Flying High

Cole had quite an adventure today! He engaged in his first ever sky diving lesson! Cole was invited to Colorado Sky Ventures for a birthday party from one of his classmates. I was quite surprised at the party venue when I opened the invitation... but Cole seemed really excited and I thought that if it were unsafe, there would be an age limit on the wind tunnel. No such luck. So waiver in hand, off we go to the Indoor Skydiving place!

Of course the party room was filled with excited 5 year old boys, pizza boxes and presents...but the boys were not interested really in eating or opening gifts... instead they were interested in hanging out around the wind tunnel and watching as all the professionals worked on their flips and tricks, as well as novice flyers who were being tossed about in the 120 mph winds.

Despite the loud howling of the wind and some of the terrified expressions on the flyers faces, the kids were not deterred. Off to the classroom we went to learn all about skydiving hand signals and he mechanics of the wind tunnel.

Once the instruction was complete we took the kids to get suited up. They were fitted for suits, ear plugs, goggles and helmets. The kids were lined up and filed into the wind tunnel where they each awaited their turn to fly.

Cole had two separate opporitunities to fly. Both times he took a flying leap into the wind and despite his little body and awkward control, he was able to get into the proper position quickly and even flew for a few seconds at a time solo without the assistance of the instructor. It was safe to assume he was enjoying himself as evidenced by the HUGE GRIN on his face.

When the flight was over Cole (along with all the other flyers) were awarded with certificates of completion. Now each time Cole returns for a lesson he gets a special discount on air time and as soon as he logs so many "jumps" he can start to do tricks and flips of his own. I am not keen on the whole jumping out an airplane thing... but if he wants to skydive indoors for the rest of his life, that is fine by me!