The Landing Zone

THE LANDING ZONE

Week three's Adventure Tuesday involved a ton of planning due to kid and weather complications. While in the long run it is good we have raised independent thinkers, sometimes it was easier to just be able to jump in a car and TELL the kids where we were going.  Additionally, the weather was threatening impending doom, limiting outside ideas.

Planning: After all was said, done, and discussed, we decided to go to The Landing Zone (http://lzlancaster.com/) in Lancaster, PA.  The Landing Zone touts itself to be a combat style laser tag experience.  So we had the kids dress in dark clothes, don socks and sneakers, packed some drinks and they were ready.  There was a bit of confusion due to the website having two (very) different starting times for Tuesdays. One quick phone call to an extremely helpful man cleared this up (they opened at 11 am) and we were on our way.

The Drive:  Lancaster is approximately 50 minutes from Harrisburg and there are multiple ways to get there.  We went one way (with a 16 yr old driver) and Kim left about 15 minutes later and went a separate way meeting us about 5 minutes after we got there.

The Arrival:  The Landing Zone is located in a strip mall with a Crossfit, PlayItAgain Sports, and Bounce Kraze (and indoor inflatable park for younger kids).  Once inside we were greeting with the same nice man that answered my phone questions. (I am starting to feel like this is our year for amazing customer service 3/3 so far this summer- truly outstanding!) He had me fill out a few waivers (again signing our kids lives away) and talked about the pricing options- $20 for one hour $30 for two.  As I was iffy about our time frame (softball and soccer), I hesitated and he said I could start with one hour and then if time allowed, he would add the second for $10 (love this guy!).

The Adventure:  Right after paying, the kids were given wrist bands with their ending time and they were whisked away into the prep room.  Kim and I were told that we did not have to stay, but that if we did they also allow BYOB!  This would have been fantastic if it were night and we were staying for 2+ hours and there would be a DD. We opted to head over to PlayItAgain and meander around.

After a bit we came back and were about to relax in the amazing lounge area, but were told we could go and watch the kids. Super excited, we were lead through the prep room (tactical vests and weaponry), into the "play" zone.  There we were met with red lighting, fog, and the sounds of war.  As we sat on the bench starring through the THICK mist, we occasionally saw a child run by.  As 4 of the 6 playing we ours, it was somewhat easy to pick them out-somewhat.  We watched for the entire round as they traversed back and forth shooting at each other and boxes.  While Kim and I were uncertain as to the mission, the kids seemed know.



After each round, the winners were announced and the group was allowed to pick the next "style" of play- free for all, death match, relic raiders, room clearers...  The staff did a nice job trying to neutralize the advantage the older boys had (the other 2 boys playing were 12 as well, but seemed inexperienced in kill 'em all games) as to keep if fun for all (even if they were losing).

One round of spectatorship was enough for Kim and I. She purchased a drink and we landed ourselves in the lounge area until the kids were done.  After 4 rounds (one hour) the kids were tired and sweaty and done.

This was rated highly by both kids.  My kids both liked this better than regular laser tag, while Kim's kids said they prefer regular laser tag.  I do believe we will becoming back here!  My kids liked being able to choose the different types of games and the different types of guns.  Abby was upset that there was one gun she was not allowed to use- due to age and weight of the gun.

Tips/ Tricks:   Not a lot to report here.  I talked with the man behind the counter (should have gotten his name- possibly the owner), and he said the last two weeks in June are his slowest.  It was nice not having to wait for other groups to cycle in, although there did seem to be a LOT of guns and vests available. He also told me he does not do Groupons or the likes, so his plan is to keep the prices low.

Also, if you have a big age mix, the older ones could go to LZ and parents can take younger ones to the Bounce Kraze.

Other than that: socks, sneakers, dark clothing (or red), and pack lots of drinks that need to stay in the car- unless you BYOB

Dinos in the City? Driving Mrs. Daisy?

DINOMITE SUMMER AND THE AUTOBAHN

Week two's adventure involved something for the adults (dinosaurs) and something for the kids (speedway); essentially we bribed the kids to go into Harrisburg to see the dinosaurs with a trip to The Autobahn.

Planning: Planning was a bit different as we did not know where the dinosaurs were located within the city. Luckily the website: http://dinomitesummer.com/ has an interactive map.  For The Autobahn, we knew closed toed shoes were required.

The Drive: Again, we were not going too terribly far.  A 5 minute drive took us to City Island for FREE 2 hr parking.

The Adventure (part 1):We then walked across the bridge where we were almost immediately met with a T-rex looking to wine and dine us.  I would say approximately 80% of the dinosaurs were located with in a 2 square block radius and we (safely) zig zagged across the street and back to see them all.  As much as the kids complained (they are now 16,14,12, and 12), they did get excited for a few of them (Dino, Rock 'em Sock 'em, Autobot...). We spent about 30-40 minutes with the dinosaurs and then headed back over the river to head out to The Autobahn.

The Adventure (part 2):  The Autobahn (http://www.autobahnspeed.com) is a new indoor go-kart track that is known for speed- up to 50 mph! The kids were all super excited about this. Kim and I purchased their "licenses", which are good for a year, and then purchased 3 races for the price of two (we are good at finding specials-even if things are pricey). After signing their lives away (we do this a lot!!), we sent them in for head socks, helmets, and a brief orientation.  Very shortly, they were on their way!



Once again, the staff was fantastic!  They encouraged Kim and I to go in the racing area to watch and even gave us tips on where to stand.  Once inside the track, we took some pics and videos and went to sit in their cool seating area in the midst of the track. It was a great vantage point to watch from and allowed us to see the kids' stats as they zipped around the track.  Stats are posted on a HUGE leader board. Each race is 14 laps and the cars are FAST!  At the end each player is given their race results on a print out with graphs and speeds.

 There is even a podium for winner pics:

Tips/ Tricks:  For the dinosaurs- use the app or print a map if you want to see them all.  If not, wander and enjoy.  For the Autobahn- try to find a coupon or a discount somewhere.  It was highly rated by the kids, but put a decent hit on the wallet. I would suggest sneakers for both activities.


 BONUS PHOTOS:

Love where we live!

Stunning!

The Meadows

The start to the 2016 Adventure Tuesday was a late one, between summer camps, soccer, and soccer reffing we did not start AT until 8:30 pm! With that in mind, we opted for a close by adventure: The Meadows (http://www.meadowsfrozencustard.com)- known for their ice cream, but they also have mini golf, batting cages, and bumper cars.

Planning:  Not much planning was needed except to check to see how late they were open (10 pm). Other than a wallet, nothing was needed.

The Drive: The Meadows is located in Harrisburg so the drive was extremely short and uneventful.

The Arrival: Knowing we wanted to play mini golf, we drove around back of the ice cream parlor and easily saw where we needed to park and pay for mini golf.  Kim and I were content to just let the kids play, until we found out it was a BOGO day for mini golf.

The Adventure: Once all six of us had our clubs and each one had a different colored ball, we headed to the course.  The course was well taken care of, fun, and challenging.  I think any player at any age/ experience level would enjoy the course. The water holes were well stocked with nets for fishing out the balls (oh you know we had to). Unfortunately, playing in the dark, we lost two balls into the bushes due to overzealous players. Everyone really seemed to have a good time and there were several holes-in-one.  However, somehow,  when we got to the last hole and were ready to tally our scores, we realized we had missed two holes- and we had no idea where and no one really wanted to go back as ice cream was in the near future.

We returned our clubs to the ice cream shop (as the mini golf kiosk had closed).  Once inside, there were MANY flavor ice cream combinations to choose from.  Looking at the clock, it was 9:58 and the staff was diligently cleaning up for the night.  Not once did they complain, sigh, or attempt to rush us as choices were slowly being made.  We even stayed to eat inside for a bit, before personal guilt got the better of us.  Everyone was extremely happy with their ice cream choices, from cones to milkshakes. The ice cream was divine, the service impeccable.

Tips/ Tricks:  Not too much to say here- if you are apt to lose balls, either grab a spare or play in the day time. Come hungry.

We are looking forward to coming back and checking out the bumper cars and batting cages.

The Monkeys OVER the Zoo

ELMWOOD PARK ZOO AND TREETOP ADVENTURE

This week's adventure was much anticipated and slated to be one of our biggest adventures and it did not disappoint!  While scouring Groupon and LivingSocial for some fun ideas, I stumbled upon a LivingSocial for Treetop Adventures; it promised  45 games and 9 zip lines over and around the zoo. I quickly got in touch with Kim who agreed that we NEEDED to do this- even though we had no idea what types of games they were.

 PLANNING

This adventure took a bit more planning than most of our others.  After buying the LivingSocial deal, We needed to wait for the summer storm season to settle down just a bit, call and make a reservation (one phone call), and fill out online waivers (easy).  All that before Tuesday!!!

On Tuesday, we packed lunches (an attempt to save a few bucks), wore sneakers (mandatory), long hair was put in ponytails (mandatory), long shorts or capris were chosen (if you have never climbed- trust me- you will thank me (Even I went in my stretchy pants)), cars were gassed and GPSs programmed.

THE DRIVE

The Elmwood Park Zoo is about an hour and 40 minutes from Harrisburg.  It is a fairly straight shot East on the PA Turnpike.  Once off the Turnpike the zoo is about 10 minutes away. We drove past the King Of Prussia Mall, where there was some minor traffic, but signs were well marked.  We also passed The Container Store (wonder if they had something to contain my excitement???) and a MASSIVE Target with underground parking (this is important later).  After making a left off 202, we were in a neighborhood that did not seem likely to have zoo nearby.  However, after about 2 miles, sure enough, there was a guard rail with cheetah and giraffe prints and we knew we were near the zoo entrance.

THE ARRIVAL

Parking was free and once in the lot, I made my children eat the sandwiches from their lunch.  Our reservation was for 11 and the website said the adventure should take 2-3 hours.  The kids would have "starved to death" if they HAD to wait until 2 pm for lunch.

We approached the ticket counter with some trepidation.  Although I have used many Groupons, coupons and LivingSocial deals, I never really expect them to work as planned (they always have, but I keep waiting for someone to tell me the deal was too good).  I opened my app and handed over my phone to the young lady behind the counter, she made a call down to Treetop Adventures to let them know we were here, and after a few more clicks on her computer we were on our way through the zoo to our adventure.

THE ADVENTURE

It was really hard for the kids not to stop and look at the animals as were making our way to the Treetop Adventure area located near the back of the zoo but we managed to pull them away and get there on time.  

Once there, we gave our names, they pulled up our waivers, and had us stepping into harnesses within a few minutes.  Some nice young man (YOUNG), trained us on how to properly hook in (as to avoid falling out of the trees), how to move safely from one wire to another, and how to use our zip line trolleys and our brakes (brakes = our hands in a leather glove).  We each took a practice zip, perfected our technique, and were then sent into the trees to begin our adventure.

Up, up and away

Turns out that by games, they meant 45 different ways for one to get from tree to tree using wires, logs, and ropes. Once we stepped upon the first rung of the ladder, we would not set foot on the ground again until we were done (good thing we made a last minute potty stop!).  The girls went first and were quickly scrambling through the trees, the boys followed, and then Kim and I.  

After the second tree, one has to choose TAME or WILD as the paths to take to get to the first zip line.  A and R went wild, M and T went tame (lame) just to get in front of the girls, Kim and I went wild since we figured we were only doing this once.  What we did not know is that the young, scardy-cat couple who was behind us went tame and got between us and the kids and at no point thought to let us climb through.  So.... after about 15 minutes, we only caught sight of the kids every few trees.  At first this was nerve wracking (we had sent them careening through trees without us) and then it was relaxing (no one could complain to us- not that they were, but we would never know).

After traversing several "games" we made it to our first zip line over the buffalo.  There were were met by another worker who made sure we properly clipped in and set us on our way.  On the far side, there was another worker who made sure we made it safely across.  This was the only zip that had this, the rest of them we were on our own (as were the 11 yr olds, the 13 yr old, and the 15 yr old). 

Throwing one's self off the ledge at the first zip took a bit of courage but that became easier with each consecutive zip.  The first zip took us over the buffalo and out of the zoo.  Most of the rest of the adventure would be out of the zoo about 50 feet above Stony Creek.  It was beautiful, clean and fairly quiet. 

Surfboard zip (of doom)

The "games" were very cool and very varied.  Kim and I tended to like different ones and have difficulties with different ones.  I thought the surfboard zip line was going to be my favorite, turns out I was not ready for the ending and careened into the tree, lost my balance, fell and cracked my shin with a decent amount of force.  Luckily for me this was near the end. Kim did not like the cargo net which was also near the end and by then we were a bit fatigued. We hit the last 250 yard zip back into the zoo and were met by the kids (who were "dying of thirst"). We returned our harnesses with a great sense of pride and headed back to the  cars for the rest of lunch and drinks.  Overall, I think the adventure took us a little over an hour and a half.

Feeling refreshed, we headed back into the zoo.  The zoo itself is not large, but has some really nice exhibits and some cool animals.  We were all drawn to the Red Pandas.  The cuteness is insane!  Workers posted at the exhibit let the kids touch a Red Panda skull and answered all of our crazy questions (although, they did little to discourage Kim and I from wanting to own a few).  We got to feed the Lorakeets for free at the Birds of Paradise exhibit.  We also watched a trainer work with a panther training it to give itself a shot.

The zoo was well kept and clean, but has one odd feature: TURKEY VULTURES.  As we went around the zoo there were several dozen of these HUGE birds in different exhibits.  We, finally, asked a worker near the River Otter about them.  Apparently, they are NOT zoo animals, but natives to the area that have come for some free food. We had no issues with them until a few flew incredibly close to our heads! The worker said they did not bother the animals, but the swimming River Otter changed directions when he encountered one and the sleeping River Otter was awakened when a game of Vulture Tag landed on its back.  

THE ADVENTURE (part 2- tornadoes and shopping )

As we left the zoo, the National Weather Service warned us of tornadoes so we decided to take shelter in the HUGE Target (ok maybe the moms just really, really wanted to go there-cue whining boys).  We parked under the store and took the elevator up where the boys noted the down escalator for just carts!  Then they were excited to fill a shopping cart.  We plied them with Icees, grabbed a cart, and were off.  This Target was not significantly different than the regular ones we have been to.  It was larger, brighter, had some cool displays and lighting, but that was the main difference.  After shopping, we peered out the massive windows, noted a dangerous looking cloud cluster and hung out for a bit.  Turns out a tornado did touch down within about 20 miles of where we were.  Once we deemed it safe, we checked out, used the cool cart-scalator and headed to The Container Store to buy some containers!

TIPS/TRICKS

The most obvious should be: Get The LivingSocial Deal!!!  The zoo price for zoo and zip (Zoofari) was $38 for kids up to age 16 and $49 for adults.  The DEAL was $29.  If you have younger kids, there is a Cubclimb that is less and there was a deal for that as well.  Additionally, if you are at the zoo you can add the Adventure but you'd be paying the full price. 

Call ahead for reservations.  Have the waivers filled out ahead of time.  Be punctual (although, I am not sure it would have mattered if we were late).  Read the rules and requirements online (http://www.elmwoodparkzoo.org/treetop-courses.php) and follow them.

Pack food.  It actually looked like you could picnic in the zoo with own food (but I am not 100% certain).

Pack lightly for the Adventure.  They will hold stuff for you!  Kim and I declined, but wish we would not have.  I had my large camera and a Camel Pak with odds and ends.  Neither made climbing easier, but I did feel like my stuff was secure; I would not have with things in my pockets. 

If you are not 11, 13 or 15, you may be sore the next day (and, perhaps, the one after that).  My shin bears a small scrape from my surf zip debacle, so in juries can occur.

Be prepared for your kids to think you are the coolest ever for letting them do this! Be prepared to think you are the coolest for doing this!!!


 BONUS PICTURES

One of 2 play areas

No chickens in this group 

My buddy

Ever see a bird sit???