New Adventure
ANW - American Ninja Warrior. This is how our newest adventure began.
For those who don’t have a clue what I’m talking about, there is a show on TV called American Ninja Warrior. Contestants compete on an increasingly difficult obstacle course, racing against time and one other.
Family Night
ANW has become our family night viewing during the season. We pop popcorn, eat treats and spend time together. In 2016, there was a competition at a local gym named Obstacle Warriors. I took the girls (because Z wasn’t feeling well). We had the opportunity to meet several guys that compete on ANW. When my kids see them on TV, they say it’s Daniel Gil or the funny guy, Jake Murray, or the genie pants guy, Thomas Stillings. They also recognized Steven Tucker when they saw him on Ultimate Beast Master.
The questions began, when can we build ninja obstacles? After a year of persistence and consideration on my part, we decided to build ninja obstacles at home.
Design
Three criteria were considered in designing our obstacles: 1) Ability to build 2) Safe for kids and adults 3) Fun. I asked the kids, Christa and even some of the ANW competitors (via social media) their input on what to build.
After deciding what we wanted, I sketched the obstacles on a piece of paper and shared it with Christa. She then thought of the best way to make it structurally sound and made an inventory of needed materials including cost. Then we purchased the wood, hardware and introductory obstacle course kit. (This included numerous trips to the home improvement store.)
 |
| Portion of materials |
Build
This is best illustrated through pictures:
 |
| Beginning of structure |
 |
| S - Sanding |
 |
| Christa - Cutting support pieces |
 |
| J. J. - Drilling holes for bolts |
 |
| Z - Sanding by hand |
 |
| E - Learning to use the drill |
Tweaking & Enjoying
 |
| First Course Finished!!! |
 |
| First Course Finished!!! |
 |
| First Course Finished!!! |
