Now that I've found the cursor I can start this post. Maybe I should change the cursor to some glaringly hot pink and double it in size. That, or get some glasses. Today, though, I spent very little time at the computer. I told my husband as he and I got up from sleeping in—yes, we got to sleep in, it was blissful—it was time to give our children that early Christmas present we'd told them about.
In truth, it wasn't a Christmas present to start, it changed into one after my daughter broke her arm. She loves playing on the swings outside or doing anything outside with her two friends. She and Keira had been talking about things they wanted to do to expand the backyard's playability which included a zip line among other things.
I took the drawing and thought about it. The idea that always got suggested by children was to zip line from the deck. This definitely couldn't happen because it would involve climbing up on the railing and grabbing hold of a zip line that had no possible anchor point, only to fly downwards at a steep angle into the swingset where they pictured the landing to be.
As I got to thinking I figured out something that would work, involving 2" slack lines (which aren't well-named as they are anything but slack). We could get a slackline and loop one end around the brick column that held up the deck and then the other end to the upper railing of the fort part of the playset at about the height where the slide begins. This would provide some height, but not that much. It would also give some angle, but not that much either.
I looked online and found a lot of options for slacklines that were filled with different obstacle-type things like a rope wall, wooden bars, and a collection of hand grips. They even had swings you could add to the run. I ordered several different pieces and we were ready to give it to my daughter for her birthday and then she went and broke her arm.
Thankfully she decided about that time that the only thing she could possibly want for her birthday was a Barbie Dream House, which made finding a replacement present easier. We decided to hold off until she had her cast off and her arm was healed before giving them the present. But we wanted to do it now, before it got much colder, so they could maximize time playing on it before winter set in and they just wanted to huddle indoors.
My husband and I put the run-up today with much excitement from my daughter. They played on it a lot of the afternoon and into the dark. My son wasn't as excited, but I hadn't expected he would have been. We weren't done with the total present, we told them, but we'd save the rest for another day.
I got a second slackline with the idea we could do a tightrope walking course at some point by having the lower line at a walking height below the first line. We'd unclip the various pieces for this option so it was just two slacklines and some hooks with a red ring to hold on to as they tried to walk across the line. This is going to be tricky to configure though as there are different heights to consider, so it might not work out.
What will work out is using the second slackline as a zip line. My husband had the idea to hook the second slackline up on the middle column of the deck and connect the zipline attachment to that and also have that run over to the swingset. It won't be a fast zipline, but it'll be a zipline. And that counts for a whole lot of fun and outdoor playtime, I'm betting.
The Big Boy Update: I was over at our next-door neighbor's house this evening, standing around the firepit and when I couldn't take the cold any longer I came home to find my son and see if he needed anything before bedtime. He was already up in his room, pajamas on, watching something on his iPad in bed. Like mother like son in this case. Also, he forgot to brush his teeth. I will be shocked if they actually remember before they're fourteen. Telling them they might lose their teeth doesn't matter. It didn't matter to me when I was a child either.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: My daughter absolutely loves playing with her new neighbor, Nora. They have become very good friends during COVID-19 and I'm glad her family moved in when our beloved neighbors decided to move.
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