This past August we went to the Health and Fitness Expo. He tried the rock wall there and decided that he did not like rock climbing because he is scared of heights, but at school, they have spotters so it did not seem as scary. The Department of Natural Resources had an archery trailer there and once Riley tried it, he was hooked. We went back four or five times so that he could continue to shoot.
A few weeks into school Riley came home with a flyer for a Beginning Archery class. At that point we were researching Archery and just getting our reserve books from the library. I jumped at the chance for him to take a class, but when I went to sign him up, the registration had closed. I called the contact person to see if there were any open places for him. She called me back and said that there were two spaces still open, but that there were two people in front of me. She then called me back to say that one of the spaces was still available because the student was too young to take the class. I signed Riley up then and there!
About the time Riley finished Beginning Archery we took a trip to Nebraska and went to Bass Pro Shops. They had a whole department for archery and an archery range. Unfortunately, the nearest one to our house is two hours away. We also have the problem in our area that there are few places where Riley can practice his skills. So, the weekend after we got back, we took a field trip to Bass Pro Shops to buy Riley a bow, arrows, and a target.
Now, Riley practices in the backyard almost daily. He has continued on and will finish Intermediate Archery next week. We had a little bit of a meltdown last week when he was asked to switch to his right hand to shoot so that his hand would match his dominant eye. He balked, but we told him with practice, he should be better right handed. After less than a week his practice has paid off. His grouping are closer together. We have also found a new use of our carved pumpkins: target practice!
