58 posts tagged “animals”

We have a very sick kitty.  I went into see him around 3 and he didn’t come out of his house until I took him out.  (Totally out of character).  His eyes kept rolling back in his head and he was very lethargic.  I took him straight to the vet and had to wait 2 ½ hrs because of other emergencies.  Poor baby just laid his head on my shoulder the whole time.  He has a fever and either an infection or acute leukemia.  He has had all his vaccines but it’s possible to be born with leukemia or he might have had it before getting the vaccine.  We’re hoping it’s the first.  They kept him for fluids, antibiotics, and an anti-inflammatory for the fever.  Bandit died at the vets alone on a Friday night so I really don’t want that to happen to Butterscotch.  If he’s not going to make it, I want him to be in my arms.  He’s such a good-natured cat.  I have such awful luck with strays!!

Butterscotch is not improved this morning.  The vet now thinks it’s a type of viral infection which had a long name.  They can recover with supportive care but it doesn’t look promising.  If he doesn’t show some improvement during the day, he thinks we should probably put him down.  Seriously, we have the worst luck with strays.  I think the next time we see one, we should tell it to run for it’s life!!

 

Look what the kids found in my parents' garage.

It's very sweet and tame but, unfortunately, I'm very allergic to cats.  I feel awful because Lily is my little animal lover but it would have to be me or the cat.  (She may just pick the cat).  My parents' cat died last winter but they don't want another one (even though it would be great for the mice).

She's been named Butterscotch.  Lily figures we could keep her in the attic with a fan.

What's kind of ironic is that my parents ended up with the last cat because I found it in our old garage when I came home from my first year of college.  I hope we can find a good home for her.

Look what slithered across my path on the patio as I was coming home last night. 

The fact that I didn't run screaming into the house is nothing short of a miracle.  After being startled, I got composed and told myself it was a very small snake.  Then, I went in the house to get Jace & Lily.  They were quite fascinated with it and then I got really brave and decided to take a picture.

Lily was wanting to touch it when Ray got home and picked it up for her.  Now, I know she looks just like me but she can't possibly be my child if she's petting snakes!

 

Aside from the 29 inch walleye my brother caught, the fishing was a total bust this weekend.  That's pretty typical for August.  So, the kids entertained themselves trying to catch one of the many rabbits around the cabin.  Cody made a trap and put a slice of bread in it since we didn't have any carrots or lettuce.

There was a rabbit in the trap twice but they didn't get the rope pulled fast enough either time.  Then, they decided to move the trap closer to the long grass.

Cody spent hours watching the rabbits which is incredible for him.  They finally got a big rabbit trapped but he managed to get himself out before they got there.

My brother and I taught the kids how to play the dice game Zonk (also called 10,000).  We used to play with my Little Grandma but really haven't since she died to we had to look up the rules.  The kids absolutely love it and it's something we can all play together.  We've also got my brother playing Squeak.

 

 

Apparently, momma bird didn't like two of her babies because she threw them out of the nest.  Ray found one of them alive on the floor so grabbed it by a claw and put it back in the nest.  She sat on it with the other remaining baby but then threw it out again as soon as Ray left.  The remaining baby is starting to venture out from the nest a little but hasn't flown yet.  It's really fun watching it start chirping and then the parents flying in to feed it.

Here's Ray doing some plumbing in the basement.

And the stucco process began last week.  It'll take about a month!

 

 

A robin made a nest inside one of the doors in our new house and laid 3 eggs.  They hatched today.  I'm disappointed that the picture turned out blurry but you can see that 2 of them have their mouths open.

The foxes are still hanging out in their den near our cabin.  They're just soooo cute!

Our neighbors from Jamestown go to a family camp called Trail Ride at the Little Missouri River State Park every year. 

 

Its located just an hour from our lake cabin so they met us there for a day.  The kids weren't ready to be apart so Lily & Cody went with them and we kept their boy whose Jace's age.  We took the boys out fishing for a bit in the morning but didn't have any luck.  Then, we drove to the Trail Ride to trade kids and spend a little time.

I didn't expect my kids to be afraid of horses but they were pretty nervous.  Lily was practically crying here until I got the camera out and then she smiled. 

Jace was pretty tentative, too.

One of their favorite activities at Trail Ride is going to the mud pit on the Little Missouri River.

On the way back to the cabin, we saw a turtle sauntering down the road.  He got shy when we stopped for his picture.

 

The kids got done with school at noon on Friday.  It was a hard day.  We left right away for the lake.  You may remember that the lake had gotten very low the past several years but was starting to come up.  Well, it was up 25 ft. from this time last year and is supposed to come up another 8 ft!  I think that will make it higher than when we first started going there.  It's awesome!

For a Memorial weekend, we were treated to fairly nice weather Saturday and Sunday.  Saturday was Cody's 12th birthday.

 

 

In addition to the rollerblades, Cody got some money from his siblings and uncle and a rebound soccer net from my parents.  After opening gifts, Ray, my dad, my brother, and the boys went out fishing.  The girls stayed back and played squeak and went shopping in town.

The guys had some good fishing success and brought in 9 walleye and saugers so we had enough for supper. 

 

 

Sunday, the guys went out fishing again.  Not long after they'd left, we got a call that my dad's truck had broken down.  I went and picked them up and we hauled the truck to town and then the boat back to the cabin.  Then, the guys used my Yukon to go fishing and they came back with 19 walleyes!! 

Lily helped grandma cook and they even made a german chocolate cake to celebrate our anniversary which is today - 14 years!

We have some new neighbors from Sidney at the lake.  It happens to be one of my old babysitters and her family.  She has 2 teenagers and a son who's Jace's age!!  I am totally psyched that we haven't even moved and he's already got a friend there.  They really hit it off.

 

My BFF from h.s. was also there with her boyfriend.  He's got a 4 yr old daughter so Lily and her played a lot and then Cody played with her son whose a year behind him in school.  Uncle Ray played his first game of Blongo Ball.

And we saw our very first fox den with at least 4 little foxes!