Skate Contest

The same weekend that I was in Anaheim, Jake was attending the King of the Park skateboard contest in Lafayette, Louisiana. The competition was held at the Skate Spot skate park in Lafayette. Jake and Eddie flew out Thursday night on a red eye flight. They flew into Houston and then got on an 18 passenger plane that flew them into Lafayette.

Jake was noticeably not feeling well on the plane and Eddie was afraid he was coming down with something major. Friday morning I received text messages from Eddie asking me if Jake was allergic to penicillin. My motherly instincts kicked in and I was replying with all the usual questions. Jake seemed to be suffering from a fever, a sore throat, and general aches and fatigue. On Thursday Jake had gotten a mild sunburn, plus add all the stress he has been under, and I assumed his immunity system was low and whatever bug he had come across had found an easy target. Jake was able to sleep Friday morning once they arrived at the hotel. Later he needed to go practice and get ready for the competition on Saturday. Eddie loaded him up on advil and headed off to the skate park. Saturday came and Jake was still running a fever and had a bad sore throat. He competed and did well enough to advance to the next round. The second round of the competition was a head to head jam session. Skaters have a 5 min jam session with another skater. Both will try to wow the judges with tricks and use of the park facilities. The judges then decide who wins the jam session and that kid moves forward in the competition. Jake performed well but did not win his jam session, he took a hard crash and hit his face on the concrete during his session. I received a text from Eddie that Jake had quite the lump on his cheek bone from the fall. Jake finished the competition in 16th place out of 55 skaters. And the kid who took Jake out placed 6th and got best trick of the day. While in Louisiana Jake and Eddie tried fried alligator and other cajun and creole foods. I asked Jake what the alligator tastes like and he gave the usual answer, "chicken". Even though Jake didn't feel well I think the two of them enjoyed the trip and the contest. This weekend they are off to Minnesota for the Damn Am contest at 3rd Lair park! Jake's skate footage