The Summer of Oma

Oma has been gone now for a few weeks.  We are making it, but are not better for it!  I almost turned around and left in the middle of an errand today as Owen screamed and cried in the store, almost broke a few things cause he couldn't keep his hands to himself, meanwhile I am trying to keep Ruby contained in the umbrella stroller...oh man.  This is going to get harder before it gets easier, eh?  At any rate, we are not only missing Oma's amazingly helpful hands, ability to see what needs to be done, and ability to entertain/distract Ruby and Owen when needed....we are mostly going to miss her unending love for us and these two.  She would really do anything for them and us.  It means so much it is impossible to put into words.  We had a great visit, some excellent adventures, and here are some pictures to help us remember the moments.

Oma likes to do all kinds of silly things with Ruby and Owen...like make "cherry earrings" when we find a "double"....

Read endless stories....seriously...SO many books read...

Create all kinds of fun things with play dough we made...

Dress up like a "baa" (sheep) in Owen's favorite blanket...

Wrap ourselves in the packing from the seemingly endless deliveries from Amazon.com...

and drive like manics in the grocery store.

We enjoyed some good fun at the local parks, of course...

Learning to ride our new bikes from Mindy and Bo.

Painting.  Ruby asks to "paint" every few days.  It is pretty cute.

We made it to Park City for the 4th of July pancake breakfast in the park and parade.  Totally fun. We'll do it again for sure.

Oma braved two weeks of swim lessons with Ruby, Owen, and I.  Another sacrifice.  I know she doesn't LOVE getting wet...especially first thing in the morning...but she did.  And, Ruby and Owen made some great gains as a result.  Ruby LOVES her goggles, wears em every time we swim now, and can swim under water for a few seconds all by herself.  Both Ruby and Owen jump off the edge of the pool with reckless abandon.  They are supposed to wait for a count to three...but it's more like one and half by the time they hit the water.  They remind me of the Kool-aid Man from those commercials I grew up watching.

This is just a random photo of Owen that I think is great.  I love it because if you are a DuRoss, you are familiar with the "Chip Look".  Most people tend to think Owen looks a lot like Chip.  I think he does too.  However, I definitely think, he does the "Audrey Look".  My family never coined this phrase, but I know of a good handful of pictures of myself making this exact hammy, eyes almost closed, squinty-smile face.  This is funny because Ruby perhaps looks more like me in general, but definitely does the "Chip Look".  A neat reversal the two of them coordinated.  I will have to catch her on camera doing this one of these days.

While Oma was here, "hang", or "swinging" as the kids say it, became all the rage.  This is where it started...hanging and swinging from their high chair... 

and then continued at the park.  They look like a coupla Olympians! I am sure they were feeling all the energy of the Olympics in the air these days.

One of Ruby and Owen's favorite things to do with Oma (other than read books...and this second place is distant to the books, trust me) is make bubbles.  We started with just the regular 50cent bottle and wand (the gateway bubble) and progressed to this- the bubble gun.  The thing made huge bubbles and plays music as it does so.  We have to hide it from Ru and OT to avoid constant begging to use it.  Of course, they know where we "hide" it so they point to the cabinet and say "bubbles" over and over.  I act like I don't know what they are saying.  Ha!

Just cute.

Totally adorable.  We were able to host quite a few dinners with friends and family while Oma was here.  It is a lot of work to prep, host while maintaining Ruby and Owen, and clean up all the food and toys.  Most of the time, just the thought of it all makes me want to throw in the towel.  But with help, it was doable.  This is Nola enjoying some corn on the cob at our house.  I just want to eat HER up! :)

Some final parting shots of our time together... Owen goofing around with Oma in the park.

One final one before heading to the airport...

And this is Owen plugging his ears while I blend his smoothie.  I imagine anyone trying to keep up with this blog might feel this way.  It got so long again!  There is just so much I want to hold onto, I can't seem to pare down very well.

"Any mother could perform the jobs of several air traffic controllers with ease."  ~Lisa Alther