Up

One of Jan Michael's birthday presents this year was an introductory flight lesson, and I do not mind telling you that I was quite proud of myself for coming up with such a surprise. We weren't sure what to expect out of the whole thing, really; we wondered if there would be actual flying involved, or if it would be more of an along-for-the-ride kind of deal.

But! There was real flying! Jan Michael handled the take-off and zooming all the way to our house in order to buzz our neighborhood AND he did all kinds of fancy things like banking turns and full circles. We also - you may want to sit down for this, it's so amazing - flew over the zoo and saw elephants and giraffes and flamingos milling around.

The whole thing, from start to finish, was an enormous treat and I kind of hope he decides he wants to do it again :)

Now, we knew our valley was beautiful from the ground, but from up above? Totally, completely, altogether stop-my-heart astonishing: