Zip Lines

It's time for another confession.

I know, will it ever end?  My answer is probably not.  Sorry:)  If you're reading this then for some odd reason, you're subjecting yourself to knowing more about me...

I've always loved trying scary things.

When I was younger I dreamed of parachuting out of an airplane,

of bungee jumping off a tall bridge,

of whizzing through the air, above tree tops, on a zip line.

I loved carnival rides that made me dizzy,

that dropped the floor beneath my feet so I was held to the wall of the ride by centrifugal force,

that jostled me this way and that, upside down then snapped right side up.

The unexpected twists and turns delighted me.

I even stood on the balustrade of the viewing balcony at the top of the capitol dome- what a big dummy!  Poor Mark's hands were INSTANTLY sweaty, but I don't recall being particularly scared.

Then, I had babies and it became more than sweaty palms and a racing heart,

it became, "what if something breaks?!"

I'm not a gambler and those are unnecessary risks in my book.

At least, that's the way I see it now.

But, I'll say that I still really, really want to whizz above treetops on a zip line one day.  I hear there's an awesome place in Oregon where you can do it.

Who knows, maybe I should have been a monkey getting to see the skyline from way up high, swinging from tree branch to tree branch.

Recently, my town upgraded the play equipment at a park that's been around forever (it's where I learned how to ride a bike).

And it's awesome!

If I hadn't been wearing a skirt,

and there weren't a million people milling about,

I would have elbowed my way to the front of the line and hopped on myself.

But don't worry, I'm saving that adventure for a weekday when there's a far smaller crowd.  Maybe I'll try and do it when I have some grown up friends with me, so that if I do break my neck they can call for help...

But oh the joy!

Here are my babies trying it out, those lucky ducks!

Sarina having a go at it.  Mandy is right, she really does belong in a shampoo commercial they way her hair is so glossy and bounces all around.

And Carl really worked out the technique of it all, he even held on when he wasn't able to get his buns up on that seat.  I wish that it was clear enough to see his huge grin the whole way down the line.

Charlie bounces almost all the way back to the starting line, and loves every last bounce of the ride.

Now, for the heart stopper...

This little monkey held on for dear life.  You can hear the panic in my voice when she was finally on the ground. 

She came flying at me so fast I didn't realize that I was still recording... 

It took forever for my heart to stop racing.  Not the kind of racing I like anymore...

The first time I let her ride it all the way out she wasn't holding on quite so tight and flew, yes flew, off.  Carl said she did a flip on her dismount, I think it was more of a lay-out.  It was impressive.  Knocked the wind out of her.  I held her until she got her breath back and wasn't crying.  Honestly, it wasn't 3 minutes before she declared, "I want to do it again!"

Holy cow, look out world.  My scrappy little Elsa Jane is coming through and she's not stopping for a second.  Lord knows what this little dynamo is going to do in her lifetime.  I guarantee it's going to be a good show...