Sara skydives!!!

How would you approach your wife if you wanted her to go skydiving with you?

I knew my wife well enough to know it wasn't going to be an easy sell. As a mother of 4 she worries more than she used to, and usually favors spending extra money on home improvement over entertainment. I had found a good deal on skydiving and needed someone to do it with me. Sara is always my first choice when it comes to sharing an activity, but sometimes my choice of activities are out of Sara's comfort zone.

Most the activities I have talked her into turned out good but there have been a few mixed results.

Backpacking = great

Whitewater rafting = great

Downhill Mt. Biking = good

Rock Climbing = not as good

Private surf charter = bad

I think I have toned it down since the private surf charter in Costa Rica. Those were likely the best waves of my life. Eight to ten foot sets that peeled perfectly for 300 yards. I get a smile just typing the last sentence. Unfortunately when Sara reads this she will not be smiling. The waves were way out of her league. Not daring to paddle through the large waves to the beach she was stuck on the boat with the spanish speaking skipper. The large swells I was riding were putting quite a rock on the boat. Pretty soon Sara was seasick. While I was enjoying surfing nirvana she was blowing chunks into the emerald 85 degree water. Around mid day she could take no more and finally got the guts to paddle through the large waves to the shore for some respite from the constant motion. There she sat on the rocky beach for the next 5 hours without a lick of shade from the 100 degree Costa Rican sun and not so much as a volleyball named Wilson to keep her company. I thought it was great that she moved to the beach. I was getting the rides of my life and now I had a witness. I would wave to her after every wave, I even paddled in to spend a good 5 minutes or so with her. She had an awesome view of all my awesome waves but that view came with an expensive price tag and I'm not talking about what it cost to charter the boat. She got scorched, blisters the whole works. If you ask me I will say that was some of the best money I ever spent. I'm sure Sara doesn't remember it as fondly. That was two kids ago and maybe it was time to get her out of her comfort zone.

Enter Skydiving.

Without scaring her out of it, I needed to drop some subtle hints to feel out what my chances of her actually jumping were. I racked my brain over the perfect 'feeler comment.'

"Skydiving, now there is an extreme sport that guys and girls can enjoy together!"

or maybe,

"I listened to a podcast on skydiving the other day. Man, that must be exhilarating!"

or how about,

"Would you have guessed that scuba diving is two times more dangerous than skydiving? Pretty crazy huh?"

Everything I came up with reeked of Ralphie trying to score a Red Rider BB gun. I was in serious danger of overplaying my hand.

Since purchasing Lola last summer, I don't so much as put an extra box of cereal in the cart at Costco without first asking Sara's opinion. After much contemplation however, I felt a surprise attack was my best chance of getting Sara to jump out of a plane. I decided to just buy the tickets, kidnap her for the weekend and drive her to the airport without her having any knowledge of what she was in for. It may have been a little brash. It was definitely a bit of a risk but that's what makes it exciting.

When it was time to finally kidnap Sara on Friday morning before Mother's Day, she was shocked.

"We can't leave because of __obligation 1__."

"Canceled that a week ago."

"We have ___obligation 2__ tomorrow."

"Took care of that."

"What about ___obligation 3___."

"Jenni is filling in for you."

I was at hero status, at least for the moment. Skydiving wasn't until Saturday so I had planned all of Friday to be fun surprises for Sara. I wanted to make sure she at least had some good memories of the weekend in case skydiving backfired.

Sara's first surprise was the Carlsbad flower fields.

They were a hit.

Other surprises included a bike ride at the beach,

A trip to the San Diego temple,

And what girl doesn't appreciate a quick stop at Nordstrom's.

Finally it was time to stroll the beautiful La Jolla coast for sunset.

She'll forever be Queen of the corny photos. One of the many reasons I love her.

It is amazing how much you can fit into a day when you don't have the kids tagging along.

Am I romantic or what?

My hero status had swelled as the day progressed.

We ate at PF Chang's where Sara did Cheesecake shots.

That night I slept uneasy. Partially because I was jumping out of a plane in the morning but mostly because I was worried how Sara was going to react when she found out she was jumping out of a plane in the morning. We had so much fun the day before I didn't want skydiving to ruin the weekend.

I wasn't going to tell her what she was going to do until she figured it out. That happened faster than I expected. As soon as we turned onto Airport drive she said,

"I am not jumping out of a plane."

"You don't have to if you don't want to, but I already paid for it."

The conversation that followed will remain private. Let's just say I lost my hero status and there were some tears and for a while I was regretting my decision.

Opening her mind up took some convincing from me and a phone call to her sister who had already been skydiving. Then seeing a couple people go before us gave her some confidence as well.

I think the scariest part of the whole thing is signing the paperwork. You read about 40 different things that can go wrong to result in your death and then you have to sign that you have a proper will and have financial provisions for any dependents. If Sara could make it through that, she could certainly jump out of an airplane.

You get a lesson in skydiving that lasts five minutes or less from your instructor.

You knew Sara's instructor was legit. He wore a No Fear sweatshirt and had a long flowing ponytail. If that doesn't scream qualified, I don't know what does.

Always looking for a little extra adrenaline Sara requested to sit in the open doorway of the plane for the flight up.

Finally the moment you have all been waiting for. The video.

Sara's instructor told us we would be wired for at least 5 hours after. He wasn't exaggerating. Sara was stoked like I had never seen her. For the rest of that night she couldn't calm down. She just kept saying things like, "I can't believe I jumped out of a plane." and "That was the coolest thing I have ever done." and "That was the best Mother's Day gift anyone could have ever gotten me." In the end it turned out to be maybe the best 200 bucks I have ever spent. Maybe even better than the surf charter and for now I am back to my previous hero status.

Movie Trailer

This is to wet the appetites of my 3 readers for my next blog post.

Until next season...

Last weekend was the end of the snow season at our local resort. Rig, Livi and I had season passes this year and we had a blast. Especially me, as I snowboarded more this season than the last 10 combined.

I hate to admit that when we moved here 11 years ago I was a bit of a snow snob. I only snowboarded on rare occasions in Utah. After 8 years in SoCal I finally gave the local resorts a chance and was surprised how much fun I had. Though they couldn't offer what Utah could, they could offer a lot of things Utah couldn't.

A shot of Rig and Livi. Rig's board is from a garage sale and Livi's skis, boots and bindings are circa 1979 and were a total of 7 dollars at the DI.

Rig got a helmet at DI. Livi got a giant fur ball at the Gap.

I had to teach Livi to ski even though I never had. It wasn't very hard. I told her to make her skis a pizza if you want to go slow and french fries if you want to go fast. She was a natural and did a lot more french fry than pizza.

Here is a picture of Rig about to throw a big spray on one of his famous heal-side turns. Rig looks like a pro unless you watch him close and realize he rarely does a toe-side turn. I guess that will come eventually.

I always try to keep some candy on me to share with the kids on the lift. This is Livi contemplating the best way to eat a Mike and Ike.

Livi had to get comfortable in the board park if she was going to ride with me and Rig.

Mom got to spend two days with us on the mountain. She was there for Livi's first day and actually deserves most of the credit for teaching her to ski.

Livi skied one day of SoCal powder and it was not to her liking. She ended up having to sit and rest here in the snow while me and Rig tracked out as much powder as we could without her. The next powder day we let her go to school.

If you are noticing a common theme with all of these pictures, it is the blue sky. It is like spring skiing all winter in California.

Rig and I did sneak in one epic powder day at Sundance with uncle Roman. Don't be fooled by the blue sky it was freezing and snowing most of the day, but definitely worth it.

That Utah powder is pretty special. Rig thought he had died and gone to snowboarding heaven.

Heck so did me and Roman.

Riding the lift in Utah you mainly think about how cold you are.

Riding the lift in SoCal you wonder if you should apply some more sunscreen.

Eating lunch in Utah you have to fight for a seat to huddle in the lodge.

Eating lunch in SoCal you kick back and listen to the music and wonder where you can stash your jacket for the second half of the day.
(I know I have officially turned soft because I started buying lunch at the resort.)

The SoCal mountains can't touch the Utah mountains but our terrain parks definitely hold their own. Plenty of obstacles to tear an ACL on.

This is Rig coming off a box.

Dad learned his lesson for at least one season.

Rig, more heal-side.

But the number one thing SoCal resorts have on Utah is their proximity to the beach. I managed to surf and snowboard in the same weekend twice this season. Thank goodness for furlough days.

Roman snuck down for two surf sessions this winter, and Rocky made one although he didn't make the picture.

The sun has set on my first year as a season pass holder in SoCal. I admit it's not Utah but I can think of a lot worse places to live.

Spring Break in Death Valley!

This Spring Break we were going to head up to Big Sur for the week but the forecast was for rain all week so we outsmarted old mother nature and headed for the desert. It was our first trip to Death Valley.

I knew we had made a good choice when the first car I saw when we got inside the park was an AMC Eagle. You could title this pic

'The One Roman Let Get Away.'

We were greeted by blue skies and a chocolate lake, I tried to go swimming in it but it was only three inches deep all the way across.

That's a big three inch deep lake.

Death Valley's biggest claim to fame is the lowest point in North America, Badwater Basin, -282 ft below sea level. It also might be the brightest place in North America with that desert sun bouncing off the white salt. I'm not sure if Rigdon or Jillian ever even saw Badwater Basin.

Family picture. Jillian still trying to cover up.

Slot canyon 1 of 3.

The kids were troopers as we averaged two or three hikes a day.

We told the kids it was a race to the natural bridge. Caroline was the first one there. She is going to be an athlete someday. Rig and I climbed up on top of it but I had the camera in my pocket so Sara couldn't take a picture of us from the bottom.

Fodder for the next Smart Girls video.

Caroline was not as fortunate on the race back down the canyon to the car. She tripped and belly planted on the dirt and rocks. She did that at least once a day for the remainder of the trip.

This is the called Devil's Golf Course, and yes I told them to line up like that for the picture.

Sara going cowgirl.

(Wrangler Bum, where you from?)

Jillian was a little under the weather. That made her less than agreeable for most of the trip. She tested mine and Sara's patience as well as the single guy camping next to us.

Rigdon and Livi are constantly messing around with each other and always appear to be having way too much fun. Most the time I am grateful that they are such good friends but sometimes it can test your patience as well.

More messing around. I think they are pinching each others necks for this picture.

After being tuckered out from a long day of hiking, they would always get a second wind when we got back to camp to ride bikes.

Caroline actually rides her own two wheeler very confidently and for the most part keeps up with Rig and Livi, but for longer rides she comes on the tag-a-long with Dad.

Jilli resists bike rides always siting the same reason, "I too scared." Mom is a pretty crazy driver. Eventually she warms up and smiles a bit.

If you ever camp in Death Valley make sure it is at Texas Springs. This was one of the coolest hikes we did and it was right in our campground.

Caroline climbing on all fours to keep up with Rig and Livi.

Up on top surrounded by cliffs 100 ft above the ground.

Everything in Death Valley seems like it has the word Devil somewhere in it's name. Rig and I named this part of the hike Devil's Backbone.

Livi held my hand for part of it, Caroline did for all of it.

Cool scenery.

Ridgon is always excited to show off for his sisters.

Ready to hike the Badlands.

Ready to ride a horse through the Badlands.

Jillian refuses to wear her sunglasses unless they are upside down.

Rig led Mom and Livi up a treacherous ridge.

Two sisters still hiking the Badlands with one on strike.

One of the favorite sites was the historic Scotty's Castle.

Inside the Castle courtyard.

The kids got recruited to the Jr. Ranger program. They all took it very serious. This is Jillian looking extra studious with her Jr. Ranger workbook.

This is Ubehebe Crater. I begged anyone to hike down in it with me but it was raining and pretty cold. For what it was worth Rigdon said he would have done it with me if he had his skinny jeans. I am not quite sure what to make of that comment and am just going to leave it at that.

Livi slept out with me one night under the incredible desert stars. Taking to Livi and sharing my ipod to listen to Beach Boys music until we fell asleep was one of the highlights of my spring break.

Jillian finally at least warmed up to Caroline.

Pillow pets and mummy bags. Pretty darn cute. The next night I got to share the bed with these two. Getting to listen to Caroline and Jilli's pillow talk was one of my other highlights of spring break.

The kids were looking forward to nothing more than our trip to the sand dunes. They wanted to climb to the tallest dune. We saved it for the last day of the trip.

This is the way the blondes go up the dunes.

This is the way the redheads go up.

The tallest dune was a only a one mile hike, but through the sand I didn't figure the kids would make it half way before they wanted to turn around. I was wrong.

They bounded up dune after dune just to roll down the other side. Sara even got caught up in the excitement and couldn't resist rolling down a giant dune. She complained of sand in every orifice of her body for the rest of the day but the kids didn't complain once.

What a whiner.

As we finally neared the summit of the tallest dune. The wind became very intense and the sand was stinging like it came out of a sand blaster.

Once we could no longer hide below the ridge 3 of the 4 redheads started crying in unison. I pleaded with them.

"We've come all this way. We are only minutes from the summit you guys have to make it."

"No they don't, I am getting them out of here. Give me the backpack."

Within minutes Sara and the girls were reduced to tiny dots in Death Valley's version of the Sahara Desert.

Even though I was only kidding about the whiner comment I have to officially take it back because Sara carried Jillian all the way back to the car and never complained once.

Rig and I were left to summit.

Overall Dad gives the trip an E rating for Epic.