We had a quick trip back to Nebraska (more on that later) and when we were visiting Grandma and Grandpa Eliker, the girls discovered a cache of kittens hiding out on the deck. They rounded them up and snuggled and pet and loved on them until the kittens gave in and decided the girls weren’t so bad.
It’s really not a surprise that they’d make such a request. Hercules and Snickers were adorable kittens long before any of the kids were born, so they missed out on the feline cuteness.
I had prepared myself for the question long before it came up and had been considering how to answer their honest, earnest, persistent query. Every morning and every night, we run through the list of chores, which includes tending the animals. The girls have been incredibly diligent in feeding and watering them without complaint, that it’s pretty rare that I actually have to do it myself.
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| Hmm…which one? |
So, they asked me, who said to ask dad, who said to ask Grandma Eliker, who said to ask me. How could I say no?! We deliberated over the cats–choosing the one with the prettiest (and shortest, hopefully) coat and the most even temperament.
We spend a good majority of the long trip home tossing around names–Charcoal, Ash (that was nixed when some of the girls demonstrated their inability to say it correctly…), Stormy, Smokey, A Few Shades of Grey (thanks Jordan!) and a few other cliched grey animal names. Today, we settled on Nova.
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| Yes, that’s another hive! |
Jack teased me about not being able to go on a trip without an animal coming with us. It’s probably true, but hey, he brought home another hive of bees (more on that later, too). I think we’re pretty much even. Raven has been introduced and tucked her tail submissively with the first spitting his from the kitten and Hercules and Snickers will meet her sometime soon. For now, she’s living the life of luxury, stuffing herself on food and being cuddled nonstop by three smitten girls.
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| Raven wasn’t even brave enough to look at the kitten! |
