Last Sunday we decided to take advantage of the beautiful weekend weather and head up to Mount Hood. We found out that one of the ski resorts has a tubing hill for kids (and adults...) so we thought it would be a good opportunity to introduce Ian to the world of snow sports. Because we live on the west side of town, the drive up to the mountains is about an hour and 20 minutes for us. (We have the advantage when it comes to going to the coast.) Skibowl is right at the town of Government Camp, which is a cute little village area just below Timberline Lodge. We arrived just before 11 a.m. and found that the place was practically empty. I guess that everyone decided they'd rather stay in town for the nice weather than spend it on the slopes. And yesterday I heard that there are some avalanche issues right now with the sudden warm weather, so perhaps that was a deterrent (?).
We parked the car, got our tickets and headed for the "Tube Park" which consists of about five groomed paths down a not-too-scary-looking hill. However, once we watched a few people come down, it was clear that this wasn't a total snoozer. They were getting some good speed on that thing! So after our careful tube selection, we headed for the rope tow up the hill. For Ian, this was half the fun. At the top, we were a little nervous about pushing him down on his own at first so we decided that it would be better if one
of us went down with him by holding on to his tube. Of course I nominated Jeff for this job. And before I knew it - off they went swooshing down the hill. We really weren't sure what to expect out of Ian...whether he'd think it was the greatest thing ever or if he would immediately be on the phone to child protective services once at the bottom of the hill. Luckily, it was the former. He laughed and giggled the entire way down and before the tube had even come to a complete stop, he was asking Jeff, "Can we do it again??" So, we repeated this process (complete with the request to "do it again") about 10 times while switching off who went down with him. After a while we asked him if he still wanted to go down with us or go by himself. "By myself!" he said. So that's what he did for the rest of our time there.
of us went down with him by holding on to his tube. Of course I nominated Jeff for this job. And before I knew it - off they went swooshing down the hill. We really weren't sure what to expect out of Ian...whether he'd think it was the greatest thing ever or if he would immediately be on the phone to child protective services once at the bottom of the hill. Luckily, it was the former. He laughed and giggled the entire way down and before the tube had even come to a complete stop, he was asking Jeff, "Can we do it again??" So, we repeated this process (complete with the request to "do it again") about 10 times while switching off who went down with him. After a while we asked him if he still wanted to go down with us or go by himself. "By myself!" he said. So that's what he did for the rest of our time there. We had only purchased a two-hour pass, which was plenty of time for tubing fun...not to mention sore bottoms and snow exposure in mild temperatures. (We made sure to 
put on plenty of sunscreen that morning.) So, we were headed out toward home by 1 p.m. - leaving us enough time to still squeeze in a nap. It was a brief, but fun little activity. Not surprisingly, Ian seems to really like being in the snow and seemed especially intrigued by the skiers. And okay, by the snowboarders as well. He kept saying, "Look at that! Look at them, Mommy/Daddy! I'll do that when I'm bigger?" We are hoping that next year, when he's four, he'll be able to take his first ski lesson. We figure we'll help him to learn how to ski and then he'll probably teach himself how to snowboard. Because I can promise that you'll never see me on a snowboard in my lifetime.
put on plenty of sunscreen that morning.) So, we were headed out toward home by 1 p.m. - leaving us enough time to still squeeze in a nap. It was a brief, but fun little activity. Not surprisingly, Ian seems to really like being in the snow and seemed especially intrigued by the skiers. And okay, by the snowboarders as well. He kept saying, "Look at that! Look at them, Mommy/Daddy! I'll do that when I'm bigger?" We are hoping that next year, when he's four, he'll be able to take his first ski lesson. We figure we'll help him to learn how to ski and then he'll probably teach himself how to snowboard. Because I can promise that you'll never see me on a snowboard in my lifetime.
