We made our third annual visit to the obstacle course at Heiwa no Mori park last weekend. Here's the report from our first trip (in 2007); we made a second trip (in 2008) with our Seattle friends Blaise and Adrienne and their children, Anselm and Eliot.
As always, the children were fascinated by these log and rope obstacles. But I loved seeing Lucinda's and Arno's very tangible mental and physical developments since last summer.
When Lucinda was 5, she found some obstacles too scary to contemplate. At 6, she took more risks with her balance, especially on water obstacles. This year, she was completely engaged, very strong, and unafraid to lead the way on the highest rope-web climbs.
Two years ago, Arno was too young to enjoy Heiwa no Mori. Last year, he did the easier obstacles but skipped anything that looked risky. This year, he was inspired by Lucinda's example to try almost all of them, sometimes with Blaine's help to talk him over the high bars and climb down the other side. I think Arno even surprised himself.
We'll definitely go back next spring or summer.
Here, by the way, is a story in the Japan Times that lists several of these courses for children to connect with their "inner Tarzan." I'd like to try the one in Chiba.
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