Tobogganing

Today was a perfect prairie winter day. The sun was shining, the air was somewhat warm (as warm as it can get on an afternoon in February) and little wind. I'm not typically what one would call an outdoorsy person, but there are a few outside winter activities that I do enjoy, especially with the right company. I had the perfect company this afternoon. After almost 2 solid months of not seeing each other, Cole and I finally had an afternoon to spend together. It was wonderful. Man, I miss that kid! Cole LOVES being outside, so I put on my big girl boots and took Cole tobogganing.


I think I can speak for the both of us when I say that we had a blast. For the past 6 months or so, Cole has become quite withdrawn and quiet for various reasons, but today when I picked him up he was a chatty patty. I was shocked to say the least, but I enjoyed every moment of it. It was an answer to prayer. Along with his sudden urge to speak was his urge for adventure and risk taking - something that has never been his forte. For example, we discovered these 2 "jumps" on one side of the hill and upon seeing these, Cole immediately asked if he could jump them. I almost had to hold back my laughter because it was so unheard of. I of course said yes, so off he went on the sled, no fear to be seen and he made the jump. He was SOOOOO proud of himself. I was proud of him too.

Check out that smile :)

After numerous runs at the "jump" Cole asked if I could accompany him on the sled so that we could go down together. Not really realizing the actual size of the jump I said yes and away we went. Well, that jump happened to feel A LOT bigger then it looked. We landed hard but beautifully soared over the hill (we even got compliments regarding our "style" when we got back up to the top by some teenage boys - Cole was thrilled).
As of right now my ass and back are quite stiff and sore, but I imagine the look on our faces was worth it. I'm glad I got to do this with Cole and hear him genuinely laugh again. I could almost cry tears of joy :)


Our afternoon date ended with slurpees and 5 cent candy from 7-11. It was the perfect Sunday afternoon! Thanks for a perfect afternoon Cole. I can't wait until we can do it again!