Stitches and Memorial Day Weekend

With all the sun we've had in May we have been outdoors every day. Even days that I am working, I make time to at least do something like taking Cam to the skate park. These little hour or two breaks during the day help tire him out and let me get some work done (not to mention they are just FUN!!) He has become the king of the skate park on his scooter and flies through the place, over ramps and up on walls. Most of the time he is scaring me to death as he has no fear and is really moving. One day this week while there, he stopped on a ramp to watch another kid and somehow lost his balance - just standing there!!! He fell at just the right angle and popped his forehead on a concrete wall right under his helmet. When I scooped him up there was that moment of panic from me as I saw a big pool of his blood on the concrete. (Head injuries bleed!)I rushed him to the ER - only a mile away - driving with him in my arms so I could keep pressure on his eye. I wish I knew the name of the kind dad that was there with his son that day and helped me get loaded in the car and clean him up - don't know if I could have gotten it all if not for him!

Amy met us at the ER and Cam was still quite upset. It was about half past noon as we were just getting ready to leave the park for nap when this happened. By the time the Dr was ready to stitch him up, the poor little guy was exhausted. I was not liking how this was looking either. The doc came in with two nurses and an extra blanket. They laid Cam down in the blanket and wrapped him like a mummy with his arms at his side, and then they turned to us and told us that we could leave if we wanted as this is sometimes not easy to watch - yeah right! They were not going to be able to drag me from my little, best buddies side on that day! We both elected to stay as the two nurses got in position to hold Cam down.

Amy did have to sit down as they started but I stayed right in Cam's face, patting him on his chest and talking to him: "Close your eyes little buddy. Everything is going to be alright, just keep your eyes closed" As the doc gave him a quick shot to numb the pain, I could see him tense up and he let out just the slightest whimper. He was doing a great job of lying very still with his eyes shut. As they started the first stitch he was looking very relaxed and breathing slow and calm. By the time he was starting the second stitch we realized he had now fallen asleep!!

Yeah, only our tough little guy could play so hard that he would fall asleep on the ER table while getting stitches. He was a trooper through the whole experience - more so than I. Whenever I think about that first second when I scooped him off the concrete I still cringe and feel a bit sad. There is not a worse feeling than seeing your own child's blood - and this was just a few stitches. I couldn't imagine having to go through something more serious. My heart truly goes out to all parents who have had to endure more serious matters with their children.

Cam got his stitches out 5 days later without so much as a whimper and life was completely back to normal. So much so, that we took off for a long weekend in Seattle on Memorial day that included a trip to the aquarium with Cam's girlfriend, a Mariners game and a trip up to the blast zone on Mt. St. Helens.

Cam had a great time at the game and held up his glove yelling "Hit it to me Griffey" and he just about did. Ken Griffey hit a homer just a few rows away from us!

We had a great time at the game drinking beers and eating junk food. Cam even got his very own cotton candy.....

that he would shove his whole face into when he took a bit - he was a blue-boy when he finished!
I'm still trying to get in a good amount of riding in for the Mt Hood Cycling Classic stage race in June so on Monday Amy and her family let me get a couple hour head start on them with my bike and I rode from Kelso up Rt 504 to the blast zone of Mt. St. Helens. It was a great ride and even on a busy weekend it was not bad as the shoulder is huge, clear and smooth! It was about 70 miles with some great climbing that started less than 100 ft above sea level and finished at about 4300 ft with two good climbs in the middle!

The views up there are amazing and you can still see the devastation from the eruption even after all this time:
We had a great weekend and are very excited that summer has arrived in the Gorge!!

April Showers and May Sunshine!!

It seemed like the rainy months just wanted to keep hanging on as we went through April. We had lots of play time outside but things were pretty soggy. The sun came out when we needed it to though - as you can see in previous posts. We had sun for the Cherry Blossom Race and a few hikes. Amy even got in a long hike with some friends from work and managed to stay dry for it:

They hiked up Hamilton Mountain on the WA side of the Gorge and enjoyed some great views of the mountains:

And of the Columbia River Gorge:

A Gorge hike would not be complete without waterfalls. This is just one of many they passed:

As May came in things started to dry out some. We still had some cloudy days but even those stayed pretty dry. Early in the month we went into Portland and had dinner on the water with Amy's parents for Mothers Day.

Amy, Cam and I had spent the day in Portland walking along the river and seeing the sights. Cam had brought his scooter with him so we were able to cover a lot of ground

The little guy just keeps getting cuter - and he knows it!!

Easter in the Gorge!

We had a great Easter weekend! Amy's sister Serena and her boyfriend Jason stayed with us for the weekend and we did a bit of wine tasting and enjoying Hood River.

This is Serena and Jason at Multnomah Falls for Easter Brunch

Camden woke up on Easter to find that the Easter Bunny had come while he was sleeping (and spoiled him rotten) He had a few toys and enough candy to feed a small army.

And the best part, was this was not all. His grandma called to say that the Easter Bunny left something for him at their house too. He would be able to collect at brunch!

The bunny brought him some cool GI Joes (that mommy did not like - daddy played bunny shopper this time!) so Camden and I got to have a small war with his new guys!

Then it was off to meet Grandma and Grandpa at Multnomah Falls for brunch. It was beautiful despite the rainy day. Food was good and we all had a great time.The happy family:

We asked Cam to smile for a picture but he wanted his new GI Joes in it instead!!

After eating Camden and I ran up to the bridge at the falls (twice) to burn off some of that sugar energy! This is a shot of he and I looking down toward everyone else.
Here is Amy and her family with a good shot of the falls behind them:

Cherry Blossom Classic Stage Race

The sun was shining all weekend in Hood River and even hit the 70 mark for the first time this year!! We took advantage of the great weather too!

It was a biking weekend for Camden and I. He did a little mountain biking and road biking this weekend and I did a ton of road biking in the form of a 4 stage road race: The Cherry Blossom Classic. 4 races in 3 days.
Camden hit the dirt track above the skate park this week with absolutely no fear. We have been going there a bunch lately with the great weather as it is a great place for him to ride his bike, scooter or skate board!

I raced in the Cat 4 (http://allanti.com/page.cfm?pageID=128) group for this race. I had not planned on racing this weekend until just last Monday when I showed up for a group ride with the bike shop I take my bikes to here in Hood River: Mountain View cycles, and they asked if I wanted to join them. I jumped at the chance as I have been wanting to get more involved in the local cycling scene.

The guys were great and we all rode pretty well together. On the first day, I was a bit anxious as I was not sure where my fitness level was this early in the year and I had not raced since last March because of our move last year.

Lining up for stage 1 Amy drove out Friday to see me off on the first stage. Our nine-man team led out the 86 racers for the day and stayed at the front for the first 7 miles or so. Then the race turned a corner into the wind and the first of two climbs on the 40 mile day. A couple guys jumped for a break and I tried jumping after them - this was a mistake! My heart rate was already through the roof before that just from being anxious and now I totally maxed it trying to catch these guys. It ruined me for the race. I fell back on that first climb and then finally fell in with a small group that had 2 of my teammates in it. We worked together well and I led up the next climb feeling much better. I sprinted to the line with a small group - racing for 60th place on the day!! (why?)

The next day was a short time trial in the morning and a criterium in downtown The Dalles that afternoon. I did OK on the time trial but was amazed at how many cat 4 riders showed up with TT bikes and even disc wheels!! Come on - it's a cat 4 race!!

I was nervous for the crit as it was my first one and my plan was to sit back on the main group and try to hang on with them.

This is early in the crit - I am in the left/rear of photo (the only guy looking for the camera and not watching the race in front of me!!)

The crit was super fast - registering 28 mph when I looked at the radar gun! Being at the back was hard as it was a constant sprint - brake - sprint - brake! I got pulled with 3 laps to go. Cam saw me come across in the finish alone and stop when the official pulled me and thought I won (as long as he thought so - that's all that matters to me!)

By the end of two days of racing I was 63rd out of 86 starters - pretty bad!! Going into the last day I felt pretty good and it was finally my type of race. Long and with two big climbs!

I felt better today and held on with some of the guys on our team that were way ahead of me in the overall standings. I almost wrecked coming down the first climb when I pulled my foot out of its cleat and went into the oncoming traffic lane at about 40 mph. I held on but lost the group I was with.

I caught up to that group later in the day when one of my teammates and two other guys caught me and we shared some really hard pulls to catch up to the group in front of us that had our other teammates. We all stayed together for the final climb and most of the way to the finish. Our small group splintered up a bit the last few miles and I finished by myself.

It was an OK day for me and I finished the overall race 53rd out of the original 86. In my team of 9 guys I had 4 finish ahead of me and 4 behind me so I feel pretty good about riding with these guys. I need to start training more if I'm going to do more but this was a good test for me to see where I was fitness wise. I have been riding pretty good but mostly just to enjoy it and not really training - time to change that!

Hopefully these guys will keep inviting me. they seem like a really good group and I enjoy riding with and hanging out with them all.

After the race, Amy's parents came out to enjoy the great weather with us. We took Camden and his bike to the Old Columbia Highway where it is closed to cars and let him ride it while we walked (or ran after him) and enjoyed the day.

Camden thought it was so funny to go way ahead of us and make us run to catch him - which my legs were not helping me with after the race, so grandma had to go!

The Happy Family!!

Camden: "Betcha can't catch me!!"

Coming back to us after grandma chased him down

Another GREAT weekend in the Columbia River Gorge!!

My Son - Something Special!

Sometimes I just need to share a little about Camden. I know I am just a proud daddy but sometimes I watch him playing and think: "Wow! He is something special" (Yes - I'm going to be doing some bragging!)

He never ceases to amaze me. If it's swimming, biking, counting (in English and Spanish), baseball, music, skating, the alphabet, etc, etc....

I'm not saying he is superior to other kids in any of these and I know there are plenty of kids that can do these things better but he just seems to grasp anything he tries and he always wants to try anything!! We are a very active family and Cam has been drug on many adventures. Through them all he keeps smiling and asking for more. I love to experience new things with him and see how he reacts. Always with enthusiasm!

Anyone who knows me, knows that I love to bike. I try not to push it on Cam too much and want him to decide what he wants to do. As his mom says; "He is going to be great at whatever he puts his mind to" I couldn't agree more!

This week it has been skating (or scootering in his case). Hood River has one of the best skate parks in the NW and we have just started taking Cam there for the first time.
The park is designed for abilities of all levels. Camden took to it quickly like he does with everything. Luckily he is not afraid of falling or getting a few bruises. I think he just enjoyed running around the park as he did riding the scooter.

Sometimes, having no fear can be a bad thing for a 3 year old as a few times he carried his scooter to the top of some of the bigger walls and tried to go down them - time to buy more pads for the boy!

To say that he goes after everything he does with gusto is an understatement. The other day it was raining and I was working from home with him. He couldn't find a wheel to a toy, so I told him to go look in his toy box. After a few minutes of quiet, I figured I should see if he found it - no wheel but a thorough job of searching.

As I write this he is playing with Play-Doh (raining outside) and for some reason (he is like his mom in this regard) he likes to make shapes with the cookie cutters and line them all up in a neat row. He is pretty proud of his work too: "Take a picture Dad!" I also wanted to share one of my favorite times with Camden - one that doesn't come as pictures on this blog. That is bed time. Every night at about 8 we lay down for reading time where either his mom or I read books with him for about a half hour and then it is lights out. Before we leave him to fall asleep I get to tell him one story - it goes something like this every night:

Camden: "Tell me a story dad"

Me: "What kind of story"

Cam: "The story about the little boy"

Me: "OK. What's the little boy's name?"

Cam: "Camden Moody!"

Me: "Well, a long time ago there was a little boy, and guess what his name was"

Cam: "CAMDEN"

Me: "That's right! And Camden had a mommy and daddy who loved him very much. One day when Camden was just little his mommy and daddy got him a bike (or skis, or surf board, or in a great school, or baseball, or guitar, or lacrosse stick - you get the point)"

The story goes on as to how Camden was sooo good at whatever it was we got him while still really young, then how he excelled when he got into school, and high school, went off to a great university where he was a star and later turned pro or won a gold medal in the Olympics, cured cancer, became president, starred in a rock band - you get the point again.

I love my story time like this with Camden and he loves it too!

He is our main source of entertainment these days - even riding in the car. We like to listen to music - all types, but Cam has his three favorite songs right now that we love to listen to him sing along with. They are "So What" by Pink, "Reggae Got Soul" by 311 and "Three Little Birds" by Bob Marley. Yes - not your normal toddler selection of music but it makes us smile to each other when we hear him singing along!

We're off to Boise for the weekend for Camden's cousin's b-day party and hopefully some family biking!!

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.