Normal Girl Activities

Steph,
I just wanted to drop you a quick note of thanks. We don’t know each other, and I’ll probably never have the privilege of ever actually meeting you. But on behalf of my 6 year old little girl, thanks for showing that girls can do “cool stuff” too.

My 6 year old, Haleigh, is the daredevil of our family. She has an older sister and a younger one, both of whom are very much in to what some would call “normal” girl activities: makeup, dolls, dress up, etc., etc. Haleigh however, has a fascination with seeing how high she can climb in a tree, how fast she can ride her bike, how far she can run before she freaks her mother out. I like to indulge and encourage her in seeing what her limits are (safely, of course), and she’s rather fearless.

On a slight aside, I’d been researching cameras for my upcoming trip out to Bonneville to drive in the ‘World of Speed,’ and came across various footage of wingsuit basejumping (GoPro footage, which apparently is your camera of choice…). A lot of the footage is of guys, and before long she asked, “can girls do that too?”

Thanks for being living proof that girls do that too. You’ve really inspired her to something. She’s currently got on her list to learn to surf, learn to “flip bikes” (a la BMX and X Games), skateboard (which is something she’ll be getting for Christmas, no doubt), and she’s now added learning to fly in a “squirrel suit.” It’s been hard to find footage of girls doing extreme sports, so she’s often under the impression she can’t do something simply because she’s never seen a girl do it. So, again, thanks. Really, truly, from the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU.

Regards,
Warren Grannis

Dear Warren (and Haleigh!),
I just met Haleigh’s new flying partner in Cortina….!
So here’s a video just for the little girls.
Steph