Unpredictable

I am not much of a snow person.  In fact, I hate snow. I live in fear of being cold.  Why I live in Seattle is more or less a mystery, but that's a whole other story.  The fact is that today I did something that has stunned my friends and even my husband.  I willingly went to the snow, went tubing and even enjoyed it.  Seriously, I don't understand it, but it was a blast.  I can't wait to do it again.  I know, someone should probably take my temperature.  (no, really someone should...more on that later)
Let me try to explain. Last weekend Big Dog went to a birthday party with several of his friends from his kindergarten class.  I wasn't there since he went with his best friend while I watched the younger siblings, but apparently the moms got talking and one of them proposed a tubing date for the kids.  I got forwarded an email and in some fit of enthusiasm, I agreed to it.  I forwarded it on to Mr. Dog, who is a big fan of winter sports in general, and it became a done deal.  We were going to take the kids for their first snow sport adventure. At this point I started to wonder what the hell I was thinking, but I didn't let it deter me.
The plan was to meet up for the 9-11am tubing session at the Summit at Snoqualmie.  Not being a morning person almost as much as not being a snow person, I thought this might be our biggest challenge.  I spent yesterday shopping for gear, snow pants, gloves, goggles and the like (not being snow people we didn't really have much on hand!)  We put the kids to bed in their long underwear and told them we'd be getting them up early for tubing but they could sleep in the car.  We were mildly stunned when even Little Dog (not known for being a  morning person) nearly sprung out of bed with a grin on his face, ready to go!  With a little effort we were able to get out of the house only 20 minutes later than we'd hoped and got to there just after the session started.  (I hadn't realized until this very moment just how close we lived to the ski areas in the mountains.  Go ahead and mock me, but since I don't like the stuff, why would I seek out the snow?)  We picked up our passes and headed down down to the hill.
All along, one thing concerned me about the adventure, Big Dog is not a thrill seeker.  He can be downright timid about anything the least bit scary.  Going too fast, too high, anything that is unpredictable can be an absolute showstopper for him.  This is the kid who kept his training wheels on his bike for months after they no longer touched the ground "just to be safe." In the back of my mind, I was pretty sure I'd end up sitting this out with Big Dog while Mr. Dog and Little Dog ate up the excitement.
Big Dog and Mr. Dog took the first run together.  Mr. Dog climbed on and Big Dog got on his lap.  They got a shove and off they went.  I half expected to hear a scream as they zoomed off.  But I didn't.  Scared silent, I assumed.

Then came our turn.  Before we even got going he asked me if we could come back another day if he liked it, because he was pretty sure he was going to LOVE it.  He could hardly wait.  I climbed on, he got on my lap and down we went! At the bottom of the run, he was elated.
"Let's come back another day!  No, wait!  Let's do it again!" he said as he realized he wasn't limited to one run today.
I trudged over to the tow line pulling Little Dog on the tube behind me and we headed back up for a second run.  Unfortunately the line was long and as we waited, Little Dog started to feel cold.  I tried to convince him that moving around would warm him up, but he stayed seated on the tube until got back to the top of the hill.  A second run was just as big a hit, but instead of the tow line we decided to walk back up the hill.  Then it was decided I would pull him up the hill. Hey, I don't call them mini dictators for nothing.
At the top of the hill he manged to surprise me,  "I'm done.  I want to go home."
"Are you sure?  We can do another run. It'll be great!"
"No.  I want to go home," he said and from his tone and delivery I knew he would not be convinced.
About this time I spotted Mr. Dog walking back up the hill. To my surprise he was pulling two tubes. 
Turns out that after his first run Big Dog decided he wanted to do it on his own!  He was addicted.  As he told me later, "At first I wasn't sure about this, but on the first time I was like ,'This is AWESOME!' and I knew I could do it on my own."
Little Dog and I headed to the snack shack and left the bigger boys to finish out the session.  They kept going til the last possible minute while we warmed up with some hot cocoa.  Even though it wasn't the day I had planned, I enjoyed hanging out with Little Dog one on one for a bit.  He can be downright cuddly when he wants to be.
Probably the biggest surprise for me was just how much fun I had.  I can't wait to head back for another day of tubing with the guys.  I'll make sure Little Dog is better bundled and we probably won't go for the 9 am run, but we will be back.
It's funny how these kids keep mixing up what I think I know about them and changing what I think their personal limitations are day by day.  Hell, I guess I have to add myself to that mix seeing how I manged to actually enjoy a day in the cold and snow.

Sadly the day took a turn once we got home.  Little Dog who had been uncharacteristically mellow on the way home, and by this I mean that the child who doesn't sleep actually took a nap in the car, ended up throwing up at lunch. This was probably more the root of him feeling cold than inadequate bundling, but who really knows.  We got home and settled in for quiet afternoon of rest and relaxation and now, just hours later we all seem to be getting sick.  Big Dog and I have a sore throat, Little Dog has vomited again and Mr. Dog's cough seems to have added a fever for his enjoyment.  Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think this is a traditional end to a day of snow oriented family togetherness.  Or at least I hope not, since I think we will have many more in our future.