Jake goes to the mountain

I think it's safe to say that one of Jake's TOP birthday gifts this year was from our sweet friends, the McCulloughs. They hand delivered a birthday card that all seven of them signed--an amazing thing in and of itself. And inside was an I-O-U for a FREE day of snowboarding with them. They could not have thought of or given a more PER.FECT gift! I was so excited for him. (Actually I'm "secretly" jealous. I know how to ski...although I haven't done it in a couple of decades. But I would really LOVE to try snowboarding. I missed that boat when we moved to Alaska. I know, I know, you can't teach an old dog new tricks. What can I say? It's on my bucket list. I just want to try it once! And in the process, I will provide a much appreciated service...non-stop laughs for whomever is with me!)

Fortunately for Jake, the snowboarding stars aligned and he didn't have to wait even a month in order to cash in his gift. Wes was able to get Friday, Jan. 4th off from work, so he and Bo and Josh picked up Jake early in the morning and they headed out for a day on the mountain.

I don't know much about snowboarding or all the different areas one can go in the Mt. Hood area. They went to Timberline, that's all I know. This, however, I'm told is: the Magic Mile.

Bo and Josh went off and did their own thing, while Wes stayed with Jake and documented the day in pictures :) Considering it had been almost a year since Jake went snowboarding, Wes said he did great.

After practicing all morning and then fueling up on lunch, however, Wes said Jake was an entirely different snowboarder after the break and was doing fantastic. Jake even got to work on some tricks to bring him all the more closer to his Winter Sports Merit Badge.

Jake came home exactly 12 hours later!! He was exhausted. (Do they have snowboarding for 4 year olds?? That's what I'd like to know.) But Jake went to sleep with a smile on his face! This was so well timed, too, because he and Cooper are going to be snowboarding with the Parks and Rec every Saturday in February. And now Jake won't have to spend a full day just trying to get back into his groove. He's already done that!