PPPs

I can't even think of anything to write about this; nothing I can come up with really does the event justice.  Sierra is nuts!!  Her friend is crazy too!  This water was melted ice and when I say "melted ice" I seriously mean melted ice!  Ice chunks were floating in the water and that white stuff they are standing on is the lake ...the FROZEN lake ...which is ICE ...FROZEN WATER!

It was seriously that cold, don't let the blue sunny sky fool you.  I touched the water with my hand and decided that if I jumped in I would have instantly died, like frozen to death immediately, like my body would have shut down and that would have been the end.  There is nothing short of saving a drowning child that would get me to stick as much as my toe into that water.  For Sierra and her friend all it took was a little dare...  :)

I guess it was more than a little dare.  I have no idea how it started, but how this whole thing works is that one kid jumps in and "calls out" five other names.  The "rules" are that those five kids then have 24 hours to jump in a lake, video it, and post it online.  In their videos those five kids name another five other kids and the insanity spreads just like an evil  pyramid scheme...

Eventually someone decided to turn it into a fundraiser for a local food bank and sold PPP stickers to those who jumped in.  PPP = Polar Plunge Participant

It was actually a cute event.  What you don't see is that the shore is full of people watching and cheering each other on.  Grown ups are jumping in, people are BBQing to warm up afterwards, everyone is laughing and screaming and having fun...  It's been a terribly long winter and this was a cute way to tell all the snow and ice to suck it.  :)

...and here is the best part.  Remember the before mentioned "rule" that you have to video the jumping into the lake and post it online later?  Well I was in charge of the phone that was taking the video AND the camera because I wanted actual pictures too.  I did good on the pictures, but the actual moment that Sierra's little head went under the water I may have maybe missed it kinda missed it.  Oops.  It kinda looks like she jumped off the screen and then two seconds later she comes back into the screen and her hair is wet.  So she and her friend had to do it again.  HA!

All in all, I was proud of Sierra for going along with the crowd.  YES, that's what I just said.  My kid did what everyone else was doing just and she did it only because everyone else was doing it. It's one of those crazy, stupid things kids do and I think it instills a sense of team and loyalty among all of them.  PS. This "going with the crowd" only applies to jumping into frozen lakes, not anything else.  Understood Sierra?  Be you.

That said, I will now mention that Michaela did NOT jump into the lake, which makes me equally proud because she did not go along with the crowd.  Doing something you don't want to do is never a good idea. Understood Michaela?  Be you.