Fun in the Northwest!

We have really enjoyed our time here in Hood River this summer. It has been nonstop adventure since we made the move. The summers here are just jam-packed with things to do and things going on. If you commit one day to do one thing, you feel like you missed out on five other things. So far we've gotten in a bunch of biking - road & mtn, kayaking, hiking, camping, parades, sternwheeler races, watched bike races, kiteboarding comps, windsurfing comps, wine tastings galore, bbq's, parties, "First Friday" celebrations, 4th of July parade/festivities, farmer's markets with the freshest fruits ever, play dates for Camden, more dates for Amy and I than all the time we were in UT, and visits with grandma and grandpa!! - and the list keeps going.

The problem is, with all these things going on so quickly we never seem to slow down enough to remember to charge the camcorder or buy batteries for the camera! We have been terrible when it comes to taking pictures and most have been with our phones.

Here are a few from some of our little adventures:

This is Amy and Camden standing on the bridge over Husum Falls on the White Salmon River on the WA side of the gorge. This is 10 miles from Hood River and my first kayaking run since we moved.

Here are a couple kayakers heading over the falls that I ran earlier - I hadn't been kayaking in a year and this was my first run. Just about crapped myself going over this, but made it!!
Camden and I paddling around the new Kids Beach on the Columbia River This is a shot of Couer d'Alene lake in the ID panhandle about 4 1/2 hrs away. I had to go to a tradeshow there so of course I took my mtn bike to get in a few rides.

Camden Enjoying Life in the Gorge!

I have not been very good about keeping up my blog so I am going to put a bunch of pictures in from our first couple months living in Hood River.

Camden has taken to his new home very well and seems to love it. We spend most of our days outdoors and he seems to tackle every adventure with gusto. We Camped up in the Blue Mountains two weeks ago and he had a ball - helping me keep the fire going, cooking hot dogs over the open flame and sleeping in our tent. He woke up the next morning and sat up saying "I wake up Dad!" and when I asked him to lay back down again he said "No - bears will get me!" Good thing I let him watch a special about grizzly bears on the Discovery Channel with me that week.

He has also turned in to quite the water-boy. He loves to swim and dives under water - at 2 1/2 yrs old! It's awesome to watch him show off his new skill when we have a play date with his friends at the beach. The other parents watch in amazement and try to use Camden as encouragement for their kids. He's been watching the Olympics with us and mimics the swimmers. In the bath he scoots to one end of the tub, puts his face under water, and "swims" to the other end where he tries to turn around keeping his face under water. It's hilarious to watch and water goes everywhere!!

Here a a few pics of Cam:

Check out how well he has started biking - I don't think the training wheels are going to last much longer. (Also check out the view behind him of the Columbia River from our street!)

He has his "Go Diego Go!" rescue pack on!
Turned in to quite the surfer boy these days. We have an old surf board that he tries to lay on and paddle around when we go to the little beach in town on the river.
Cam has made lots of friends since we moved - this is his weekend play group
He wants to be a paddler like daddy. I take the boats to the river and paddle him around in them with me.

4th of July

Here are some overdue pictures from the fourth of July. Camden's daycare got to be in the parade - pretty exciting for a 2 yr old!! We watched the fireworks from our front porch - which has some of the best views in town for the fireworks - and Camden fell asleep in my lap on the porch swing while they were going off. It was a big, long day for a 2 yr old!!!

This is Ms. Rachel and some of Cam's friends from daycare We got to throw candy to all the kids watching....
and we were close enough to the front that we could grab a spot on the curb to watch and enjoy some of that candy for ourselves!!
Then we got to go down to the river to watch some kite boarding - check out how high this guy was getting
We found the jump castles!!That is one of our neighbor's girls with Cam. They are twins - Josephine and Frances - and they love playing with Camden. We ran into them at the jump castles.
One of his many talents!!

Smile for the Camera!

The fourth was also "First Friday" On the first Friday of every month they shut down Oak St. to all traffic and all the shops, bars, etc. open their doors for a sort of street party.