Taking a Break

04 Apr Taking a Break

Most of the kids are on Spring Break.  Amy and I took a few days off and are not making lots of plans, but, instead, are taking day trips if we can.

The two college kids had their respective breaks 2 -3 weeks ago and each have come and gone back to school.  With so many kids of different ages, we’ve never had the luxury of having the whole family on break simultaneously.  We are also avid ice hockey parents with two kids who play at the “travel” level.  The season just ended last week.

We needed a break!  It’s nice not to have anything scheduled.  Most of our year is heavily scheduled.  We’re sleeping in each day then deciding what to do based on our moods.

Rope Climbing and Zip Lines

Yesterday we traveled to a local aerial park built completely in the trees  between 10 and 50 feet from the surface of the planet.  I hate heights.

We climbed up ladders, crossed bridges, connected via zip lines to navigate through different courses of varying degrees of difficulty and ….heights.

Initially, I didn’t want to go, but Kendall and Trevor started getting my competitive juices flowing, challenging us to participate.  First, Amy gave in….I quickly followed.

The Green Course is Easy!

Proud of us, our tiny tour guides started us off on a “green” level course.  “Yellow” is for beginners.  No problem, I thought.  The course took me about 1.5 hours to complete consisting of about 10 different platforms constructed within the trees.  Each platform was connected by some type of bridge, rope, zipline, ladder or some other death-defying challenge made of rope/wire/wood.

Fear of Heights

While I have always had a nice respect for heights, it has intensified as I have been getting older.  I hate amusement parks for several reasons; one is the heights.  Outdoor ladders scare me, indoor climbs are okay.

Surprisingly, I finished the course.  The biggest challenges were the first zipline, having never been on one and a two wire suspend bridge with no apparent support.  I never was influenced by the height as I never looked directly down, was distracted by fear of just falling (though knowing my harness was completely safe) and motivated by my kids (they moved fast and furious through the trees, but could always look back and cheer me on – they finished this first course in about 1/2 my time!).

I considered asking to be rescued once….but I refused because I was more scared of the actual rescue than the challenge facing me.  I was more terrified about climbing down a 2-3 story ladder!!!

What Does This Mean?

I’m still young enough to be foolish?  I don’t really know.  I admit, I am proud of myself for being able to finish the course….and, most of all, so is my family 🙂

Welcome Spring!