Day 11, all caught up and ready for phase 2

AJ, AJ and Beaver

I know that I have gotten behind in blogging, but this quick post will catch me up fairly well!  Yesterday was our last full day in Sandy, and this time we were joined by AJ and HJ, otherwise known as the 3rd and 4th in my collection of nieces and nephews.  (There are 5 total).  It also
occurred to us that all 5 of us in the house have middle names starting with J, and 3 of the 5 are Joseph.  The other two, Jane and Jeanne, are variations of the same name. In other words, my side of the family has little creativity in middle names. Actually, it's more that we all use family names as middle names and these all happened to start with J.

Wildwood

Fun with rocks

As AJ and HJ recovered from their flight from NY, Alex, DJ and I took off to one of my favorite Oregon places; Wildwood Recreation center. Located a mere 10 minutes from Sandy, it has trails and the Salmon River, which is nice and shallow, perfect for a relaxing few hours.  DJ opted to do some running on the trails, continuing his goal of running in as many states as possible.  Alex and I first set up shop on a rocky area on the river, where we enjoyed skipping rocks, throwing rocks, and checking out the baby fish as they headed upstream.  When DJ returned, we moved down the river towards a sandier beach and enjoyed more of the same.  It was a perfect way to just relax and have fun, and the scenery can't be beat.  Regrettably, my other favorite Oregon place is Oneonta Falls, but you have to cross a log jam to get there, and Alex just isn't ready for that quite yet.  Hopefully by the next trip out we can do it.

Leaving Wildwood, we again stopped to do some letterboxing, and then headed back to Sandy.  Alex enjoyed my sister's training area and practiced his karate, while DJ and I relaxed and hung out with

AJ and AJ again

HJ, AJ and Alex

AJ.  (AJ lived with us for a few years, so we always have a lot to discuss.)  Alex feels especially close with AJ, so he was beyond thrilled to have some quality time with her, most of which was spent in sending odd SnapStories to various people.  When dinner time came, we headed out to Van Dodge and enjoyed some family time. . We hadn't seen HJ in 6+ years, so it was nice to catch up with him, and of course, tell some stories of AJ from her days with us.  A highlight of dinner was the waitress thinking that AJ was HJ's mother.  That didn't go over too well!
That about wrapped up our night, and sleep beckoned.  Later today we head off for Phase 2 of the trip: the USA Track & Field Olympic Trials in Eugene, OR.