He Can Fly!

I've mentioned this more than once in conversation over the past week, but I'm not sure if indoor skydiving is an appropriate activity for a child who has yet to say his entire ABC's. Nevertheless, last week we took a mini-break with Cassandra (my elder sister) and her kids an overnighted in Upstate Utah (aka Ogden Valley, the Eden property) and of course hit up Lagoon the following day.

On the way up to Eden, we played in Ogden's Solomon Center. Cassandra, her husband and kids did the indoor surfing at FLOW-RIDE. Then all the kids went rock climbing at iRock. Holden mostly enjoys being pulled up via harness as high as he can go, and then 'repelling' back down. I let Danny handle that one.

**Side note about my sister (and her family): most people that meet/know me think I have a lot of energy. Cassandra operates on an even more elevated plane. We call it "Smith-Time" because they are like the Energizer Bunny - seriously going, and going, and going... It is hard to keep up when I'm not pregnant, so this was an intense 48 hours for Holden and me.**

The real highlight of the trip came at the iFly. Check it out:

So before you judge me too harshly, I would like to say that while Danny and I thought it would be cool to have him do it, kids are supposed to be at least three. We planned on watching the cousins. But Holden was so interested in the training video, and kept saying "I fly. I fly." And then "my turn" during the demo phase of the training. The instructor was awesome and worked with Holden... saying he could "take him flying."

After the training, I had a little exchange with the instructor about Cito's age:

Me: "OK. but they really need to be three right?"

iFlyGuy:"Yeah, but I mean he's three, right?"

Me: "Well, almost."

iFly:" But I mean, he's three, right?" (Big smile).

Me: "Well, sort of..."

iFLy:"I mean, if you round up he' be three, right?"

Me: "Oh yeah! Absolutely!"

So Danny signed Holden's life away, along with our right to sue should anything go wrong and we got Little Bits suited up - earplugs (I could not believe he was willing to keep these in), goggles (couldn't believe he didn't throw a fit), helmet and his jump suit. He looked adorable, but I was still pretty nervous he was more excited about the idea of flying.

The first round I was laughing and crying (as you could probably tell from the first video)...I was so nervous for him. I wanted him to like it, because he was so excited about it. And I was so proud that he had done so well. He waited so patiently, watched his cousins and then went for it. (Danny and I had to sit outside the flying tunnel so he was with his cousins, my mom, Cassandra a a couple of other fliers). Which was even harder for me, because I felt like I should be sitting next to him, or helping him in some way (what exactly I thought I could do I have no idea, but that MamaBear instinct kicks in, and you feel like you ought to be something.)

Anyway, it was hard to tell if he liked it, but afterwards he signed "more" to us through the window. So we let him go another round (it was paid for, and he wanted to, so why not, eh?)

Here's the finale. Holden's second round. (Sorry my voice is so annoying... you may prefer to watch it without sound). By the way, in case you can't tell, I am in love with his cheeks.