Lani comes to Oregon

Lani came to visit us, the boys could hardly wait. After all, since Christmas the guest bedroom has been dubbed "Lani's room" or more correctly "Yani's room" by the littlest boy and the name has spread through the rest of the family. I even find myself at times, calling it Lani's room too. Boy, the influence of a two year old! She and BJ really made an impression. He had to be where ever Lani was. I was completely taken out of the picture. Whenever I tried to help him with something it was an emphatic "No, Yani do it!" She had an extra appendage her entire visit. I think that trip to Nebraska when he was 5 months old must have cemented the bond. Lani was IT.

We had a great time while she was here. We went to several water falls, on hikes, to the beach, etc. It was so much fun. One of the most memorable was our second trip to Multnomah Falls with Lani and Aaron and Emily. We hiked to the top of the falls. It rained on and off the entire hike. When we got to the bridge overlooking the lower falls, the boys discovered that falling debris was more interesting than beautiful waterfalls. There were little drain holes that they would stuff pine needles down and watch them come out into the water below. Hours of fun... Really.

On the way up the trail to the upper falls, Levi and Calder discovered some earth worms wriggling across the trail. They each scooped up one and made plans to feed them to the fish we'd seen in the river below. But, as time went on, attachment grew. They were no longer food, in their minds, but their beloved pets! It soon turned into a rescue mission to save the worms. Levi's desperate plea was "Wormy is my friend, we have to save him!!" So, it began. Lani helped them find a flat, pitted rock that had small puddles of water on it from the rain and the resusitated their worms in this make-shift worm hospital. Soon they set them free in a place they deemed worthy of their worms. Ansel was upset when he realized they planned to let them go. He had really wanted to feed the worms to the fishes. No affection wasted there.

At the top of the falls, Ansel unloaded all of his pockets. Apparently he had been collecting rocks along the way because he knew there would be water ahead. The boys busied themselves sailing rocks over the falls. They were soon gone, and they had to resort to tiny pebbles that Aunt Lani excavated out of the high walled overlook spot for them. It was a frenzy. As the saying goes - water, rocks and worms -- thats what little boys are made of. Well, something like that!