We did the most amazing (SCARY) trek this week!  Our friends who live here full time, showed us the secret trail to the Crystal Chair.  Every ten minutes, our landscape changed from trekking straight into the jungle brush (the kind of jungle brush that is so heavy and thick, you DON’T consider going through it, until your fearless leader says “This WAY!”–and you say “what?”) to balancing on a ledge of sheer rock to venturing into a cave that is pitch black dark.

After you get through the thick jungle brush, you descend through huge boulders.  And up to this point, I’m thinking ‘I’ve got this!’

Then the trail opens up, and you are running up a mountainside, gaining more and more height–loving the thrill of what is now and what is next.

And when you least expect it (because you feel like you’ve been trekking upward forever in the insane, sticky heat), you find yourself on a ledge–one last climb away from sitting in the Crystal Chair.  So of course, we put the youngest to the test first.  (What? I know, ridiculous and not my idea.)

But love “this” view that Brian captured.

Let me just say that I think Brian and our fearless leader, JK (see his arm below), planned to put the kids in the Crystal Chair before mom because if mom would have known how high,

and how steep this chair was, “ummmm”, without being roped in, I would have settled for looking up at the Crystal Chair,

taking a snapshot, and heading back down the limestone cliff.

But no, this is what happens when you start your daughter in rock climbing at 7 years old in Thailand.

When she’s ten, instead of being fearful of heights, she is FEARLESS (which makes her mom sweat even MORE!).  And she ignores mom telling her to slow down and decides to be a little “show off”.  🙂

What is the Crystal Chair?  It is this small, throne-like hole in the wall of the cliff that is embedded with natural crystals.  Beautiful.

After we all take our turn in sitting in the Crystal Chair, mom is relieved to be heading back down…having no idea what the next part of the journey is.

So relieved to be off the cliff, and out of the Crystal Chair heights, with no clue that what comes next will scare her and challenge her so much that everyone will wonder if she peed her pants (and photos will be taken without her consent!).

Yep, that’s Part 2!  Stay tuned!  🙂

xoxo,

m

p.s.  Mother’s Day is THIS Sunday!!  Yahoo!!  It’s a holiday I ADORE!!   Need ideas? Here’s three!

1.  We’ve got ONE spot left in our Seattle CONFIDENCE Workshop in two weeks!  CLICK HERE for juicy details!

2.  We’ve got TWO spots left in our Chicago CONFIDENCE Workshop (end of month)!  CLICK HERE for juicy details!

3.  I’ve got ONE Mini Session spot left for Chicago–family portraits for MOM!  Email Genie at genie@fioria.us for details!

4.  Cancel three, there are four!  🙂  Best selling, YOUR BABY IN PICTURES, book!  Woo-hoo!!!

Let the Mother’s Day countdown begin!