Scrambling...fear? or fun?

Okay, I'm as happy as anyone in my family when there is freedom to fool around on the rocks at a park. After being frustrated at Garden of the Gods, CO when no one was allowed within touching distance of most of the walls, Jakob was quite pleased at Arches National Park to find out scrambling is allowed, as long as you can get to the rocks via either slick-rock or sand (not the crypto-biotic ground covering that takes hundreds of years to form but has covered much of the park).

It seems to me that Jakob still has a healthy respect for the dangers of climbing while still being interested in trying out his skills. He had fun challenging himself on a variety of ledges and vertical cracks, while staying relatively close to the ground.

My HUSBAND, on the other hand, scares me silly at times! I know, I know, so far he has not gotten stuck nor fallen...BUT...it is nerve-wracking (for ME, not him) just the same! (In these photos, he was trying to get up into the base of the arch, towering far above us. He finally quit---deciding that while he could probably get UP there, he was less certain about getting safely DOWN.)

I'm trying REALLY HARD to follow the advice given to me years ago by a friend who had 4 active boys. She trusted her husband to make wise decisions about acceptable risk in various activities, then stayed out of the way if those activities made her nervous. That's all well and good when it's risk-taking SONS...but she never told me what to do when I'm afraid of the possible damage that might befall my husband!

So...I try not to watch, try not to talk about my fears TOO much in front of the kids (I want them to enjoy being adventuresome, after all!) , and sneak occasional pictures!!