Wild Play Vacation 2012 Pictures

Nothing crafty for you here today, just posting some vacation pictures so if you don't want to read through it all, just pass on by :) 

To follow are some pictures of our summer vacation experience on the Wild Play course.  It is located in Nanaimo on Vancouver Island and once again it was the highlight of our summer.  We did the same course as a family two  years ago, but the kids were younger and not tall enough or old enough to do the Black Course.  Two years and quite a few inches later, it was a go!  Let 's just say the Black Course is  waaaay up in the trees and reeeeally challenging!!

This is my son starting to climb up to the first platform.  Before you can go on the course you have a mini training session and practice round on a small course so they can ensure you are always "double clipped" on the the safety lines and can do the zip lines.

Being soooo excited he could now do the Black Course he was hard to keep up to!!  This is him walking along one of the suspended bridges.  Little rotter is so light that they don't sway too much.  Just wait until you are a bit older and heavier son LOL!

As you can see below, hubby is concentrating hard and not as carefree about the course  as my son ;)   He is actually quite afraid of heights but you are so focused on what you need to do to get across a given obstacle and where you need to step that you really don't even have time to think about how high up in the trees you are.

My DD was starting her climb to a sta- tion.  If you look at right side of the picture you will see the above ground steps she will eventually be going across.  This set of steps was actually an easy climb as the steps were nice and wide and it is easy to clip and unclip on your way up.

The obstacle my son is on below is the one I absolutely HATE doing!  As you can see, the logs are suspended on each end by a rope and they swing back and forth like crazy as you try to shimmy along them to the next one.  The orange wire is the safety line you are attached to.


To the right, I was able to capture my son getting his zip line mechanism caught on one of the ropes as he was travelling across the logs.  If you follow the arrow you can see that he got snagged on the rope.  He wasn't sure he was going to be able to release himself, but with a bit of wiggling back and forth he managed to get himself free. Not an easy thing to do as the logs are swinging back and forth. 




To the left, he is finally free and clear - yes, it is a long way up in the air!!

To the right is a picture of my lovely daughter and I after we finished the course.  Please ignore the part in my bangs...I was just glad to have made it  though the course and didn't even consider what I looked like LOL!).  She was such a trooper!  There were a few times when she broke down in tears while on the course, but each time she was able to work through the fear and the obstacle she was on and carry on. I am SO proud of her!!!  The top right hand corner of the picture is the steps going up to the bungee jumping and mega swing platform - no thanks!!

These are my two wonderful children by the Wild Play sign.  Love them to bits :)  

The course took 1.5 hours to go through and the next day we all had various muscles that were telling us they did not appreciate the work out LOL!  Poor hubby suffered the most, but he can no longer deny how out of shape he is and it has motivated him to do something about it - yeah!!

Our time here was definitely the highlight of our vacation. However, fabulous weather, visiting with friends who have moved to the Island, mini-golfing (daddy gave us too many strokes per 18 and had to buy us all ice cream as we all beat him) swimming and the wave pool, playing hearts (kids are now old enough to play - yeah!) seeing my daughter making pies with my MIL, taking walks in the woods, playing bocci, and invading my in-laws home for the week (they are such amazing people - love them to bits and am truly blessed to have them in my life and the lives of my children!!) were also a big part of what made our vacation so much fun.  Nothing beats good, quality and quantity family time :)  We are blessed!