Winter Carnival

We returned to the large Winter Carnival run annually by a local YMCA. I love how accessible it is to the community, providing tons of family-friendly activities for free.

Salutations, Squirrel!

We're not sure what compelled Ethan to perform a Google search for "declawed cats Austin," but search, he did. And the search returned "Yogurt Swirl," a "quirky, unconventional cat" that spiked our attention and had a striking resemblance to beloved Maggie z"l.

Jon took the boys to visit Yogurt Swirl and received major warnings from the shelter that his temperament was very concerning and that he would not be a good fit for our multiple kid, multiple animal household. The shelter staff wouldn't even let them in the room with the cat.

Debbie followed up a few days later at the shelter, stubbornly determined to bring home a cat that the shelter warned us away from getting. After spending two hours of my life at the shelter that I will never get back, I agreed to 'foster to adopt' this cat who I wasn't allowed to touch, in a crate covered in blankets, because making eye contact would unleash the beast. Sounded like a good idea, huh?

As far as the name goes, we weren't feeling "Yogurt Swirl," even though Ethan kept accidentally slipping and calling him Yogurt *Squirrel.* Through Nana's guidance, we realized a house with as much ADHD as our house has should have a cat named "Squirrel." And that was that.

Worried about realizing how much of a mess we got ourselves into, and also motivated to see if we could make it work, I set up his isolated area in the primary bathroom upstairs with the instructions to leave him alone for the first night and not introduce him to the children for several days. It turns out we're not good at following instructions. See the journey below:

Night 1: Stressed Squirrel is not happy.

The shelter recommended zero interactions during the first 24 hours. We did not do a good job at that. Kitty boy wanted to be loved. Until he didn't. We followed his lead.

After these unexpected calm moments at the end of Night 1, I was already feeling slightly hopeful.

The shelter told us that they hadn't been able to pet him with their hands and tricked him into pets with a back scratcher. So that's how we introduced him to the boys at a distance. On the morning of Day 2. Then, Gabi came in to meet him. Whoops. (Don't tell the shelter.)


Night 2, pretty ferocious beast:

We read that Squirrel was a playful kitty, so we were happy to oblige with some new toys. On Day 3, still isolated from the other circus animals, he played nicely with the excited kiddos - when, remember, he wasn't supposed to have met them yet.



We introduced Squirrel to the other circus animals, one at a time, starting with Reggie. We had heard of a more favorable historical inclination to dogs, so we wanted to try that first. While there was the expected growling and hissing, the eventual calm acceptance continued to give hope for a potential family fit.



The circus felines were introduced next. There were ugly noises, big stressed tails, and really angry kitties. But no injuries. So...winning.


After just 5 days in isolation (not the recommended two weeks), we let Squirrel explore the rest of the house. He showed major cat skills.





I think we're gonna make it after all.

Go Spurs Go

When we were babysitting for the Gilden 3 one Saturday night, we thought it would be a fabulous idea to take 6 children to the Austin Spurs basketball game. What could go wrong?