Learn to Fly Extravaganza

At the start of the Olympic Games two weeks ago I had asked Drew, "If you could start your life over at the age of three and start training for an Olympic sport, what would it be?" He thought for awhile and finally replied, "Ski Jumping." If he had grown up here and not in Central New York, that could have been a possibility. Our six year old friend Ruby is lucky to have a Mom that allows her to try out a variety of activities and last week it was Ski Jumping. She had so much fun and couldn't wait until the next time she could practice her jumps.

Last night was the last of NYSEF'S Learn to Fly Series and ended with a kid parent competition. Unfortunately, Ruby's dad has been out in Colorado for the month and so Amy was scrambling to find a surrogate parent. Drew was the lucky one and got to partner up with Ruby in the Learn to Fly competition.

Ruby coached Drew on how to stay low and spring up on the jump. She showed him how it was done on her Sponge Bob Square Pants skis. This girl has no fear.

After practicing, Ruby told Drew, "You better jump far!" Of course in the excitement of it all, I messed up on my videography duties. So, either tilt your head to the left or if you have a laptop turn it clockwise 90 degrees to check out Drew's massive 9 meter jump on the 16 meter hill.

They made a good team and finished in 21st place! Ruby was a little disappointed that she didn't receive a ribbon, but as we walked out to the car, she started to realize she did pretty darn good since some boys didn't even go off the jump and that was only her second time.