Kids dropping from the sky

For his 18th birthday, Adam wanted to go skydiving again.

He did this about 5 years ago in New Zealand and has wanted to do it again as soon as possible. The only problem is that in the States you have to be 18 to do it.

So the first Saturday after his birthday the folks and Adam packed off to the only tandem skydiving place within 100 miles of Washington, DC.

The sign over the hangar entrance did not exactly instill a sense of calm in Adam's mother.

It was a beautiful day with only a few clouds coming in and out of the area. So there were a lot of jumpers that day.

After checking in about 11 a.m. Adam and family waited and waited. But eventually Adam was called up for a briefing on what to expect and what to do while in the air.

Then it was back to waiting while the two gals in the briefing session with him went up and while the video/picture operator for the dive got his gear ready.

Then came the magic moment when Adam got ready for his jump and headed out to the plane with Chuck, his jump partner.

Just a real quick explanation, Adam is attached to Chuck with a four-point harness. Chuck has the parachute and Adam is attached to Chuck.

The original plan for the jump was to go to 13,500 feet (what the company calls the 2.5 Mile Club) but some fast moving clouds came in. Adam had to jump at 9,000 feet.

The difference in the jump height meant he only got about 20 seconds of free fall instead of 50-60 seconds. (In New Zealand he jumped at 15,000 feet and got 90 seconds of free fall.)

He was a bit disappointed at the reduced time but still REALLY enjoyed the jump.

So with a successful jump done, Adam and Chuck headed back to the barn to finish up the paperwork to prove that Adam had indeed jumped out of a perfectly healthy airplane and survived.

Celebration in the house

Had some festivities in the house last week.

Seems the last of the hold overs -- Adam -- turned 18 April 22.

To celebrate a number of signs were hung around the house showing variations of the number "18."

Cute but predictable.

For dinner that night the family went out for Indian food with Adam's girlfriend, Erica.

Much to his credit, Adam ordered the lamb Vindaloo, a very spicy mixture of seasonings with wonderfully tender lamb. Erica stayed with the less spicy Tandoori chicken.

Once back at the homestead Minia pulled out a rum cake.

And boy did it have rum!

And not that cheap Puerto Rican stuff they advertise on television. This was the good stuff from the Dominican Republic.

For his birthday Adam wanted to go skydiving again. (He did it once in New Zealand about 5 years ago.)

So that is what the folks set up for Saturday. (See separate postings for this.)

Adam was disappointed that a number of things still require being 21 in the States. But he is off for Brazil with the family where 18 is the legal adult age and from there to college. So he should not have any problem doing what most 21 year olds do real soon. (And it's not like he already doesn't.)

Stop the Seuss Movies

An appeal in the appropriate prose from "Dr. Seuss" and The Onion

Stop Making Movies About My Books