One weekend, two very different trips.

Yesterday K, M & I went with friends to check out Clip 'n' Climb, partly to check it out in advance of an upcoming korfball social trip and partly because M was very disappointed not to be able to go on that trip because of a previous commitment.  Before M started school we went climbing most months at Alter Rock in Derby with friends who are members there at one of the weekly home ed sessions.  Clip 'n' Climb is rather different, rather than classic climbing walls with another person belaying as you climb, there are 15 or so different walls each with an automatic belaying device that you are clipped on to.  There are a couple of 'normal' walls, a pair that include a timer that you start and stop yourself by pressing a button at the bottom and then another at the top and another pair either side of a transparent wall where you can race someone face to face.  Most of them are rather different though, such as the three sided wall which you stand inside of which has semi-spheres as holds, one with holes in the holds and a pair of pegs that you take up with you to use as hand grips and another like a twisted tower of enormous jenga blocks.  You have to arrive well in time for getting sorted with harnesses and the safety briefing half an hour before your climbing slot.  There are a maximum of 15 for each group of climbers so, since there are slots every half hour with no more than 30 climbers it can't be ridiculously busy.  You need a 'key' to unlock and clip on at each of the walls, but adults and older children (I don't know if there's an age limit) can have an extra little bit of instruction and have one to clip themselves and children in their party on and off too, there are enough instructors around that there wasn't too much waiting anyway though.  It was really fun!  Some of the walls were pretty challenging anyway (I didn't manage them all) but each has graded challenges (such as only using a particular colour grip) for anyone who found them too easy.  For me an hour was more than enough, but then I find my forearms go all T-Rex-y after a few goes up a climbing wall, the children would have been happy to carry on, but they weren't at all moany about having to stop either.

M up the twisted Jenga tower.

K up one with only underhand grips.

Me up the one with pegs.

M attempting the giant ball one!

And M having made it to the top of the stepping stone one.

Earlier this week I noticed friend had posted a link to the Visit My Mosque day website and having had a look and found that there was one not too far from us, I was very keen for the whole family to go along.  The world is such a scary place at the moment and so much of that comes from mistrust and misunderstanding of people who have different beliefs to ourselves, that any opportunity to meet with those people and talk to them about our similarities and differences can only be a good thing.  There was only one place taking part near us this time, so we headed over there.  It really was not what we were expecting!  There was a very warm welcome to not a mosque, but a really rather small prayer room.  We had very interesting and enlightening conversation and had some questions answered and learned quite a lot.  K & M were not particularly keen on being dragged out at the weekend but both said that they were glad that we'd gone.  It is a shame that we didn't get to visit a mosque, but I'm hoping that there will be one taking part and will be keeping an eye open for next year.