Compass Outdoor Adventures

I've been slacking a bit on my posting because Luke had the camera for his first week of camp. He had great fun riding, hiking, and swimming with his 6 campers. Week 2 starts Aug 4th. Fun excuse to get outside and play!

Oops Laney!

Just to give the people at Blockbuster a thrill; Delaney threw herself backwards into a metal rack of candy and put a hole in her head. Lots of blood! Since it was more of a puncture wound, she had to get a couple stitches. She wasn't even fazed by it! Here are some pix Luke took with his phone.

Mini-Vacation

Luke and I had the great luxury of escaping to Walla Walla and beyond for a few nights while the kids stayed with Ms. Jacque, our babysitter. We thought we were going to hit the wineries (we only went to a couple), but we found lots of other things that held our interest including the beautiful campus at Whitman College and the spectacular Eastern Washington scenery. What a wonderful getaway!

Ignore my hand, this is the famed schoolhouse that L'Ecole No.41 wines come from. Their wine label is famous kid art. Their Apogee and Perigee blends are delicious.

Whitman College in Walla Walla is a desert oasis with sculptures across campus by world renowed artists. This is one of my favorites out of bronze and glass, literally in the creek.

Luke taking in the scenic views of the Columbia River.

The Inn at Blackberry Creek

I highly recommend the B&B we stayed in for our night in Walla Walla. We chose Renoirs Studio, which had a private deck and jacuzzi. Fun! Here we are in the beautiful gardens on our way out to dinner.

We dined at an AMAZING restaurant called Saffron. We had to take a picture of Luke's appetizer that included baby octopus.

This is to prove to Mason that Daddy ate it!
After dinner we spent some time talking to the head chef and owner; who just happens to have a cabin on the river in North Bend. Really cool guy, about our age. Very talented chef.

Drive On

Here's a shot of our getaway car as we rolled along highway 14, just north of the Columbia River. See Mount Hood in the background!

I'm laughing in this picture; because this is before I realize that I have a one-sided sunburn that makes me look like a candy cane (red and white!)

We spent some time at the Gorge Interpretive Center after watching people kite board and windsurf. This is a replica of a fish wheel they used to scoop up salmon on the river (circa 1850s). This museum was amazing- showed both sides of the indian versus settler/trapper's approach to the Columbia River.

A luxurious stay at the Skamania Lodge capped off our trip. This picture was taken after an hour of massage at the spa, before our "seafood harvest" dinner buffet. What a place!

Group Shot?

We tried to get all four of us here but you know how well that works! Laney was NOT thrilled.

Cheese!

A little squinting, but passable.
Really neat views of the valley off of this bridge.

Family Bike Ride

Team Talbott headed out for a bike ride this morning- another beautiful day!

We even tried some geocaching- we found this one right off of the trail. The kids love the treasure hunt aspect of this. A guy from Fairfax, County VA had signed the book!

Portland Zoo

L to R-- Cousin Nicholas, MJ, DE, MC. Everyone loves the zoo!

Road Trip to Oregon

Although it is sometimes a long drive, it is always fun to see Grandma and Grandpa at their house on the river. I didn't get pix of everything; but here are some of the fun things we did on our visit. (See below) Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for all the fun!

These two pictures were taken by Mackenzie in an attempt to get Laney to chill out on the car ride!

Concert in the Park

Little Laney Watermelon loved the concert in the park.

Mason and Grandpa being silly.

Kenzie and Grandma.

Kids dancin' around.

Oregon Country Fair

Oh what a sight to see thousands of hippies converge to sell their wares and listen to local music at the annual Country Fair. As my boss put it, "be sure to jump on the hemp bandwagon."

The kids got to pet a "pet" python.

Pedaling to make your own snow cone!

Mason taking a turn at shaving ice.

It was HOT! and dusty. But we got to see plenty of topless hippie chicks, so it all worked out.

Fun in Oregon

Mackenzie Jane - who recently announced that she is "boyish-girlish" because she likes princesses and superheroes. Here perfecting her tree-climbing skills.

Stealing worms from Grandma's compost bin to use as fishing bait. No fish were caught; but everyone had fun!

After swimming in the super cool wave & waterslide pool.

I Can't Get Any Work Out of This Guy!