A busy July - So Far!!

We've had a pretty action-packed July so far - including me having to travel every week for work!

It's been pretty hot all month and we've been trying to enjoy every moment of the summer. We have not been great at remembering the camera for all of our adventures but here are some pictures from this month. We missed pictures for some adventures - like the Trout Lake Century and Family Ride we all did (me the century - Amy & Cam the Family ride), the county fair and concert and others.

Camden and I did score a mid-week boat ride/wake board session with a friend. It was right at nap time for Cam but he managed to be in charge of the flag for us and enjoyed the sites!
We had a barge full of gas get stranded on the sandbar for about a week. This is a shot of the tug trying to push it off with Mt Hood peaking over the top.

July is also time for Cam's grandpa's b-day! We went up and spent the day. Amy had picked cherries earlier in the week so she baked him a birthday pie with the freshest cherries possible!

Camden and Grandpa!

And Grandma too!

The next weekend, Amy woke up with an itch to go relax on the beach. I was out for an early morning ride and when I came home we quickly packed up the car and drove to Cannon Beach for the day!

This is the famous "Haystack Rock" with the famous "Camden Moody" in the foreground

My little buddy and I getting supplies for our sand castle
Castle with moat almost complete!

The day was disappearing on us quickly
As we were getting closer to enjoying a cool sunset our little guy was fading fast! In less than a month's time we will have put our toes in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. We leave for a week at the beach in Surf City, NC in August.

Camden's school - Bambinos - has been full of summer activities for him. One Friday they put on a play at Jackson Park. Cam and I went early to play around for a bit. Check out the air on this running jump by the little guy!
We hung out for a while and found some acorns until the class arrived and started the play

His classed performed "Puff the Magic Dragon" with dragon masks they had made. I thought it was an appropriate song for Oregon!

One of Cam's friends turned 4 this month. His body Ashton was one of the first friends Cam made in town. We went to his 3rd b-day party too. Like last year they had it at Ashton's grandparents house on the water in Rowena. It's an AWESOME setting and always a great time!

Check out the form on our boy - that Pinata didn't stand a chance!

Time to grab the candy!!

"Open it mom! Open it"

Candy, cake, candy, lollipops, cake.....Sugar intake this month has been anything but small!! Oh well, it's SUMMER!!!!!
The view from their backyard - one could only dream!

The Zoo!

I forgot to post some pictures from our trip to the Portland Zoo last month. We decided to go in the last moment since we were going to be in town that evening for a bike race.

Camden's favorites are always the elephants - especially the new baby - and the meercats!
Here he is looking at his mom's favorite - the giraffe:

The Monkeys are always fun and usually pretty animated here too.
I think we take this picture of Camden every year. I should find the old ones and see how he has grown compared to the bears.

Speaking of monkeys...If he can climb on it - he will!!

I think he liked the train ride the best!

"Just chillin' mom!"

What a lucky guy I am!!

Me and my Best Buddy

Too pooped to poop!

Bike Races!!

Cam and I have been doing a lot of bike racing in June. Last night, after seeing the bigger kids race this week, he told me he was ready to take off the training wheels!! He did good for his first time riding up and down our road with me chasing behind him. Only 3 1/2 yrs old and doing well with it. Being a father gets more fun with every year!!

Here are some pics from a couple races this month.

Camden lining up for his first mountain bike race!

And they're off!! Some spots were a little rough for training wheels, so daddy had to give a hand. (One of the races that has made Cam want to get rid of the training wheels) Head down and taking it serious!! Pedaled his little heart out - he has his mom's competitive streak for sure!!

After the race he is just like all the guys I ride with. Full of his stories about how he did!! "Did you see me ride those bumps dad?"

"I went REALLY fast" After his race, I got my chance for a little mountain bike racing on the short track.

This is a pic of the field of racers in the distance - it has been dry and hot here!
A couple of shots of me racing. I did 5 laps on the route and every time I went over the hill at the start/finish line I would pop a big wheelie so Cam could see me. I could hear him cheering over everyone else - It was awesome!!
I did pretty well and completed 4 of 5 laps in the top 12-15 guys but messed up hopping a log on my last lap and dropped my chain. 6-7 guys passed me at that point and I ended up 20th out of just over 50 racers in the Cat 2 35-45 group. The very next night we headed back to PIR to race on the road with the Mountain View team. It was fun to race on the track and the asphalt is smooth as glass. It was a bit windy but we averaged 24.5 mph for almost 90 minutes.
The rolling start - our team leading out

I could here Camden cheering me on with every lap just like he did the night before
Coming by on one of our 15 laps.
Our team of 5 Cat 4 guys controlled the tempo of this Cat 3/4 race for a couple laps with Karl and Tony both doing some long hard pulls!

Here I am crossing the finish line. I rode well and even led the group to pull back in a small breakaway early on. Our finish was a bit confusing as some of us thought we were going to do another lap due to having to neutralize part of our last lap for the pros to blow by us, but in the last stretch a bunch of guys sprinted and the race ended there - I didn't have anytime to react as I was leading at that moment and was suddenly engulfed with sprinters. I had fun and will be back again!!
POSER!!!

Keith and Stacey Visit the Gorge

Keith, Stacey and the boys came to visit. It was a typical, very busy summer weekend in the Gorge. Thomas the Train, Windfest, Blues Festival, Wine Tasting, Stern wheeler Races, Paddle Board Races...... So much to choose from.

We opted for a relaxing weekend since Amy had been slammed at work all week and Keith & family arrived pretty late on Friday. Keith and I were up early and went for a quick mountain bike ride in Post Canyon and then we all headed down to the beach and swim area on the river.

Camden could not have been any happier. Water, sand, toys and his two best buddies!!

We ran into some other friends of ours there who had their paddle board and let everyone try it out.

Keith is looking quite comfortable on it!

Camden and Jared were happy to just float around in the shallows - I think Camden was working on his sunburn. (we missed a small spot on his waistline with the sunscreen - ouch!)

Amy was a little shaky at first but then got into a good groove. With her confidence up, sh took off past the ropes and into the river, out of sight for a while. I think we may be getting a paddle board soon!

Travis was a good captain for Cam and Jared and took them for a quick ride in the shallows.

We had one of my kayaks there as well and I don't think Travis ever got out of it! He put some miles into that paddle cruising all over the place.

Later in the day, Keith and I took Travis back to Post Canyon on the bikes and we rode around "Family Man" to let Travis try out some of the ramps and jumps on the trails there.

After Cam's nap time we went down to the event site and watched some of the Kite boarders and wind surfers who were out in droves thanks to the good wind and hot sun we had for Windfest!!

The next morning after breakfast we headed out to the Old Columbia Highway for a ride.

This is a six or seven mile stretch of paved trail that has tremendous views of the Gorge and even goes through a tunnel.

Travis and Jared were tearing it up on their bikes and both rode the whole distance through the tunnels and back.

Camden managed to ride his little bike all the way through the tunnels but opted to ride back in the trailer as that is a pretty long way when your on 9 inch wheels and 3 inch crank arms!!