We had my son's 9th birthday party this weekend, and decided to try something different, so we had it at a local climbing gym in Beaverton.  It was awesome!  The guys at Stoneworks were great, and fabulous at working with kids.  For a very reasonable price we got private use of the gym before it opened to the public, shoe and harness rentals for everyone, and two expert belayers to make sure we didn't kill ourselves.

The guys were very encouraging with the kids, and I think they all had a great time.  We didn't get quite as many kids as we'd planned for, so 4-5 of us adults got into the act too, which was a blast.  I haven't been climbing since I was probably 8-9, and had a great time.  I made it up to the top of the high wall, which was a good way up there.  The gym itself was amazing, with probably a good dozen different faces, plus a little cave for bouldering practice, etc.  The faces themselves were really cool, with all kinds of handholds, shaped both like actual rocks and like just about anything else you can imagine.  I saw several skulls, a fish, turkey, owl, and a couple little grinning homunculi.  Ivan had a great time, and his little sister Gwyn climbs like a little monkey girl.  She just turned 6 yesterday, and I think she was up and down the wall more than anyone else.  I shot a bunch of video, which I may get around to editing into something interesting one of these days.