Summer Regional

What a fun weekend! Friday afternoon we drove to downtown Portland, where Brad was staying at the Hilton. Since he had two beds in his room, we decided to spend the night with him. Brad had his afternoons free, so Friday after lunch we walked around the downtown area, which is beautiful. The kids particularly enjoyed Pioneer Square, a pretty town square with flowers, fountains, and an amphitheatre. --Oh, and there were also some stone chess boards where chess lovers congregate. The kids waited in line and were able to get in a game with some of the regulars (some of which obviously play chess far more often than they bathe--but the kids didn't care). The Jones dinner session included some "Survivor/Fear Factor" games and the kids were encouraged to participate. Julianne was a trooper for our team and competed in several of the eating competitions. She ate a jar of spinach baby food, a whole squeeze bottle of lemon juice, and a can of sardines. And she did it all with a smile on her face. On Saturday I took the kids on MAX (the light rail) to Lloyd Center to watch a square dance exhibition. There was a huge square dance convention taking place in Portland, with over 9,000 people in attendence. We saw them all over the city, decked out in their dance outfits. We also checked out Saturday Market, a large street market in Portland. Then we picked up Brad after his meetings and headed for Chinatown for a very yummy lunch. At the last minute, we decided to spend Saturday night with Brad, so the kids got to swim some more and order a pizza to eat in the room. Ah, simple pleasures. Sunday morning, we checked out of the hotel and headed back to Newberg for lunch with Auntie. Then we visited our friends, the Sterkens, who moved to Sherwood (from Coos Bay) back in April. We had lots of fun visiting, playing games, and eating with them before returning to Auntie's house in the evening. Today is Julianne's last full day with us. I can hardly believe that this time tomorrow, she'll be gone! I miss her already.