Happy 70th Dad!

Happy birthday to my wonderful father who made it to 70 years today!  And to mark the auspicious occasion, he chose to jump out of a plane!!!

He had decided this a while back so when I knew they were going to be in Washington for his birthday, I found a place for him to make the jump.  Little did my dad know, but my sister decided to jump with him.  It was a surprise right up to the end when my sister surprised him with the news.

All eight of us drove to a remote location south of Olympia on what turned out to be a gorgeous June day for the big event.  My dad and Nicole had to watch an instructional video that clearly outlined all the risks, and then they had to sign their lives away on paper.

Watching the video - Nicole looks very nervous!

After all the legal business was taken care of, they suited up.

These were going to be tandem jumps in which they are securely fastened to an experienced instructor.

One last photo with the grandkids, just in case (ha, ha!)

And they're off!  There were about 10 people shoved in that plane.

 After the plane took off, we had about 10 minutes to wait for the plane to get to altitude (between 10,000-13,000 feet).  We were allowed to go stand in the middle of the landing zone as long as we promised not to move!

Pretty soon we could see a spec of a plane and then some small dots of color.  We knew my dad would have a grey and blue parachute and Nicole would have a pink one.

First came dad...

And then came Nicole.  We joked that she's so light it took her longer to get down!

 

She made it too!

Nicole with her tandem diver.

Dad with his tandem diver.

We finished the celebratory day by a delicious dinner of Copper River Salmon and a fresh strawberry rhubarb crumble.