Could you possibly...

Seth, Alicia and P on the beach.

Pack more Joy into one week?  For this six year old, no way. The child basked in the attention and love of his Aunt and Uncle, while having fun adventures, equalling the end all be all of his existence :)

First, the weekend getaways.  (After the previous week's trek to the mountain lake left me so swollen and slightly grumpy, E and I agreed that more than my rock climbing days were over.  Thus, much to my dismay, (but undoubtedly to the comfort of everyone else;) I stayed behind for both road trips...)

Saturday brought blue skies and Mount Hood hiking.  I have no stories for this, but the kid said he had a blast :)

Sunday saw a foggy beach day with the same lovely hike we had conquered the month before and the same solitary beauty of Crescent Beach - but this time with the added bonus of Seth and Alicia :)))

One day, Seth and Alicia escaped for a romantic drive down the coast.  The child was moved to melancholy ;)  But ever the optimist, he grabbed the cat tightly after breakfast and declared, "Well, at least I can cuddle the cat today!"  (Uncle Seth, being highly allergic to our Feline Wonder, can't tussle with the Little Man after he's held the cat.  And the child, loving to tussle, begrudgingly gave the long suffering kitty a week's reprieve... except for that Tuesday;)  He also found solace in his jewelry collection, creating masterpieces of bling...

We hit the river one afternoon.  P quickly found some wood to set sail for BB's boat.  And then took to launching rocks at it.  Uncle Seth aided the attack.

We hiked a little in Forest Park one afternoon, too.  Per usual, the child was consumed with the ginormous slugs (yes, there was one gruesome SPLAT!), the fallen trees and speeeeeeeed (racing Uncle Seth down the trail was a supremely satisfying way to satiate that particular need:)

After Uncle Seth flew away (sob) we had one lucky afternoon left with Aunt Alicia - yay!  We traipsed around the Japanese Gardens, loving the shade on such a sunny day.  Turns out, these gardens have a little sculpture based treasure hunt for their wee-est visitors. They also mentioned the word "prize" for completing said hunt.  Well, the child typically likes to visit gardens just for the joy of the garden, and they certainly screwed that with their ulterior motives and prize!  He was obsessed with finding the next item on his map and checking it off... but he did have fun ;)

 As soon as he discovered a hidden treasure, he'd drop to the ground and mark it ;)

All in all, the child's week was short on sleep and long on fun.  (There were lots of other adventures that... his mommy failed to photograph....)  He awoke (early) every morning, So Very Excited to see his Aunt and Uncle.  And every night he felt sleep a time-wasting curse :)  E and I just hoped and prayed they had a good visit - that he didn't smother them with the intensity of his love (combined with his unbelievably strong need to be physically touching (or squishing, as is often the case...) those he connects with)!  But thank goodness they did visit, because I dont' think the child could have gone much longer without them - the distance from his beloved Uncles (and Aunt:) being the only thing he claims to not LOVE about Oregon.