A Fun Filled February

We have had a great February. After living in Utah for 10 years we are use to cold and snow in Feb with some great skiing mixed in. I haven't been skiing nearly as much the past few years and it has been great to live in an area where you can enjoy other outdoor activities as well as still having the ability to get up on the mountain for some fun in the snow.

Here in Hood River I have actually managed to get in just over 350 miles of cycling OUTSIDE this month. Although - as you can see from the pictures to the right - most of the bigger climbs end up with snow. These pics are from a 2000 ft climb I did on a 50 degree day in the Gorge - I was just about 2 miles from the end but decided my skinny tires of the road bike did not like the snow/slush!



A couple days ago while working from home Camden commented on how he could see the mountain from our family room window. Mt. Adams was almost glowing in the morning sun with the fresh layer of snow that had fallen earlier in the week. I knew Mt Hood would be the same way, so I got busy to get all of my work done early for the day and Camden and I decided to head up to the ski area after his nap for a few hours of skiing on the "Wonder Carpet"

Camden thought the wonder carpet was the coolest thing. A big conveyor that you ski right onto that pulls you to the top of the hill where you ski right off. He kept saying "Let go dad! I do it by myself"

At first he was not so sure about the skis and thought they were not the easiest things to walk in - especially up hill!

But in no time, the knees started to relax and give a little bend like he had been doing it for years, putting his weight on the front of his ski boots and learning the "pizza wedge" and "french fry" style of skiing!

After riding the wonder carpet a half dozen times (In the background of pic below) he started building more and more confidence. The first time I let him go ahead of me - out from the safety of skiing between my skis with me holding him - he took off "french fry" style and bolted right for the one and only ski jump someone had built in the middle of the slope! By the time I caught back up he had gone airborne and landed on his bottom, laughing and saying "let's do it again daddy!!" And we did - over and over again until the lift finally closed. We were the last two to ride the wonder carpet on the day!

Me: "Camden, show me how to go REAL FAST"

Camden: "Like dis!"

And by the way - Mt Hood was looking as beautiful as Mt. Adams when we started our day.

Napa Wine and the Tour of CA!!

Amy and I had a great weekend in CA for Valentine's. We flew into Oakland on Friday and drove up to Napa where we stayed for 2 days/nights of cycling and drinking wine. Saturday we got a late start because of the cold and rain but it cleared up enough for us to get a 30 mile ride through wine country that even included a good and VERY steep 1000' climb. This is a picture of me at a winery that was on our route at the base of the climb. It was beautiful on the hills above the Napa Valley!

Saturday night we had some great Sushi and really good wine for Valentine's Day. Sunday was very rainy and cold so we headed up to Davis, CA to watch the start of the first stage of the race.



It was very cold and rainy and I was not envious of these guys at all! It poured on them all day as they rode from Davis, across the Napa Valley and into the Sonoma Valley to Santa Rosa.

As we were walking around the team buses we got a small glimpse of Bob Roll interviewing Floyd Landis who is making his return to racing after being stripped of his yellow TDF jersey. There was a huge crowd and I found it surprising how many folks supported Floyd. (I remain neutral in my opinion - cheating in cycling is still not as bad as in baseball - Go A-Rod - loser!)

It was really cool to be there for the biggest race on US soil and see the circus that is a professional bike race. All the team buses, cars with $1000's of bikes on their roofs, and media everywhere!!

After watching the start of Stage 1 we headed back to Napa for some wine tastings since we missed out the day before due to the late start and good riding weather. We did a couple good tastings and spent way too much money on wine to bring home. It was a lot of fun with incredible scenery and impressive wineries. Here is a shot of some of the wine at one of the places we stopped. It smelled so good when you walked into this room.

Sunday evening we left Napa for San Francisco where we had tickets to "Burn the Floor" which was a dance group that was amazing. (Lance Armstrong and the Livestrong Foundation were everywhere!! - cool) I was worried whether or not I would enjoy the show but that subsided early into it. It started off fast and never slowed down. The dancers were amazing and the show was very entertaining. Amy said I only liked it because the women were barely dressed with rock-hard bodies (I'm not going to lie - that helped) but it really was an amazing show.

The next morning we got up and drove to Santa Cruz on the coast to watch the end of stage 2. It poured rain the whole way there but once on the coast the sun came out and gave the riders a small break from the rain for the finish.

It was comical to watch the media attention for this race - partly charged because of Lance's comeback but also because this is the strongest international field to race on US soil. These guys were right across from us at the finish line and were fighting over spots to shoot from for an hour!

Here is a shot of Peterson with Team Slipstream as he came across winning the stage but the real winner of the day was Levi with Team Astana who had an amazing stage showing he is definitely the strongest this early in the season. He chased down the lead group solo on the last climb and took second on the day only because Peterson hung on his wheel the last 10 miles to the finish, Peterson is way behind Levi in the overall so Levi took the yellow jersey today!

This is a shot of the main group coming in after the two leaders that includes Lance who was 13th on the day and now 4th overall. You can barely see him in the back and far right of this picture - sorry for the quality of these photos - they are from my phone.
Right after the finish we had to run to the car and head to the airport to get home. After 3 days we both start to really miss Camden and can't wait to get home. He stayed with Grandma and had a great weekend of being spoiled. When we are away from him we find that he consumes 90% of our conversation and every little kid we see reminds us of him.

We had a great weekend and now it's back to work.

Weekend at the Coast

I've only been to a handful of places on the Oregon Coast so far but every one seems to be more beautiful than the next. This past weekend some friends invited us last moment to go to their beach house in Pacific City. Camden and their little guy play really well together and we thought it would be fun to let them play in the sand for a bit while we had a few drinks at the beach. (we laft at such a last minute that we forgot the camera so all of these pics are from my phone)

Camden loves to explore the tidal pools and see all the little inhabitants

Saturday was a great, sunny and warm day to play on the beach
And, of course we had to throw a stick in the water!

Mussels anyone?

Sunday was a bit overcast and cold so we headed back early so the boys could get a day of exploring OMSI (children's museum/learning center) in Portland. After a few hours of playing there we headed toward home in the Columbia Gorge and decided to stop at Multnomah Falls for a short hike and some dinner. This is one of the biggest tourist attractions in the state and we usually choose some other hikes in the area but on a Sunday evening the crowds have gone and their is a decent but expensive restaurant right there. These falls are the second highest year-round waterfall in the country and plummet over 600 ft. It really is a breathtaking place with the old concrete bridge. The trail is paved and attracts thousands of visitors all year but what most people don't realize is that it is only one of about 77 year round falls on the Oregon side of the Gorge and although none are as tall, some are even more scenic and definitely less touristy.
Camden ran the 1/4 mile uphill hike to the bridge and then sprinted back down - this after a full day!!! I wish I could bottle his energy

He has been swimming a bunch lately - with me and through his school. I finally got him goggles because he opens his eyes under water and the chlorine has been bothering him. He loves them and wore them all the way to the coast - including while he napped!

He likes to use his goggles so he and I can sit on the bottom of the 4 ft pool and wave to each other or he'll sink his toys and we dive down together to get them. Everyone around can't believe what they are seeing with this little guy diving to the bottom of the pool and holding his breath for what feels like an eternity to a protective dad!!

Camden's Birthday!!

Camden's 3rd birthday was last month. It seems like we were just leaving the hospital with him in our arms, panicking over the car seat and if it was installed right, driving 15 miles under the speed limit, wondering why they just let us go with this new life and no real instructions on what we were supposed to do with him!!! I just remember that brief moment of horror and thinking I was not prepared to raise this new life that I was responsible for.

Luckily for us, we were blessed with the easiest baby in the world. Within his first couple weeks he was sleeping through the night. I can remember waking in a panic thinking we slept through his crying or that something even worse happened. I ran into his room to find him just peacefully sleeping. It's crazy to think of how he used to sleep sideways in his little crib that is now set up as a day bed that he has almost outgrown. He was such a tiny little baby just yesterday and now he is such a big boy.

Camden constantly amazes us with new developments every day. He is such a great little athlete, swimmer, runner, biker...... and I am not sure how he ever got to be so smart with me as a father - must get it from his mother. He loves to read books, can count to 20 (and five - almost 10 in Spanish), knows all his colors, and is getting better at recognizing certain letters. He never ceases to impress us.

I'm sure everyone can brag about their kids like this and know that I am a very proud daddy. I have this very deep feeling of wanting to give my son all of the things I missed out on as a kid from losing my parents at a young age. Every decision I make these days seems to be with him in mind and if he can get a positive experience from it. I want him to be able to experience all the world has to offer and have every opportunity in the universe at his fingertips!!

We had a great weekend for his birthday. The town of Hood River was a bit socked in with a cloudy inversion in the river valley so when his cousins - and my brother - showed up we went up to the mountain where the skies were blue and the sun shining:

This is a shot up the glacier toward the southeast side of Mt. Hood

Camden loves to play in the snow and we just recently got him his first set of skis

I look like I know what I'm talking about here - pointing out features of the mountain - yeah right!!
Found some snow caves to play in

The birthday party was a hit! We had nine kids all between 2-3 years old with their parents. Since we had just been to Disneyland we asked Cam what kind of party he wanted to have and he decided on Mickey Mouse.

"Don't worry everyone - I'm sure that finger in the cake has not been up his nose!"
Using that killer baseball swing to smash the Mickey Pinata

All the kids were all smiles with the games we played in the garage.

Camden loves his big cousins and tries so hard to keep up with the big kids. We are so happy that they were able to move to within a 5 hour drive to Boise, ID so we can visit a bunch!!