Happy Birthday, Jungle Jim!

Today is "Jungle Jim's" Birthday. Uncle Jim and Blanden play this game of intentionally misprouncing each other's name. Uncle Jim calls Blanden "Z" and Blanden calls Uncle Jim "Jungle Jim". It's fun watching the two of them negotiate a truce. Blanden will say, "Okay, Uncle Jim I won't call you Jungle Jim if you stop calling me Z." This truce is always short-lived.

For Jim's Birthday, Nancy had arranged an adventure of Indoor Sky-Diving. Jeremy's birthday is just around the corner, so both got to join in the fun! After the waivers were sign, it was time for the two of them to jump into "The Cage of Intensity."

As his smile would indicate, Jim enjoyed literally jumping in with both feet. The Operator (located in the background) is responsible for adjusting wind speed. At a minimum, wind speeds are kept over 120 miles per hour. I just Googled the Inter-Web, 120 m.p.h. is approximately the same wind speed of a Category-3 Hurricane (111 to 130 m.p.h.).

"Ladies and Gentlemen...I present to you the Incredible Levitating Man!" This is a bit surreal to watch. I expected to hear a great whirling noise from the fan, but from the outside viewing area, I could hear very little at all. I'm sure that it is a quite different story inside this room! 

There was an Instructor who is also located inside the Cage. The Instructor's job is to ensure that the sky-diver doesn't bounce off the walls. Jim had a close call on one occasion, but generally did a great job of maintaining his balance and position.

Somebody forgot to tell Jeremy that he is supposed to be a little bit frighten. Jeremy did a great job! Several on-lookers commented, "Look at that Kid, he's doing really well!"

Look at the balance, focus, and determination. This looks relatively easy, but you would be amazed how few people were able to maintain this position for more than a second or two.

A view of the gallary of on-lookers. Blanden's comment was "Uncle Jim and Jeremy are flying!" B seems to be relatively sedate in this photo, but he was genuinely engaged in the process. You'll notice that a picture of Ellis is not included. E was busy running around. I'm not sure that he comprehended all that was going on around him.Thanks Aunt Nancy and Grandma for your help in keeping track of the boys while Grandpa and I were lining up these shots.