Superheroes Wear Spandex

The day after Q's half birthday, Mike and I did our fifth plunge into a frozen Minnesota lake to support Special Olympics. Our neighbor partners from last year were out of town for the plunge, so we recruited other neighbors to the team (next year, rumor on the block is that all six of us will plunge together). We recycled our spandex-heavy Incredibles costumes from Hallowen and Jesse and Alice gamely purchased Superman/Girl spandex.

Gpa V was down to visit on the day of the plunge, so watched the kids for us while we headed to the lake (and hung with the girls Friday and Monday when there was no school. And, because of a last minute schedule change, took Dec to hockey while we were freezing our spandex off). If it seems like we have been exploiting grandparents this month, see NINE days off of school since January 1. Gma and Gpa N, I'm an equal opportunity exploiter and there are a couple days in April that I need to talk to you about ...

Anyhoo, grandparent recruitment aside, we headed out to BWW (shuttle location), turned around because we all had forgotten our wristbands, and tried again. Because of the extra transit time, we got to the bar about 11:50 and wanted to catch the shuttle around 12:10 to have time to prep for our 12:30 jump. In that twenty minute window pre-shuttle, we downed three shots (each) and were fully prepared with liquid courage.

We grabbed the shuttle, got to the lake, waited about two minutes for our time slot to access the tents, dumped our stuff in the VERY crowded changing tents, met in the lobby where there was no line, walked out, waited for maybe two jumpers, and were on the edge of the platform. I think it was five minutes from initial tent entry to platform. That's one way to make sure we don't back out!

Because of a fundraising bet with his co-workers, Jesse had to wear a tutu and fully submerge. The rest of us decided to fully submerge too. So in we went, out we went, and back to the tents we ran. Just like last year with Mike and Katie, Jesse and Alice immediately said they would do it again. We have the very best neighbors!

We headed home to meet up with the crew from the rink, where Dec and Grandpa proudly announced that they had done great. Except for the fact that Gpa didn't position D's nut cup correctly. But don't worry - his knee was well protected. We all got a good laugh out of that one!

Best of all, Mike and I had a blast together and our team raised over $1200 for Special Olympics. Not bad for a quick dip in the lake. With 2+ feet thick ice. On a 10 degree day. In February.