More Rollerslide Fun

Last week, our friends Melissa and Hallie took their little ones to Kanazawa Park.  Until they posted pics of the obstacle course and roller slides, we only thought there was a small zoo at Kanazawa.  After seeing their fun, we decided we should give it a try.

Jip worked this morning, then we grabbed lunch and headed north to the outskirts of Yokohama.  The park/zoo has its very own exit off of the Yoko-Yoko (the toll road that goes between Yokohama and Yokosuka), so the toll booth person, in the best English he could muster (which wasn't half-bad), made sure we really wanted to get off at that exit.  We assured him we knew where we were going and that we hadn't meant to go to the tollbooth on the right.  We parked, and Jip and RJ wandered around while I nursed Ryleigh.  Then, it was off for a fun, afternoon adventure.

Looking up the hill, this is the obstacle course and a little bit of the largest of three roller slides.

A better view of the largest roller slide at the park.

When I finally made it down the hill with the stroller, Jip and RJ were already tackling the smallest roller slide.  RJ didn't even use a bumscoot (the plastic shovel-type thing) on this slide since it was so short.

Tackling the first obstacle -- rock climbing, of sorts.

RJ had Mom jumping through hoops (ha ha).

This is the medium-sized roller slide.  The rollers were made out of plastic instead of metal, so no bumscoots needed on this one.

Mom's weight carried her a little farther/faster at the end of the slide, so she caught up to RJ.

Next time, Ryleigh, you can go on the slides on our lap.  Until then, just stay in your stroller and look cute!

Mom and RJ on the big slide.

Dad and RJ on the big slide - this was RJ's 3rd time down.

Jip and RJ went down the big slide two more times after that last picture.  The last time he went down, he got brave and decided to go without Mom or Dad holding on to his bumscoot.  RJ successfully controlled his own speed and had a ball.  The best part was at the end when RJ needed to slow himself at the end of the slide.  Let's just say that he wasn't very successful and he looked like he was in a cartoon--he was suddenly in mid-air after the slide ended and then he dropped straight to the ground on his bum.  It was pretty funny!  I have video of the last two rides--one from the top and one from the bottom, including the failure to stop at the end, but I'll have to load the videos some other time--it just takes way too long and I'm ready to hit the hay.

The bumscoots are permanent fixtures in the van these days, so another day in the not-too-distant future, we'll have to pack a picnic and make a day of it at Kanazawa and take in both the park and the zoo.  It was a very pleasant way to spend a Saturday!