I’ve been trying to carve out more one-on-one time with Dylan and last week was given a fun opportunity to do so. Literally the moment he was off the bus Friday afternoon, we were in the car and driving to Blue Jay Point County Park so we could try out the new Go Ape Treetop Junior course.
Last year Trent & I tried the Treetop Adventure course. It’s a challenging 3 hours in the trees climbing, overcoming obstacles, and riding down zip lines. When he saw the photos and videos, Dylan really wanted to try it himself. Unfortunately, the Treetop Adventure is designed for ages 10 and older so that wasn’t possible.
Fast forward a year and the new Treetop Junior course has been installed and opened. It’s designed for kids (minimum height requirement of 3′-3″), but adults can join in too. Go Ape kindly hosted us plus Melisa from Mommy This & That and her two kids for an afternoon of fun to try it out.
The Treetop Junior course took about an hour and a half from start to finish. After assisting us with harnesses, reviewing safety information, and tackling the practice course, we were connected to the continuous belay system and sent up the tower stairs to start Loop 1.
The course has 2 loops. Each ending in a zip line. Since you are connected from start to finish, you can not change your order during the loops. Dylan chose to lead which was fine. Until we got to the first zip line. He was cool. I was having a mental mommy panic moment hoping he was ready & okay. Fortunately, the staff is awesome. A quick, “one, two, three” and a push – Dylan was soaring down and loving it. Then anxious for the rest of us to make our landing so we could head back up to conquer Loop 2.
At the start of our adventure, we were given times on our wristband. You have an hour to play. We completed both loops before our hour was up and given a choice – repeat one of the loops or head straight to the zip line. I convinced the boys to give Loop 1 another go. Good idea. They completed it 2 more times before our hour was up!
All 3 kids (plus us moms) were sweaty and exhausted afterward, but still all smiles. It was a great adventure. My favorite part was seeing the huge grins on the kids faces afterward as they beamed with pride having successfully completed the course.
Dylan is already asking when we can go again. Needless to say, we highly recommend this.
Have you tried a ropes course before with your kids?
Linking up with Mommy & Me Monday at Really, Are You Serious?
Go Ape Blue Jay Point is located in Blue Jay Point County Park at 3200 Pleasant Union Church Road, Raleigh, NC 27614. Hours vary. Visit the course site to view available dates/times and sign up or call (800) 971-8271.
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