky Tram to the top of Stone Mountain.
4. If the last time you climbed this mountain was as a child and you remember it being easy, take some time to consider the difference in your physical stamina then and now.
5. If you take any type of medication for mood disorders, your desire to climb this mountain may be a symptom of your general craziness or other mental instability. You should turn back now and call your doctor for an increased dose of medication.
   

It's just a little hill...

The one thing that I wanted to do for sure when I planned this trip to see my brother and his family was to go to Stone Mountain. When I was a little girl, my aunt and uncle lived in Stone Mountain and we made a couple of trips to the park for a walk up the mountain.

The mountain is the largest piece of exposed granite in the world. As if that weren't enough, there is a memorial carving on the side of the mountain that depicts three Confederate heroes of the Civil War: Confederate President Jefferson Davis, General Robert E. Lee and Lt. General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson. The carving was done over a period of 60 years.

How cool it would be if my kids could come back from Spring Break and tell their friends that they climbed a mountain on their vacation. Once they reached the top, they would get a certificate that said "I climbed Stone Mountain!"

Plus, it would only cost $8/car to get into the park and walk the mountain trail. (Taking in the other attractions -- most of which aren't open for the season yet anyway -- is considerably pricier.)

A trip to Stone Mountain, I reasoned, would be economical, physically active and memorable. Turns out I was right on all three counts.

With my sister-in-law Erin staying behind to work, my brother Jeff and I loaded the five kids in the van and headed for our destination. Most of them were excited at the prospect of climbing the mountain, except Jack who slept the whole way there and Annie who doesn't get excited about the prospect of most anything that can be construed as exercise.

"Oh, Annie, it's just a little hill," I assured her.

Here they are at the base of the mountain walk-up trail:

Immediately, I was surprised at how the walk-up trail was more level in my memory. I think my brother thought the same thing. Of course the last time he went up, he wasn't carrying a three-year-old in his arms.

About 100 or so yards up the trail, I was the one asking "are we almost there?" The kids did a great job of stopping to wait for me (and Jack and Jeff) to catch up. Annie kept telling me to "channel my inner Jillian (trainer from the Biggest Loser)."

Adding to my breathlessness, Jeff and I kept laughing -- at how ridiculously out of shape we are, (though really more me than he), at how the kids were practically taking the mountain at a run, at how much more of the mountain we had to climb.

Thank God I was the one with the camera. It gave me an excuse to stop every so often to "take a picture," which actually translates to "gasp for air." Charlie found his name carved in the granite:

Then we found a cool caterpillar. Under ordinary circumstances, I would have said "Neat!" and moved on. But I was happy to stop and snap several pictures just long enough for the jello-y feelings in my legs to go away.

I'm not sure how far into our ascent we were when I took this video. Far enough that the oxygen deprivation of my brain caused me to not realize that I was shooting the video sideways. So turn your head a bit:

Shortly after this video was shot (I think), this was the view:

By this point, I wasn't even pretending that I was taking this all in stride. I was definitely sucking wind and there was no point in hiding it. I laughed at how in my head I am not nearly as fat and out of shape as I am in real life. I also began mentally blogging the whole experience.

"Look at it this way, Amy, your kids will remember this forever," my brother said.

"Yes," I replied. "They will forever remember the day their mother died on the side of a Georgia mountain!"

Hey, if I was going down, I was going down laughing. A little while later, we were maybe 2/3 of the way up. A couple was coming down the mountain.

"Are we almost there?" I practically begged.

"In distance, yes. But not in effort. The next part is the hardest part of the climb." I considered throwing myself off the side of the granite to end the misery there.

If you look closely in the picture below, you will see two things. The first are the yellow stripes, marking the way to the top. They will be important later. The second is a set of metal handrails (just left of center) to help you climb this VERY steep part of the trail.

I practically dragged myself up the slope holding on to those handrails. It might have been easier if I could have stopped laughing at the ridiculousness of it all. Of course Charlie and Robbie walked right up the center of the handrails, barely holding on at all.

I guessed that this was the toughest part of the climb, seeing as they provided those handrails. Well, I guessed wrong. The next part was almost insurmountable. Annie asked if I wanted to stop there and wait for them to come back. I declined, determined to finish the climb and afraid that I might pass out and roll all the way back down if I stopped.

Charlie was the first to make it up, with the other kids following closely behind.

Remember those yellow stripes leading the way? By this part of the trail, I was literally willing myself to make it to the next yellow stripe and then resting there for a minute. And crazily, I did begin channeling my inner Jillian. I think it was not so much determination as hallucination.

But I persevered and made it! I wish this picture looked a little more victorious. But I was lucky to be upright at all:

I was so happy to have reached the top that I went in and promptly plunked down $23.20 to buy tickets to ride the Sky Tram back down, rather than hiking our way back to the base. It was the best money I've spent on this trip!

After we'd left Stone Mountain Park, we went to a Mexican restaurant for dinner. This was the view from the parking lot up to the entrance located on the front of the building:

"Why is everything in Georgia so steep?" Charlie asked.

Good question.

Slow goin'

Since we got to my brother's house on Monday, we've kind of taken a slow approach to getting the day started. Right now it's 11:30am and I'm still in my pajamas.

Yesterday, we hung around the house and let the kids just play in the morning. Our plan had been to go to Stone Mountain, but the weatherman had other ideas. So we had lunch at home before heading out for the day. The afternoon consisted of Monkey Joe's -- one of those indoor inflatable jumpy places, Borders and Fuji Hana hibachi grill for dinner. I have pictures to share, but no cord to upload them from my camera, so you'll just have to use your imagination for now.

My boys had never been to a hibachi restaurant before. They loved it! They each caught fried egg in their mouth and couldn't get enough of the fire. (I'm trying not to worry about their fascination with pyrotechnics.)

Annie, in one of her wanna-be-cool 'tween moments, passed on the flying egg, until she saw everyone else doing it. Guess fun outweighed cool; I'm glad.

Camryn caught an egg in her mouth and was so proud of herself.

"It's my first time to ever catch the egg, Aunt Amy!" she kept saying over and over.

Charlie was quite interested in the chef.

"When did you decide to be a cook?"

"How old were you?"

"Do you ever cut yourself?" (You know, flying knives and all.)

Of course as cool as they thought the hibachi chef and his tricks were -- the giant flame and the onion volcano were favorites, there was no way those boys were going to bother eating what he cooked. So as we all enjoyed steak, shrimp, chicken and veggies from the hibachi, Robbie and Charlie munched through cheeseburgers and fries.

Poor Jack, though, being 3 years old and not getting a nap does not lend itself to staying awake for the hibachi show. He slept soundly through dinner!

By the time we got home, I was ready to sleep soundly, though I didn't go to bed for another 4 hours -- it was Biggest Loser night.

I have a wicked cough that started as a tickle in my throat but seems to be finding a home in my chest. It is kicking my butt. It wakes me up in the middle of the night (who am I kidding? Cough or not I'm usually up in the middle of the night). So I've been going back to bed around 4 or 5am and sleeping late -- until after 10am two days in row!

The cough just kind of comes over me quickly. Last night I coughed so hard that I thought my water had broken -- until I remembered that I am not pregnant, which is when I realized that I just peed myself a little bit.

I am hopeful that Stone Mountain might be on the agenda for this afternoon. It's gray and cloudy, but not rainy. I remember thinking it was so cool to go there when I was a kid. I'd love to take my kids to see it. Plus, what better way is there to wear out five kids than to hike them up the side of a mountain and back down again?