Happy Femmesgiving!

This weekend we started a new tradition I am hoping will become an annual event.  All the Femmes, along with spouses, were able to get together to celebrate Friendsgiving, or Thanksgiving with your friends.  We ate a pot luck dinner of traditional Thanksgiving dishes with a twist, shared many laughs as all fourteen of us gathered around one table, and enjoyed each others company late into the night.

While the boys watched the Sporting KC game, the girls had a photo shoot...

Happy Thanksgiving from the Femmes to all of you!

Adventure #17 - "Should we just look the other way and let her have a good time?!"

After a summer hiatus, and a cancelled event in September, we have been longing for the return of our regularly scheduled adventures.  This month's activity proved to be the perfect kick-off for our next season of adventure.  It was physically demanding and mentally challenging; requiring us to execute a series of physical tasks, overcome fears and give up control.  What could be so perfectly perilous, so appropriately arduous for this group of brave Betties?  As unassuming as it sounds, the answer is tree climbing!

Suited up for an adventure aloft!

As I like to do, I kept the details of our adventure a secret from the other girls.  I did provide them with clues that would allow each of them to figure out the identity of our mystery activity with a little help from Google, but Meghan was the only one who came up with the correct recreation.  For this reason, it was a loooong drive to Stagecoach Park in Olathe, and a welcome relief for some when we pulled into our destination and spotted the following sign:

If 8 year-olds can do this, surely it can't be too scary or vigorous...

Just beyond the sign, the next thing we saw was a BIG, beautiful Pin Oak tree with a massive trunk and sprawling branches:

As we approached, we found our instructors, Becky and Dan, setting up a series of hanging ropes, the ends of which you couldn't even see from the ground:

Even I, knowing what we were doing, had no idea what to expect.  This set-up far exceeded my pre-conceived ideas, and I immediately knew my expectations for what we would be accomplishing that day were about to be blown out of the water.  In short, I was thinking "holy shit!"

We were fitted with appropriately-sized harnesses, helmets and gloves and assisted with the proper fittings by Dan and Becky.  I witnessed Seabrin tightening the straps around her waist right after Dan loosened them, explaining they didn't need to be that tight.  There's that control thing I mentioned before.  :)

Once we were all deemed suitably outfitted, we received a brief botany lesson and quick demonstration from Becky on how to ascend this beast, and were told that tree climbing is super safe... as long as you listen to direction and do what you are told.  The first, and most important, rule was to always remain attached to a rope system.  We were not to attach or detach ourselves, but to let Dan and Becky do all of this.  We each picked a rope and our instructors attached us to our lines one by one.  We were then free to climb away!

The gist of it is: put one foot in a foot strap, bend that knee up to eye-level, which creates slack in the line.   Then, pulling with your arms, bring yourself to a standing position.  This creates tautness in the line and moves you several inches off the ground.  You continue this process, inching your way up the line until you reach the extent of your rope, or a height in which you feel uncomfortable surpassing.

Here we are just getting started

And here we are getting a little more comfortable (some more than others) with it all

The process itself of climbing was easier than I anticipated after seeing Becky's demo, but it definitely required a lot of upper body strength and some wear and tear on our hands.  Brandi and I were the first two to start, and got the hang of it right off the bat.  Meghan and Seabrin were next and were equally apt.  Then came Jessi, whose apprehension was palpable.  Dan immediately picked up on this and gave her a bit of a hard time, swinging her around while she hung upside down (as pictured above) to try to loosen her up.  I'm quite sure that was a fail on Dan's part.  Meghan and I were already red-faced from hanging upside down (on our own accord) at this point, and Brandi was leading the pack on our race towards the top.

As Jessi made her way up, she encountered many rogue branches and had to play defense against a number of stray twigs and boughs.  The anxiety in her voice was giving Meghan and I good laugh, but we also sent her words of encouragement, validated that she had the most treacherous path of any of us, and cheered her success when she finally made her way to a clearing.  After reaching this point, she decided she had sufficiently provoked and prevailed over her fear of heights, and did not care to go any higher.  However, she realized she had no branch nearby on which to perch herself.   She lamented, "I chose the wrong rope." Agreed, my friend.  Luckily, Dan came to her rescue.  Conjuring MacGyver himself, he made some slick movements through the tree, finagled a few ropes, and before we knew it he was reeling Jessi in and deposited her safely on a branch.

The many faces of Jessi's tree-climbing experience

The last to start were Meagan and Amy, and they were also the furthest away from me, so I have less insight as to their perception of the adventure, but I will share what I did witness.  Meagan was very quiet the entire time she was climbing, I kept calling out to her, "Meag, are you ok?"  She appeared to have the hang of it, and was climbing quite well, but was battling her fear of heights the whole time.  Once she made it to the first branch, Jessi's branch, she straddled that bad boy and never let go.

Amy had the most trouble with the physical component of this adventure.  Doesn't help that she spent a large portion of 2013 with a brace on her arm, atrophying her upper body muscles and leaving her legally 2% handicapped (milk it for all it's worth, Amy).  With Becky's help, she was able to make it to a low branch, then surrendered to the tree.  "It took everything I've got to get to this point," she said, and went on, "I'm all out of things."

Meagan, Jessi and Amy holding on, on their branches

At this point, Meghan, Seabrin, Brandi and I had all made it to the ends of our ropes and were hanging around on some of the higher branches.

These photos give you some idea of how high we were

Our ropes ended at a part of the tree where several large branches come together creating somewhat of a platform, which Dan referred to as "the living room."  From there, Dan had set up one additional rope system that we could climb to a higher level in the tree.  Meghan, Seabrin and myself took turns maneuvering our way into "the living room," where Dan attached us to the second line and we ascended that rope.  At the top of this second rope it was quiet and still, and we were surrounded by a sea of leaves.  I really felt like I was in the tree then.  The air seemed crisper and the world more peaceful, up there.  After a moment of serenity, it was back to reality with Dan and his off-the-cuff comments and innuendos.  He absolutely loved every minute of his climb with the seven of us, and later that day sent me an email stating, "I can't remember when I had as much fun climbing."  Right back at ya, Dan!

Just hanging around in the tree...

... being silly!

At the end of our time, and after we'd all felt accomplished and were getting hungry, we began our descent.  To get down the rope, you simply reach your arm up above your head to a small wooden ball that is on the line and gently pull down on the ball.  Once you "release the clutch" as Dan put it, it's smooth sailing.  Becky was there to spot us in case it wasn't so smooth.

Gliding down our ropes

Despite sore muscles, callused hands and Brandi's legs "not working right" for three days following the climb, I think we all had a good time and possibly more fun than we expected.  I'm so proud of Meagan and Jessi for facing their fear and doing something I know they did not feel completely comfortable, secure or sure doing, and of Amy for not giving up on something that might have felt impossible at the time.  This was one of my favorite adventures to date, and one that definitely reminded each of us why we joined the club.

LOVE my fellow Femmes!!!

At the end of another successful adventure!

Wouldn't be a FF blog post without individual pics...

Destiny

Seabrin

Jessi

Meagan

Amy

Brandi

Meghan

"You're married... Heck Yeah!!!"

We'd like to congratulate the most stunning bride, Seabrin, and her beau, Kyle, on their recent nuptials!  Yesterday was a gorgeous day here in Kansas City, and the ceremony was perfectly Seabrin with a few moments of comic relief sprinkled throughout.  At the reception that followed, we all had way too much fun on the dance floor and in the photo booth. It was a pretty perfect day.  Congratulations guys!

Welcome to the world...

... Baby Landon!!!

He arrived on July 12th, weighing in at 6 pounds and 14 ounces.  He couldn't be any sweeter, and all his "aunties" have already enjoyed plenty of snuggle time.  Congratulations Meghan and Mitch!

Adventure #16 - "This isn't booty shaking like you do in the club..."

In reality, we stayed very close to home this time; travelling only a few minutes drive from Alli's house, our meeting spot.  However, our adventure brought us to a foreign land and introduced us to a new, vibrant and mystical culture.

Literally, we were in a narrow, inadequately ventilated, interior room inside a Karate studio with elementary school-aged children practicing their "hi-yas" right outside our door.  But figuratively, we were in our womens' chambers in a Persian village with our banished-for-the-sake-of-modesty husbands right outside the door.

Any ideas???

Our latest adventure, planned by Amy (who is now back to partaking in adventures!) was a one-hour private introduction to BELLY DANCING class!

Our instructor, Maya, began the class by giving us a little history into belly dancing, and explanation of how she came to practice and teach the art.  It was immediately evident that she was very serious about her beloved dance.  She then asked us each to introduce ourselves to the group by stating our name and why we were interested in belly dancing.   I was the first one up, and tried to explain to her that we're all friends... "we're a club... we do different adventures every month... this month, Amy chose belly dancing."  Despite my best efforts, the "introductions" continued around the circle.

After "meeting" each other and confirming that we were all there for the same reason, we were treated to a "fast and fun" (our choice; the other being "slow and sensual") belly dance by Maya.  Girlfriend knows how to shake and shimmy!

Then it was time for us to start learning some moves!  We spread out around the room and formed a sort-of-circle.  Maya then taught us a series of basic moves, but was underwhelmed by our level of concentration and lack of seriousness.  Let's be honest, it's hard to focus when Alli is being awkward, and everything about belly dancing is awkward.  After practicing our moves in segmented intervals, we put all the steps together to create something like this:

Hip thrust, hip thrust, hip thrust, hip thrust, hip circle forward 2-3-4, back 2-3-4
Snake arms, snake arms, snake arms, snake arms, leg extension, leg extension, leg extenstion, leg extension, and shimmmmmmy
Toe touch forward, step, touch forward, step, touch forward, step, touch forward, step back, toe touch back, step back, touch back, step back

I have no idea what we looked like as a whole, but I'm guessing it resembled a hot mess.  Doesn't matter though, we did it!  And that's really all that counts!

The next few minutes of class we got to play with scarves, learn how to wrap ourselves up in them, and call it dancing.  Some of us were more successful at this than others, and some of us just needed a friend to dress us in our scarf (ahem, Lisa).  In the end however, we all looked like this...

For the record, the direction given was to uncover your face for this photo... we're not always the best listeners either

The last part of our introductory class involved the use of finger cymbals, as displayed by Amy...

For this, we essentially walked in a circle while gracefully and delicately clicking our cymbals in unison... yeah right!  There was no rhythm; only the loud and offensive sound of metal being recklessly beaten upon itself.  While cute, due to their miniature size, I'd have to say the cymbals were a fail as a group activity; potentially more marketable as a solo event.

And then, our hour was over before we knew it.  We scrambled to take the following photos, while Maya was shooing us towards the exit, and realized that while we are all happy that Amy is fully recovered, we miss having a full-time photographer available to document our adventures.  Jessi suggested that we need to induct a new member into the role of "Club Photographer."  We are now accepting applications.  :)

Jessi

Meagan

Lisa

Brandi

Alli

Amy

Seabrin

Destiny

Adventure #15 - "Just the tip..."

"May the odds be ever in your favor."  This was the clue we received from Jessi regarding the identity of our latest adventure, which definitely meant one of three things was about to happen.  1) We were going to be time-warped to a future dystopian world; 2) We were going to hunt each other to the death; or 3) We were going to devise and execute a plan to meet Jennifer Lawrence and make her our best friend.  While all of these possibilities would qualify as adventures, it turns out Jessi had planned an archery outing for us.  Who would have guessed??

The Femmes conquer archery

We found ourselves at an inconspicuously marked storage unit-esque facility in Olathe, also known as  KC Performance Archery and Range.  Despite the fact that they did not have record of our reservation, we had a pretty quick and easy check-in process... and we were assured by our host that he was going to "kick some ass" if/when he figured out who lost our reservation.

The venue

After checking in, we walked onto the indoor range... a large garage-type space with concrete floors, fluorescent lights, and a stash of (fake) animal targets in the corner.  Our instructor quickly ran through the fundamentals: 1) Hold the bow with your non-dominant hand; 2) Load the arrow, notching it on the bow's string in the gap provided between the finger grips; 3) Slightly flex your non-dominant elbow, so as not to be snapped by the string upon discharge of the arrow; 4) Using the three fingers of your dominant hand, pull back the bow's string to the corner of your mouth; 5) Aim and release.

The equipment

  

The "basic instruction course" that was included with our one-hour archery session lasted approximately two minutes... 90 seconds of which involved the instructor yelling at me, "Your mouth.  To the corner of your MOUTH!  THAT'S NOT YOUR MOUTH!!!"  Apparently, I was hesitant to pull the string to the appropriate depth.  Let me tell you, there's nothing like a strange man yelling in your ear to put you at ease while you're trying to become acquainted with the deadly weapon you're wielding.  Sheesh!  

Passing inspection

Anyway, after it was decided that we all "got it," we were left to our own devices...

It's hard to describe now, in this blog, why aiming was so difficult, but for some reason I just could not figure out where I was supposed to be looking and how I was supposed to be aiming.  The way the bow was configured, you could not look down the shaft of the arrow (as one might think would be the logical answer here) because a part of the bow was in the way.  This really threw me for a loop.  I asked the other girls how they were aiming and no one really had any direction to offer me.  I guess some of us just have Katniss-like instincts... and some of us definitely don't.

While we all had our share of near-misses, ricochets, long shots, and right-ons, Meagan and Lisa were definitely the most consistently accurate shooters, and once again, Lisa proves she is not one to mess with when weapons are involved!

Yes, those are styrofoam plate targets... only the best for us Femmes

After a few rounds of shooting at those menacing plates, Jessi's pleas of, "I want to shoot an animal!" were finally acknowledged and we were given permission to shoot at the grizzly bear.

Poor guy, doesn't know what's coming

After one round with the Femmes, the bear took hits in the hand, armpit, jugular, gallbladder, and courtesy of Jessi, right in the heart!!!

Below are a few photos, each depicting a story about a Femme from this adventure.  I've cropped the photos to highlight details that you may have missed on your own.  First up... poor Allison!  She had the roughest start to this adventure.  For the first several minutes, while all of her cohorts were sinking arrows into the target boards, all of her arrows were either falling short, or bouncing off.  Eventually, we decided that her target board had a few issues of it's own, and this was not entirely her fault, but before we made this discovery, we all had a good laugh at her expense.  At one point, Meagan turned to me and asked, "Why are all those arrows on the ground?"  My response... simply, "Alli."  To which Meagan replied, "Is she just tossing them out there?"  Love you, Alli!

In the original (top) photo, you may have missed that Alli's board is empty, while all the other boards have multiple arrows lodged within.   As I've so kindly highlighted, Alli's arrows are scattered on the floor.  

In this original (left) photo, you may not have noticed Jessi's infamous "talon" fingers, but in the cropped version, you can't miss 'em!  They're not only great for archery, but also for gripping beer bottles, getting tiny objects out of tight places, and stupid human tricks.

Here, on the left, you see a pretty girl, nice archery form, yes, she's wearing scrubs... but, on the right, you'll notice "The Stinky Pink!"  Seabrin's little pinky just didn't want to miss out on all the fun.  She didn't even realize that sneaky little guy was there until the end of our session when I pointed out she'd been using four fingers the whole time.

Ok, so this one you may have noticed on your own, but it was too good to not draw your attention to.  This is apparently what I look like after I shoot a very poorly aimed arrow, that may or may not have ended up on a different target board than my own.  Whoops.

Last, but not least, I wouldn't want you to miss Landon's message to the world, that you may not have noticed in the original photo on the left. :)

All in all, this was a relatively pain-free (compared to other recent adventures), quickly learned, easily perfected (for some), and enjoyable experience.  As I mentioned before, I believe that we all did pretty well, and in the end were happy with our individual performances.  

Let's be honest... the combination of seven strong female personalities, seven lethal instruments, an abundance of "ammo," and a lack of supervision, all within one confined space, has the potential for very bad consequences.  Luckily, all crises were averted, and another adventure goes down in the record books!

Seabrin

Lisa

Destiny

Alli

Jessi

Meagan

Meghan

Once again, Amy joined us and played the role of photographer as she has still not been cleared by her doctor to participate in our adventures.  Next adventure, she assures us, she will be back in the saddle!