My daughter, Ginny, produced this video. A few choice words and a lot of sweat went into editing this short video, so please sit back, and enjoy our work.
Happy watching!
Happy watching!
Monday, March 14, 2011
Monday, March 7, 2011
Geo Jumps the Big One
-copyright, Emily Vondriska, 3/ 2011
~Written with permission from Geo--always a trooper AND a humorist
Geo Jumps The Big One
Family Vacations are a big treat in our family. The South Dakota trip we planned for this summer was no exception. How cool was it to see Mount Rushmore--the great heads of our government? Of course the Crazy Horse monument was on our agenda, as well as the Badlands and Custer State Park, too.
We loaded up our van, camping gear, dog, and borrowed pop-up camper and headed for the hills. South Dakota did not disappoint. One of the campers at our campsite recommended a pretty little lake near Custer State Park. He explained that there were large rocky cliffs that you could jump off of into a swim-able lake. The kids were all over that, especially Ginny and Geo. All day we listened to the bold statements made by the dynamic duo: how each would jump from the highest cliff. Cannonball? Dive? How high were the cliffs—10 feet? Twenty? No matter, Geo and Ginny would be the brave lemmings. They couldn’t wait to be cliff divers.
“C’mon, Ginny, jump! See between the rocks? Pretend you see an imaginary “X” at the sweet spot and jump there. It’s deep there. Be careful. We know you can do it. Jump, Ginny jump!”
“That was SO cool, Ginny! Nice job!”
“Okay, Geo’s turn!
Do it, Geo, just like Ginny…
Right between the rocks.”
It was obvious things weren’t going swimmingly with Geo.
10 minutes passed. Twenty. Geo didn’t have a problem climbing back whence he came, he
just didn’t want to give up the spot he had. We decided a little coaching might be in order.
“It’s okay, G. C’mon, the sun’s going down.
It’s getting chilly, too. Do it—right there, right in front of you—between the rocks. Jump!
"What’s the matter? Didn’t you see Ginny do it? C’mon, it’s not THAT far. Just jump."
Jump, George! Jump! Jump! Jump! Jump!
Chanting and cheering did nothing in getting George to move. He looked miserable. It was time
to call it quits.
“Seriously, it’s getting late. Just jump or go back up and we’ll leave.”
Now what? Just JUMP! It’s been a half an hour already!”
“I have to pee-e-e-e-e!”
“That’s just great. There are no bathrooms here; there’s not even a rock to hide behind. If you
have to go that bad, you’re either going to have to climb back up, get back in the car so we can
find a restroom, or you’re going to have to pee right there.
I’m sorry.”
“Oh, wonderful. Okay, you know what? Just forget it. It’s practically nightfall, the whole
family is freezing, and you still haven’t jumped. Climb out and we’ll just go. This is ridiculous.
“Okay, that’s it. You’re done. Climb out right now before I wade in and pull you off that rock.”
(Sniff, sniff) “Okay.”
“Watch out for those rocks!”
“Ah-h-h! I skinned my knee on the rocks!!!”
“So, we came all the way out here for him to dive off this high point and he ends up falling in--
after slipping on his own pee. How ironic. He won’t live that down.” “Oh--absolutely no way.”
~Written with permission from Geo--always a trooper AND a humorist
Geo Jumps The Big One
Family Vacations are a big treat in our family. The South Dakota trip we planned for this summer was no exception. How cool was it to see Mount Rushmore--the great heads of our government? Of course the Crazy Horse monument was on our agenda, as well as the Badlands and Custer State Park, too.
We loaded up our van, camping gear, dog, and borrowed pop-up camper and headed for the hills. South Dakota did not disappoint. One of the campers at our campsite recommended a pretty little lake near Custer State Park. He explained that there were large rocky cliffs that you could jump off of into a swim-able lake. The kids were all over that, especially Ginny and Geo. All day we listened to the bold statements made by the dynamic duo: how each would jump from the highest cliff. Cannonball? Dive? How high were the cliffs—10 feet? Twenty? No matter, Geo and Ginny would be the brave lemmings. They couldn’t wait to be cliff divers.
“C’mon, Ginny, jump! See between the rocks? Pretend you see an imaginary “X” at the sweet spot and jump there. It’s deep there. Be careful. We know you can do it. Jump, Ginny jump!”
“That was SO cool, Ginny! Nice job!”
Do it, Geo, just like Ginny…
It was obvious things weren’t going swimmingly with Geo.
10 minutes passed. Twenty. Geo didn’t have a problem climbing back whence he came, he
just didn’t want to give up the spot he had. We decided a little coaching might be in order.
“It’s okay, G. C’mon, the sun’s going down.
It’s getting chilly, too. Do it—right there, right in front of you—between the rocks. Jump!
"What’s the matter? Didn’t you see Ginny do it? C’mon, it’s not THAT far. Just jump."
Jump, George! Jump! Jump! Jump! Jump!
Chanting and cheering did nothing in getting George to move. He looked miserable. It was time
to call it quits.
“Seriously, it’s getting late. Just jump or go back up and we’ll leave.”
Now what? Just JUMP! It’s been a half an hour already!”
“I have to pee-e-e-e-e!”
“That’s just great. There are no bathrooms here; there’s not even a rock to hide behind. If you
have to go that bad, you’re either going to have to climb back up, get back in the car so we can
find a restroom, or you’re going to have to pee right there.
I’m sorry.”
“Oh, wonderful. Okay, you know what? Just forget it. It’s practically nightfall, the whole
family is freezing, and you still haven’t jumped. Climb out and we’ll just go. This is ridiculous.
“Okay, that’s it. You’re done. Climb out right now before I wade in and pull you off that rock.”
(Sniff, sniff) “Okay.”
“Watch out for those rocks!”
“Ah-h-h! I skinned my knee on the rocks!!!”
“So, we came all the way out here for him to dive off this high point and he ends up falling in--
after slipping on his own pee. How ironic. He won’t live that down.” “Oh--absolutely no way.”