The Girl didn’t make it the first time around. She reached the penultimate obstacle — an incredibly long zip line — and she quit. Did she reach her limit or did she give up? I don’t really know, given today.
This afternoon, we headed back to the same location, and I put on my tennis shoes and tackled the same course with her.
I think it’s the most fun I’ve had with my daughter in years.
To begin with, she was incredibly helpful. With each obstacle, she explained what was challenging about it and how things went the last time.
“Daddy, this one is really hard — you might want to use the zip line like I do.” I refused, and within a few moments, thought, “That young lady had a good idea after all.” The two obstacles that she suggested this for were so muscle-screamingly exhausting that I realized if there were more like that, I might not make it myself.
At the end of each obstacle, she was there to offer a hand.
“I’ll hold this last one for you, Daddy, to keep it still.”
More importantly, though, she was a different young lady. I don’t know if it was my presence or the fact that she was tackling the course for the second time, but she was incredibly confident. The portions of the course that gave her so much pause last time warranted only a quick caution and explanation.
A few hugs along the way helped as well, I’m sure.
No photos — for the first time, the camera stayed in the car the whole afternoon — but a friend shot some footage for later use.
What did I use the camera for, though? The jarmark, of course.
