Camp Newsletter

I got this little attachment in my email.  Guess who is blowing on a marshmallow?

  River Ranch Newsletter 1

Gidget

From all appearances, we now have another cat.  Darn it.  We've added "Gidget" to her name and think we'll move the "Maybell" to a middle name.  The kids are doing okay with that.  Hans is much happier with the new name.  I think we always come up with better names weeks after we initially choose a name for an animal.

Gidget seems to be adjusting well.  She's definitely a kitten and races around looking to pounce on everything interesting.  She can't seem to retract her claws well, which leads to scratches, but also to many, many snags.  We are constantly un-snagging her after she's gotten herself hung up on clothing or the sofa or blankets and tries to play it off as intentional.  We're transitioning her out of the girls' room.  Gidget keeps making it difficult for the girls to sleep well since she likes playing with their hair!  She's terribly curious about Harvey and Isaac.  Harvey is a little overwhelming in his desire to play, staring at her until he gets close enough to lick her.  Gidget was obviously annoying Isaac this morning.  He growls at her, but mostly seems to just want to be left alone.  She then slowly stalks him, copying his movements around the house.  Watching them, I really think she'll win him over eventually.

Hans has asked repeatedly that I specifically note some kiddo idiosyncrasies: 

• Hazel doesn't like "fridge milk."  If she doesn't finish her milk and it's put into the refrigerator, she refuses to drink it the next day or whatever, referring to it as "fridge milk."  She says it doesn't taste good.  If I remember to put a lid on it and pour it into a different cup, she hasn't seemed to notice yet, but who knows if that will last.
• When talking about Doctor Who, Eli piped up with: "It's not 'Sci Fi.'  It's 'speculative fiction.'"

Abby is at horse camp and we are hoping it's good.  Poor weather may mean she doesn't get to actually ride, which completely wrecks the whole purpose!  I sent her an one-way email last night, including a picture of her new cousin, Mae.  Three nights away, knowing nobody, is LONG.  I want my girl back!  Waiting until tomorrow morning to pick her up is agonizing.

My Big Girl is 12!

Made a lemon bundt cake with lemon glaze for my sweetie girl's 12th birthday.  Darn thing wouldn't come out of the pan properly so it looks ugly.  Glaze can't cover that puppy.  Oh well.  Good thing pretty has nothing to do with taste!  Farmor, Grandpops, and Uncle Bjorn helped celebrate our #1 girl.

Maybell Update

One week post-rescue:  Maybell allows us to pet her and hold her!  She has been witnessed batting the toy Hans made her (she doesn't like us to notice), and her appetite is much less ravenous...she's no longer scarfing her bowl of food in five minutes and is having food in her bowl for hours before finishing.  Hans has set up a snuggle-station in the garage with chairs, speakers, and outlets for him to watch movies on his computer while holding her.  She's still reluctant to leave her little house, but once we hold her close, she hides her face, then relaxes.  She's even purring!

From last night:

Sleepy girl

Her favorite spot seems to be between someone & the chair's armrest.

Graduation Girl!

Pip's a Preschool Graduate!  Kindergarten is really going to happen in the fall!  She's very excited.  Eli took most of the pictures and videos.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHG5wM6aAIw&feature=youtu.be

Favorite thing about preschool

"Pause for pictures"

Our last preschool graduate

I will mail out copies of her graduation photo soon, if I can remember where I put them... Lots going on in this house!

Maybell

Last Sunday, Hans spotted a kitten in the neighbor's yard as we were about to head out for a walk.  Hans loves kittens and so he had to capture the little thing.  Now we have Maybell (Eli came up with the name).  Not sure if we're her forever home or not, but we're going to make sure she has a good one.

I took the kitten to the vet on Monday.  After evaluating her and testing her for serious cat diseases (and having her test negative for those), he said she was totally worth saving, but he would be hesitant to have her around his own children due to her wildness.  Okay...challenge accepted.  I had her dosed with antibiotics, de-wormer, and anti-flea, -mite, and -lice medication.  She weighed only 2 lbs. 7 oz. and was guessed to be at least 5 months old because she has her adult teeth.

At the vet's office

Day 1: After antibiotics

Day 1: Getting her to step outside of her "house" to eat

Day 2: Further out of her house, so emaciated

Day 2: This is actually her feeling better

Maybell is a pretty girl.  She's a long-hair calico.  She allows us to pet her and is warming up to be held and snuggling.  We can bring her into the house after June 3 if she seems recovered from her respiratory infection.

Probably Never Going to Own a Goat...

Actually told Hans I won't ask anymore for a goat.  Our nice walk in the bright, sunshiny evening on the Cascade Trail off of Hoehn ended oddly as two pygmy goats decided Hans and the kids must be their new best friends.  I took Harvey, Eli, and Hazel and kept walking quickly to the van while Hans and Abby tried to "encourage" the goats to return home.  Instead, those two goats ran, bleating, after Hans and Abby down the trail towards our van.  Every time Hans would get them turned back toward home, as soon as he was turned again to the van, those goats would high-tail around after him, running on their little legs, loudly bleating.  We finally all made it to the van with those two rascally goats hot on Hans heels.  We drove away, but did a u-turn just to see if those goats knew their way home.  They were standing in the middle of the road!  Hans had to jog them home, leading them down the trail, and I had to find the driveway to the house that owned them to pick him up.  Ridiculous animals!