New Years 2009: 2nd Annual Polar Bear Plunge

Triumphant new members of the Polar Bear Club: Lily and William

9:30 a.m. . .

"ohhhhhhhh," I don't want to get up. The house is quiet, but for the cartoons that are softly playing on the TV. Owen has been up for an hour! it doesn't matter that he went to bed the night before at 1:00 in the morning, he is up and atom, ready to go the next morning. It is mornings like these that you are grateful for cartoons. Nine-thirty in the morning: we need to leave in an hour if we want to get to the beach in time for what we affectionately call the Polar Bear Plunge. Last year we got there at like 11:55 and counting. Emma and I were literally running, tearing off our clothes as we ran to make sure we were there for the count down. We made it but with only a couple minutes to spare. I didn't want that to happen this year. We wanted to be there early.

But as I lay in my bed. . .as I sank deeper into the blankets, I wondered if it was really worth it? Ohhhhhhhh the bed was too cozy, my eyelids were too heavy, the blankets embraced me in a warm hug. . .polar bear plunge? what was I thinking. Then I rolled over and saw the warm sun seep its light beyond the barrier of the blinds into my room, beckoning me to get out of bed. It looks like it is going to be a beautiful day. . .I haven't been in the ocean since August 2nd. . . Emma and Lily are really excited. . .gotta get up. The plunge wins.

So I swept the house waking each child and gathering swim suits, warm clothes, beanies, cozies, snacks, drinks, etc. "Let's go. We have to take the plunge!" Emma and Lily are up and focused. It doesn't take much to get them going. They are excited to continue the tradition.

Will, on the other hand, is not so sure. "Will, let's go. We are gonna take the plunge!"

"No way, not me. I don't want to."

"You don't? I want you to. You can do it, your tough!"

"No, I am not going to." He is getting up though and is excited because after wards we are going to Uncle Scott and Aunt Adie's house and they have a jacuzzi. I asked Owen if he wanted to but knowing full well what his answer would be. He doesn't often get in the water in the summer months.

It doesn't take long to get out. Not much prep needed

but brush teeth and hair and I am not sure if that was even done. The kids pile into the car and we head out. The roads were wide open so we got there with time to spare, but as we approached the beach, the warm sun began to disappear behind some thick marine layer. . .bummer! but the adrenalin was pumping and once parked we quickly made our way to the crowd with fifteen min. to noon. I would say that there were twice as many people there this year as compared to last year.

We all took off our clothes to prepare for the plunge. Or I should say the girls took off there clothes. I did for a moment and then put them back on. I don't know if the older we get our nervous system becomes more acute or what, but I felt that cold air and the girls seemed un bothered. We stood around waiting for the remainder of the time while we listened to rose bowl princesses and the emcee of the event introduce us to volunteers from the community. I don't mean to be disrespectful, but listening to them drone on while my body was fighting the cold was like listening to Charlie Brown's teacher speaking in slow motion. "Whaaa Wa Whaaa Wah Wah." I was beginning to think that last years accidental plan of getting there just as they are counting down was by far the superior plan for next year.

With a couple of minutes left, the girls and I went down to the starting line and made our way to the front. The energy was building. I was prepared with my olympus water proof camera to try to capture the event and snapped a couple of shots of the girls and I before we hit the water, when all of a sudden, I see William stripping his shirt and sprinting over to join us. His smile was hUGE! "Yeah!" we all cheer. "Will your awesome!" When your taking the plunge, you don't want to do it alone. It's like your a plunge pusher. . . You want others to do it with you: Your not sure why your doing it, your not sure you want to do it, your not even sure if it is good for you, so you want others to do it with you. . . like a narcotic, That's what we were, plunge pushers, and when Will gave in to the pressure, we were all there to congratulate him and give him slap on the back.

The count down begins: 10, 9, 8, All participators are counting, 7, 6, 5, all supporters are chanting4, 3, 2 all watchers from the pier are joining and 1. . . RUN! watch out, if you have little ones you may want to protect them, in fact Richard had that very thought for Owen as he saw the mad dash of hundreds of almost naked people, of all different sizes, running right at him. Gladly he protected Owen even if he did lose track of us in the water. However he did get this shot of us as dash began.Look at our faces. We are actually smiling as we run towards that frigid water. The temp by the way was 56 degrees (like a spring day in Minnesota) I love Emma in this shot. She is right out in front. She is beating all those grown men to her right. She is the fastest runner in her class for the third year in a row. I asked her the other day if she was still the fastest runner in her class and she said, "Yes mom, I won every time except for the time my shoe fell off and I had to put it back on." That's my girl!

Look Emma was in and plunged before anyone and WAY before I could have the camera ready to capture her. Will and I were still making our way out to the water.

Will fighting his way through. He is taking it like a man.

I was the last one to actually take the plunge.

Emma and Lily making their way back to the beach. You don't spend much time in the water but we did spend more time in than last year.

Lily and Will heading in.

Right at this point Will is feeling the cold and wants to get out quick. His bravery is quickly surrendering to the c-c-c-c-old and some whining is starting to surface. But wait, "Let's try to get one group shot of us in the water. . ." I say. What was I thinking. Needless to say the shot didn't happen.
Here we are back at the beach. Will is still smiling, He was pretty proud of himself and feels pretty confident that he can do almost anything now because he is a polar bear. You gotta click on this photo and see how red his little body is from the water. C-c-c-c-c-cold!

Welcome 2oo9.

A great family tradition.

Your all welcome to do it with us next year. The more the merrier! We don't know why we do it. We don't really know if we want to do it, we don't even know if it is good for us, but we want you to do it with us.
C'mon, it won't hurt you, just this once!!!!