Missing Gamma Rita

A pre-emptive caveat: I expect that at least half of this post will make no sense to anyone who doesn't speak both toddler and hasn't spent at least 8 weeks here doing their level best to mind-meld with Nate and Seth over the rest, but here goes... 

Gamma Rita left on a jet plane ("a BIG jet plane!") last Phthearsday.

My boys were pretty excited about seeing her off so we went outside after lunch to see if we could spot Gamma Rita's plane "up in the sky!". We have a pretty good view of planes departing and on any day other than this one we wouldn't have had to wait more than 2 minutes to see some type of aircraft overhead.

We waited as patiently as we could to wave to you Gamma Rita, but after 15 minutes we had to call it quits.

– Where is you Gamma Rita? I is looking and waiting.

– I straining real hard to see you right now, but you is not there. Where is you? 

– Seriously Gamma Rita... where IS you?!?
– I also still wondering where you is, but thinking at same time that maybe
I strain a little too hard in effort to find out.

It was pretty close to nap time anyway, but we had to shut down "Operation: Spot Gamma Rita" due to an unexpected passenger on board*.

That said, we gave it our best and even if we'd all managed to wave at a plane that day it wouldn't change the fact that Gamma Rita is missing and that we are all missing Gamma Rita.

• • • • • • • 

Dear Missing Gamma Rita:

Thank you for another summer of love. Between us we survived** a season of:

Dumpidee-do walks, wonkies, crookedy ones, tall ones, and broken ones. The naming of flowers – nas-TIER-tiums and cosmos and "the white ones too!". A million alligators, foxtails and dandi-loins. Endless trips to the yellow store, Different Mall and Shoppiers.

Potty learning. Lellow ones and brown ones and big-one-Nate-ones. "Get out of there!", "Switch ones!" and "You kill yourself!". Lullaboys and lillaboys and happy accidents from the latter.

Sausage kierlees, suppiers and making a workable seating arrangement schedule so we could finally stop "switching ones" and get down to the business of eating a meal.

A thousand swings with a lame wing, countless beards and earplanes. The Snow-beards we spotted overhead for a weekend were especially popular (I'll admit I was fairly impressed also). Old Razor-Eyes was excellent at spotting them all.

Kicky legs and fast legs and borrowing quotes from a movie to describe them. "Run Forrest, run!" still makes me laugh.

The rowing of boats, BBQ stands, scanicorns, strap-a-daps and skotches, not to mention all the SCRUNCH!

Boible stories*** and a sack of potatoes always wound the day down nicely.

And last but not least all those cursed watiers (fresh ones and warm ones most especially). You managed them as well as anyone could.

Thank you more than I can say for spending a summer helping me pick toddlers off the ceiling while keeping me sane and having enough humor left in you to have a laugh with me about it all at the end of the day.

We miss you, missing Gamma Rita.

Love,

- L. (and Seth! and Nate! and Seth! and Nate! and Seth! and Nate too!) 

• • • • • • •

*AKA poop. It's hard to tell a story these days that doesn't involve poop.

**I use the term "survived" loosely – even if it did occasionally feel like an endurance test along the way we had a good time, all of us.

***I might not have it in me to ever write posts about the nas-TIER-tiums or sausage kierlies but the Boible stories is too good not to write about. It's coming.

• • • • • • • 

PS. This post would not be complete without more pics, most especially ones of Gamma Rita and her grandsons, so without further ado...

Gamma Rita's babies.

The look that says it all.

Letting our little lights shine!

Despite many attempts to get the boys sitting still long enough for a picture with Gamma Rita, this was as close as we got:

After which Gamma Rita promptly checked for ants in Seth's pants. We never did find any, but requests for "more upside down" were abundant after this maneuver:

Practicing "Mr. Sun" with Nate. Gamma Rita is a good teacher (or maybe it was the other way around):

And of course, the day was never complete without those Boible stories!