Life at the Zoo

She's here!!!

2012-01-17T17:16:00.003-05:00

Penelope Darlene arrived on 1/9/12 weighing 7 lbs 2 oz, 21 inches long. She is an absolute joy of of a baby and we're so thrilled that she is finally here! Andy and I are both exhausted, obviously, but we survived the first week of parenthood so far:) More later...

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-24T16:03:00.004-05:00

From our family to yours, we wish you a very Merry Christmas! We're eagerly awaiting our most exciting Christmas present:) Only 2 more weeks to my due date!

Peter Rabbit Nursery

2011-11-20T11:16:00.020-05:00

The nursery is finally all done! And I think all you bunny bloggers out there will enjoy the theme:) Take a look!

Here are some close ups of the details...

Peter Rabbit mobile.

Peter Rabbit lamp.

Bedding.

Prints of Beatrix Potter's drawings.

Andy made these shelves for books and things!

And of course, one shelf to hold the complete works of Beatrix Potter!

Valance.

Decorative rocking rabbit!

In case you are interested, here is where we found everything...

Crib:Baby Cache Essential Flat Lifetime Crib from Babies R Us
Dresser: Hemnes 8-drawer dresser from Ikea
Bedding and Valance: Peter Rabbit Nursery Bedding from Pottery Barn Kids
Prints: Beatrix Potter 8x10 Children Art Print Poster from Amazon.com
Frames: Also from Ikea but I can't find them online
Mobile and Lamp: Found on Ebay
Rocking Rabbit: A gift from Pier 1

Hope you enjoy looking at our nursery! We had so much fun putting it together. Now we can't wait to put baby girl in there:) Only 7 more weeks to go!

Baby Shower

2011-10-15T14:47:00.010-04:00

So not only are we having a baby, but my brother and sister-in-law are expecting their first baby too! And her due date is a week after mine! (Needless to say, my parents are thrilled beyond belief!) My mom threw us a joint baby shower last week. It was so much fun, but also exhausting for me! I haven't been so tired in a long time! Here are some pics...

Cute cake my mom had made for us...

Me looking laaarge...

Robin is having a boy, and my brother is a sports nut, so their gifts seemed to have a theme...:)

My gifts also had a theme:) I can't wait to put baby girl in this!

Even Andy had fun!

The Zoo is expanding and so am I

2011-09-21T19:19:00.005-04:00

So I have a good reason for being so MIA lately...

We're having a baby! And it's a girl! She is due January 6th and we can't wait to meet her! I was really sick the first couple months, but now I'm feeling better and getting big. Baby is kicking a lot and very healthy. We have started to put the nursery together and I can't wait to show it to you, but I'm going to keep the theme a secret for now, but I have a feeling you'll like it... :)

Kittens!

2011-08-11T19:04:00.003-04:00

I made this video tonight of Arthur and Guinevere chasing the laser light. They crack me up when they go crazy chasing the little red dot.

And don't miss this short one of Arthur jumping up the wall!

You know you live in PA when...

2011-08-03T09:34:00.001-04:00

Taken by Andy at the Post Office this morning.

Monday Bunday

2011-07-18T13:44:00.003-04:00

Pumpkin has been having a good time hanging out with Arthur & Guinevere. They mostly just sit around together. I think she likes being upstairs with us. She often flops down for a nap after running around for a while!

Monday Bunday

2011-07-12T05:59:00.002-04:00

It's a bun's life....

2011-07-05T09:52:00.004-04:00

Hi everyone! I'm back:) Hope you enjoyed Andy's guest post!

We had a great 4th of July weekend. We went to Andy's dad's house yesterday and Henry got to swim in the pool. I wish I had made a video of him so you could see. It's absolutely hilarious! He jumps right in and then won't get out. He just swims back and forth barking at the water the whole time. Of course now he's exhausted. He'll probably sleep for 2 days straight!

From the less-than-better-half.

2011-06-25T15:12:00.009-04:00

Hi everyone -this is the husband...not to worry, Erin is great but it's been a hectic-crazy-silly-funny-stupid-lovely-month. She's coming back soon, but for today you get me.

First - a disapproving bun:

Pumpkin - regardless of the disapproval - is doing well. We've been bringing her up to our first level so she can stay social with the other members of the zoo. She's still the boss - are we really surprised about that?

Now that summer is here, Guinevere and Arthur have discovered the screen door...and the bugs that climb up it. More than once we have caught Arthur scaling Everest (aka the screen door). Now a year old, they are still as crazy and loving as ever.

And of course...

The last animal I'll leave you with is another cat...this one purrs, but very differently and just won first prize at it's own type of show....

Monday Bunday

2011-05-23T08:00:00.000-04:00

Andy took these photos for me a couple weeks ago of a wild bun playing in our neighbor's kids play house.

Pumpkin update

2011-05-19T10:39:00.005-04:00

It's gotten dusty around here! Well, school is finally out for the summer and our lives have slowed way down. Thank goodness. This year has been crazy busy and I'm so looking forward to time off during the summer. I'll actually have time to blog again!

After Patch passed, I was really worried about Pumpkin. I had no idea how she would react. I was worried she would get depressed and stop eating, but I'm happy to report she is doing really well. She has taken the whole thing in stride and is back to bossing the cats around already! Since her house is in our finished basement and I was afraid she might get lonely, we have been making a real effort to bring her upstairs to hang out with us in the evenings. She loves to run around, chase the cats and nudge the dog to make him move out of her way. She jumps up on the furniture and even tries to run upstairs when we aren't looking. It's nice to see her having so much fun.

I guess she must have understood better than we did what Patch was going through and that it was his time. I'm glad that my precious Pumpkin is still her silly, bossy self.

Royalty

2011-04-29T08:46:00.001-04:00

Guinevere thinks she is pretty enough to be a princess too.

Goodbye Patch

2011-03-17T10:22:00.005-04:00

After 3 rounds of medicine and still no change in the head tilt, we took Patch to the vet again this morning and she found a growth in his ear - some kind of tumor - which is why the antibiotics were not doing anything. Operating was an option, but it would have been very difficult and he probably wouldn't have survived. We chose the hardest option and said our goodbyes.

We will miss you, Patches. And I know Pumpkin will miss you the most. We love you and just wanted to do the right thing for you. Rest peacefully without pain.

Philadelphia International Flower Show

2011-03-12T12:23:00.012-05:00

My aunt and I went to the Philadelphia International Flower Show yesterday, and all I can say is WOW! The theme was "Springtime in Paris" and it made me want to jump on a plane and go there now. Welcoming you into the show was a nearly life-size replica of the base of the Eiffel Tower. This picture doesn't do it justice, but it was incredible to see.

There were enormous gardens and landscapes set up, all within the theme of the show with sculptures and lighting.

There were even whole rooms decorated with flower arrangements.

And right in the middle was a carousel that looked like something right out of the Rose Bowl parade. One of the animals was a rabbit! A homage to it being the year of the rabbit perhaps?

If you ever have the chance, you should go someday. It is absolutely worth the trip!

Here are some of my favorite close ups...

New (old) table

2011-03-03T14:47:00.007-05:00

I haven't written much about our new house because unlike our first house, we haven't done much to it. Our first house in Rochester was a 1950's cape cod that needed some serious TLC when we bought it. If you look back through the archives of this blog, you'll see some of the work we did.

The house we live in now is actually a townhouse that is only 6 years old, so we haven't had to do much besides paint some walls. Instead, we've been spending our free time (and money) decorating.

Our first big purchase was a nice, big couch. Our living room in this house is much bigger than our last house and our small couch and love seat looked kind of lost in it. So after months of looking and debating, we purchased this sectional.

It fits perfectly in the room and with the addition of a long L-shaped shelf behind the couch that Andy built, and the Ikea wall shelves on the wall, it creates a nice space to hang out in. And the extra seating comes in handy now that we have lots of family nearby!

Our most recent purchase (just this week in fact!) is a new, well, new to us at least, dining room table. We found it at a local antique store. It is a farm table made out of reclaimed barn wood.

It has cracks and knots and even holes in it. We were told it is actually wormwood, which I guess explains the holes:) It is almost a piece of art to look at. I kept saying (jokingly) that I don't want to eat on it, I just want to look at it!

Right now we are using the chairs from our old table and I'm trying to decide if I want new chairs or not. I'm thinking maybe some painted ladder back chairs... what do you think?

Patch update

2011-02-27T14:39:00.005-05:00

After a scary week, it looks like Patch is finally on the mend. He was really dizzy and kept falling over for a few day, but after another trip to the vet and a stronger antibiotic, it looks like he is finally starting to feel better. He is still tilting his head (as you can see from the pic), but I haven't seen him fall over in days and he is eating and active and is fighting back when I give him his meds so I know he is feeling better! Thank you to everyone for their well wishes! We so appreciate the support!

Patch

2011-02-11T14:06:00.002-05:00

I took Patch to the vet today, poor little guy. He hasn't been eating much and wasn't acting right. Turns out he has an inner ear infection. His head is tilting and when the vet put him on his back then put him back on his feet, he had a lot of trouble keeping his balance and kept falling over. It was a little scary to watch, but she said with a week or two of antibiotics, he'll be as good as new. He's home now and I'll be keeping an eye on him and trying to get him eat so I don't have to force feed him. Pumpkin went with us for moral support and got a check up while we were there and she seems fine. The vet said if she was going to catch whatever Patch has she would have caught it by now so I think she'll be fine. We're going back to the vet next week to make sure. Keep your fingers crossed that the antibiotics work quick!

Ice storm

2011-02-02T10:23:00.006-05:00

We got hit by a bad ice storm over the past two days here in PA, as did most of the country! We already had a foot of snow on the ground, so now there is an inch of ice to top it all off. Luckily we don't have to go anywhere. It is really pretty though... from inside looking out!

Top Gun in 30 Seconds (re-enacted by bunnies)

2011-01-21T10:41:00.002-05:00

This is awesome! You have to click on this link and watch this:)

http://angryalien.com/aa/topgunbuns.asp

Monday Bunday

2011-01-10T19:14:00.003-05:00

I'm not sure why Patch is molting now, but look at all that hair popping out of him! I would be happy to brush him is he would let me!!

Christmas

2011-01-06T13:56:00.009-05:00

Wow! We had a busy holiday season! It all started, of course, with cutting down the Christmas tree!

Henry came and "helped", but the kittens were the ones that were really interested when we got it in the house. Since this is their first Christmas, it was also their first Christmas tree. They spent lots of time under it and around it, but most of their time was spent trying to know the ornaments off it!

We spent Christmas day and a few days around it in Ohio with Andy's sister's family. Christmas morning was so much fun with all the kids tearing into their presents!

We had a really great visit and it was fun to spend time with them!

After Christmas, we came home for a few days and then drove up to my parent's house in CT for New Year's Eve and Christmas #2! Even Henry got a present this time (a new blanket:) which he immediately curled up on and fell asleep!

All in all, it was a great holiday with lots of family and friends. But we're exhausted! :)

Happy Holidays!

2010-12-22T09:25:00.005-05:00

We're leaving tomorrow to visit family for Christmas, so I probably won't be blogging again till after the New Year. We have had a rough couple of months here at the zoo and I have to admit, I'm looking forward to 2011, if only for a fresh start. I know I've been kind of absent lately... not blogging much or commenting, but I have still been reading everyone's blogs and I'm hoping to get back on a regular schedule soon!

I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

All our best,

Erin, Andy, Pumpkin & Patch, Arthur & Guinevere, and Henry!

Singing Snowmen

2010-12-03T16:08:00.003-05:00

I can't believe it's the holiday season already! Where has this year gone? Andy and I have been so busy. We're barely ever home at the same time, like last night for instance. I was home while Andy was working so I decided to do a little decorating. I got out a bunch of Christmas stuff, including these singing, dancing snowmen that I have been collecting for years now. They are from Hallmark, I'm sure you've seen the commercials. Every year when I get them out Andy groans because they are so silly and tacky, but I love them and they are great fun to torture the animals with :)

A&G vs. Netflix

2010-11-05T18:06:00.001-04:00

Does anyone else get Netflix movies through their Wii? Well, we do and Arthur & Guinevere are obsessed with the little Wii hand that you use to select the move on the TV screen. See for yourself!

Happy Halloween!!

2010-10-31T08:00:00.000-04:00

They're fine!

2010-10-24T10:27:00.002-04:00

A&G are home from their nip/tuck and everyone is fine. They are almost back to normal already. I've been trying to stop them from wrestling all morning! And shooing them away from Henry's food... does anyone else have cats that want to eat dog food all the time??

Nip/Tuck

2010-10-22T09:27:00.002-04:00

The kittens are getting their Nip/Tucks today! Poor kids. Arthur was not happy about getting in the carrier this morning. Andy has battle scars. We'll pick them up tomorrow morning. Good luck, kids!

Back to bugs!

2010-10-14T15:00:00.004-04:00

Thanks to everyone who commented on what kind of litter they use for their buns. I'm going to try some of them and see what works for us.

Now back to our regularly scheduled program... cats vs. bugs! (My favorite part is at 1:02 when they hear Henry coming.) And just so you know, Arthur proceeded to eat the stink bug right after I stopped filming. The farts that came out that cat later were fierce.

Monday Bunday

2010-10-11T10:42:00.004-04:00

Pumpkin: "Mother, I'm not very happy with the level of bunny-to-cat blogging that's been going on lately. Way too much cat, not enough bun."
Me: "I'm very sorry, Pumpkin. I'll try to correct the balance."
Pumpkin: "You better. Now go fetch me some Craisins and make it snappy."
Me: "Yes, dear."

To all you bunny bloggers out there - what kind of litter do you use in your bunny's litter boxes? I've been using Carefresh for years, but just tried Oxbow's Eco-Straw Litter. It's ok, but I was wondering what other people use and what they think about it.

More bugs!

2010-09-29T13:31:00.002-04:00

We are still trying to kill the bugs.

Bug killers

2010-09-24T14:51:00.001-04:00

Ok, I know this video is totally annoying because it's sideways, but I can't figure out how to flip it and it's too cute not to share!

(if anyone know how to fix it, let me know!!)

We're back!

2010-09-19T17:18:00.006-04:00

It's been crazy around here, and combined with computer issues, I haven't had a chance to blog! We just got a new computer yesterday, so we're back!

I feel like we've been living at the vet lately though. Guinevere's eye goobers still aren't totally gone. We're on our third round of drugs with her. And now Henry's ear problems are back too, so between the two of them, we've been at the vet every week this month! Good thing we have a great vet. They are both getting better though. Guinevere's eyes look almost totally better now and Henry seems to be scratching less.

The kittens are growing soooo fast. Everyone is getting along really well. Enjoy some pics!

Monday Bunday

2010-08-23T08:00:00.000-04:00

Buns, meet cats.

Cats, meet buns.

Identity crisis

2010-08-22T15:50:00.006-04:00

So Merlin had some green goobers coming out of his eyes last week that didn't look normal to me, so I took him to the vet. We love our vet and have already been through a lot with her, and it was great to see her under happy circumstances for once. This was the first time she's seen the kittens and was super happy for us. She looked Merlin over and then gave Arthur a quick look then looked at me and said, what did you say they were again? Confused, I answered they are both boys. She picked up Arthur and said, yes definitely a boy. Then she picked up Merlin again and said Nope! She's a girl!

We all had a good laugh and decided she needed a new name! So, introducing, once again...

GUINEVERE!

It surprised me, but Arthur and Guinevere are already so bonded. They play together constantly, snuggle up together, drink Henry's water together... so cute! They have settled right in and become a part of the family.

Chloe watercolor

2010-08-13T14:35:00.006-04:00

Right after Chloe passed, I knew I wanted to do something for Andy. I loved Chloe so much, but she was always Andy's baby. He had her when we first met and as I grew to love him, I also grew to love her. I had seen Rachael Rossman's paintings on other blogs before and was in love with them, so I just knew this was the perfect gift to give Andy. We just received the painting yesterday, and we couldn't be more happy with it. Andy fell in love with it instantly, just like I did. This will hang lovingly on our wall for many years to come.

Arthur + laser light

2010-08-11T10:32:00.004-04:00

Up until the past two days Arthur has been pretty shy, but he is slowly coming out of his shell and turning into the kitten I know he can be. He has spent the past two evenings chasing his brother up and down the stairs. It is more entertaining than tv:) We also bought a laser pointer which has provided hours of kitten entertainment! (Andy and I got Droids which can shoot video so I'm sure I'll be posting lots of videos of everyone until I get over the novelty of it. Just warning ya:)

Crazy kitten play

2010-08-10T13:43:00.002-04:00

I don't know about you, but I can watch kittens playing for hours:)

Monday Bunday

2010-08-09T08:00:00.000-04:00

Henry found a baby bunny in the back yard! Don't worry, he didn't hurt it at all and it hopped away after Andy snapped this picture!

Introducing...

2010-08-06T17:57:00.006-04:00

... the two newest members of The Zoo!

Merlin...

and Arthur!

These two handsome boys are about 10-12 weeks old. They came from the same foster mom, but from two separate litters. Merlin had 3 sisters and Arthur had 2 sisters, but we just fell in love with these two boys. They couldn't be more different too. Merlin is a wild child whom I fully expect some kitten hi-jinks from. Arthur is as mellow as can be and still somewhat shy. Both litters were found living outside and were rescued by some nice people and we couldn't be more happy that they were. Lots more pictures and stories to come soon!

Life goes on...

2010-08-04T08:58:00.006-04:00

Life has been busy the past couple of weeks. We went to Chicago and back for a wonderful, joy filled wedding weekend, full of amazing friends who feel more like family. Andy and I both work at colleges, so the lull of easy summer work is coming to an end as we prepare for the return of students at the end of this month. And of course, being a slave to two rabbits and one dog keeps you busy too:)

We met some kittens last night that stole our hearts away. They will be joining the family tomorrow evening, and I can already tell they will be up to some serious mischief soon after they settle in. We still miss Chloe terribly. Not a day goes by that I don't think of her. I still find myself looking for her in the house, and when I remember she's gone, it still hurts. But as they say, life goes on, and I can think of no better way to honor her memory than to adopt again.

Goodbye Chloe

2010-07-15T09:14:00.002-04:00

Chloe lost her battle with kidney disease last night. She slipped away in Andy's arms. Rest peacefully without pain, sweet kitten. We will miss you.

My husband is a saint...

2010-07-07T13:35:00.004-04:00

Henry doesn't stop moving very often. When he eats, he walks around the first floor of our house while chewing his food. So, of course, that means we have little bits of half-chewed-slobbery-fell-out-of-Henry's-mouth dog food all over the kitchen, living room and dining room. At least once a week we have to sweep the floors and vacuum the carpet to get rid of all of it when we finally get fed up of stepping on little pieces with our bare feet. It's really quite ridiculous. And the funniest part about it is that there are these little black bits in his food that look exactly like rabbit doots, so half the time you look down and think, how did that get there? The rabbits are downstairs! Anyway, it's time for another sweep/vacuum session, which prompted this comment from Andy last night:

"Thanks for classing up the joint, Henry. Nothing says classy like dog food everywhere."

Monday Bunday

2010-07-05T08:00:00.001-04:00

Wild bunny says: "What are you looking at?"

"I'm outta here."

Monday Bunday

2010-06-28T08:00:00.001-04:00

Look! Andy built the buns a new cage!

It's huge and they love it!

My Garden

2010-06-25T15:41:00.008-04:00

I decided to try a vegetable garden this year. I've never done it before and I've killed pretty much every house plant I've ever owned, but hey! might as well try, right??

Andy put in a small raised garden bed with a little fence to keep Henry out.

I got this a book called Grow Great Grub and it had instructions on how to grow tomatoes upside down using a bucket, so I tried it.

I'm already getting a few little cherry tomatoes!

There are some plum and regular tomatoes in pots along with some lettuce and lots of herbs.

I'm also growing cucumbers, squash, eggplant and peppers, all organically.

Andy also build these beautiful planters/bench combos for our back patio and I planted lots of colorful flowers in them.

Oh yeah, and he also put in that fence! So far, we're having a great summer!

My husband is still a saint...

2010-06-18T14:39:00.003-04:00

Andy wrote this on Facebook this morning: "looking for a new printer. The 12 year old laser printer finally bit the dust!"

and then followed it up with this email to me: "Just FYI, I asked Will (brother-in-law/computer wiz) for his suggestion on which printer to get. I looked on the internet on several sights and Consumer Reports. They all rather conflict and even when they give some high marks some of the user remarks contradict themselves…."

Which got this response from me: "All I heard just now was blah, blah, blah, new cell phone for Erin, blah, blah, blah..."

Which prompted this response:

"brat."

My husband is a saint...

2010-06-18T14:31:00.004-04:00

For Poppy's 90th birthday, Andy made a picture frame and put in a picture that I took of the whole family last Christmas. It was a joint gift. From both of us. Him and me.

We received a thank you note yesterday. It thanked Andy for the beautiful picture and frame. Said how wonderful it was. How special.

Me: He only thanked you. I mean, I took the picture. And printed it out.
Andy: I told him you took the picture.
Me: I know, but he didn't even mention that. He just said how wonderful it was that you made the frame for him. Nothing about me at all.
Andy: I don't know what to say.
Me: Everybody loves Andy! He's so helpful! He's makes things! He fixes things around the house! He's nice to everyone! My whole family likes you more than they like me!
Andy: That's not true...
Me: I should have married someone lazy and stupid.

Happy 90th Birthday Poppy!

2010-05-22T08:00:00.003-04:00

Today my grandfather turns 90 years old! There is a big party being held in his honor and we are so excited that we get to be with him on such a big day. He is still very active, runs and walks every day, travels, and isn't planning on slowing down any time soon. We love him and wish him many more birthdays!!

(picture taken Dec '09)

Midweek Chloe

2010-05-19T12:00:00.001-04:00

So Princess Chloe is doing well. She is tolerating her IV fluids like a champ. The only thing I can get her to eat is tuna, so that's what she's getting, and I'm fine with that. She is more active this week than she was last week and is almost, but not quite, back to her old self. We are just so happy that she feels better and is proving to be a fighter. I'm not sure what her future holds, but as long as she's happy, we're happy.

A very belated Happy Mother's Day!

2010-05-18T21:10:00.003-04:00

I realize this is extremely late, but Happy Mother's Day Mom!!! And to prove just how much I love you, I'm showing the whole internet proof that you rocked out on Beatles Rock Band!!!

XOXOXO
e

Chloe is home!

2010-05-08T12:30:00.003-04:00

Thank you everyone for the kind messages of support over the past few days. We appreciate it so much! Andy and I picked up Chloe this morning from the vet. We will be giving her IV fluids every day at home to keep her hydrated. She is eating and acting almost normal, just a bit slower, but she gave everyone at the vet hell:) There was a bit "Caution" sign on her cage! We're just happy they were able to help her and that we could bring her home. They said she isn't in pain and that the fluids serve as a kind of dialysis for her kidneys.

Best case scenario, we will have a few more month with her. We're just devastated that her time left is so short, but she's a fighter so we're hoping for the best. We will cherish every day we have with her.

:(

2010-05-05T18:21:00.000-04:00

We're not having a good day here at the Zoo. Princess Chloe is at the vet for the next few days. She is in almost complete kidney and renal failure. They are keeping her on an iv for the next couple of days to see if it helps at all. Keep her in your thoughts.

Springer Sunday

2010-04-25T08:00:00.000-04:00

Henry needed a bath, badly. Andy drew the short straw:)

Scenes from PA

2010-04-23T10:15:00.003-04:00

Andy and I drove around a couple of weeks ago on a Saturday afternoon to see some of our new area. I'll be featuring some of the pictures I took. All of these picture were taken within 10-15 miles of our house. I love PA!

Monday Bunday

2010-04-19T09:27:00.003-04:00

Snuggle bun time.

Midweek Chloe

2010-04-07T16:32:00.002-04:00

Yet another example of Chloe sitting on things.

Monday Bunday

2010-04-05T10:31:00.003-04:00

My father-in-law got this loaf of bread at a local bakery and brought it for Easter dinner yesterday! It was so cute I didn't want to eat it!

Springer Sunday - The Easter Edition

2010-04-04T10:22:00.003-04:00

I snapped this quick picture last week. The buns were out running around and Pumpkin kept going right up to Henry to say hi! (Don't worry, I ALWAYS supervise when the buns are out and Henry is around. He's very good with them, but I'm not taking any chances.)

Happy Easter Everybun!!

Midweek Chloe

2010-03-31T19:14:00.003-04:00

I guess she's ready for her dinner.

Monday Bunday

2010-03-29T08:00:00.004-04:00

Munch, munch, munch. Carrots + spring mix = tasty dinner.

And remember, this Easter, Make Mine Chocolate!!

Springer Sunday

2010-03-28T13:27:00.004-04:00

We're having a lazy weekend here at The Zoo. I've been baking bread, A has been building picture frames, and the animals have all been napping...

Midweek Chloe

2010-03-03T10:00:00.002-05:00

This picture is from back in December when the Christmas tree was still up, but this week's Monday Mario inspired me to post yet another picture of Princess Chloe sitting on things. It is a habit she and Mario share:)

Monday Bunday

2010-03-01T16:24:00.003-05:00

So, we said goodbye to Audrey, but we hear she's having a great time at The Bunny Lounge!

Audrey Goes to the Car Show

2010-02-03T19:07:00.012-05:00

Disclaimer: These are some of the worst pictures I've ever taken. If you continue reading, prepare yourself for the horror that you will find. Consider yourself warned.

Andy and my father-in-law wanted to go to the Philadelphia Auto Show last weekend, so Audrey and I tagged along! Here we are in the car on the way into Philly. There's the art museum!

(See, I wasn't kidding.)

Random blurry shot of Audrey and our GPS... oh yeah, and Philly of course.

Look! It's Chinatown!

Me and Audrey in a Smart Car.

(Ok, I can't be blamed for this one because Andy took it. So there.)

Look! A halfway decent picture of a really expensive car!

After the car show, we met Matt & Robin for dinner and a trip to Ikea. Audrey checked out some furniture...

...posed with crazy... I mean Robin!

And visited with the other animals!

Monday Bunday

2010-01-25T10:45:00.004-05:00

Patch: Um, HELLO??? Did you forget about us?!? Jeez...
Me: Sorry Patches... but I finally started working again and it's been a little nuts around here.
Patch: That's no excuse. You better made it up to me with some banana chips.
Me: Yes, dear. And I'll try to update the blog more often. I know you like to keep your fans informed of what's going on.
Patch: Gotta give the public what they want!

Audrey Helps the Cats

2010-01-05T16:19:00.007-05:00

So not only has Audrey been helping around the house, but she has also been helping some cats find new homes!

I have been volunteering for One by One Cat Rescue for a couple months now and last week, I took Andy (who was on vacation) and Audrey to help out! 1x1 is a no kill organization that has space at two Petsmart stores. I go to one of them every week to clean and play with the cats. It is so much fun and Andy and Audrey agreed!

Happy New Year!!!

2010-01-01T14:50:00.003-05:00

From our Zoo to yours... best wishes for a very happy 2010!!

Christmas with Audrey

2009-12-30T18:44:00.006-05:00

Christmas was very special this year due to a certain celebrity that is visiting. Audrey has been very busy helping around the house. She had to help Chloe take a nap...

She also helped me do some baking...

And of course, arranging the presents under the tree is a big job!

Monday Bunday: Christmas Card Photoshoot Outtakes:)

2009-12-28T08:00:00.005-05:00

Merry Christmas!!

2009-12-25T00:01:00.005-05:00

Guess who made the Christmas card this year?!?

THE BUNS!!!

Merry Christmas from Pumpkin, Patch, Princess Chloe, Henry, Andy & Erin!!

Guess who just arrived?!?

2009-12-17T13:56:00.010-05:00

AUDREY!!!

She arrived this afternoon from Nottingham (prepared for the cold weather in her scarf!) with treats and presents from Miss Eve and Neville! She brought banana chips and craisins for the buns and chocolate and gingerbread for Andy and I! Thank you so much!!

The buns greeted her, welcoming her back to the US and to Pennsylvania for the first time!

And while I was attempting to dole out some craisins, Patch decided that he needed them faster and knocked the container out of my hand...

Even Henry was anxious to greet our guest! (But I did have to convince him that she is our Christmas guest, really quite famous, and not for eating.)

It's a Christmas Miracle!!!!!

2009-12-08T16:27:00.005-05:00

I just walked into the living room a couple minutes ago to find this:

Can you believe it?!? Dog and Cat... coexisting on the same piece of furniture... less than a foot away from each other!!! It's a Christmas miracle! This has never happened before!

Excuse me while I go pinch myself...

Monday Bunday

2009-12-07T08:00:00.001-05:00

Me: Guess what buns?!? Audrey is coming to visit!!!
Patch: I'm not sure we approve of that.
Me: Oh Patches, you'll love her! And she is coming all the way from Europe where she has been visiting with Neville and Miss Eve to be with us for Christmas!
Patch: Well, all right. But we better get extra Craisins for sharing our pad with her.
Me: Yes, of course. Extra Craisins it is.

Monday Bunday

2009-11-23T11:14:00.002-05:00

Patch: "No humans allowed! Unless you have Craisins... or banana chips..."

Midweek Chloe

2009-11-04T19:12:00.005-05:00

Chloe: "I see you and I'm not pleased that you are disturbing my nap."
Me: "My apologies, Princess. Please resume your nap. It won't happen again:)"

Monday Bunday

2009-11-02T10:14:00.003-05:00

Pumpkin hopes that everybun had a fun and safe Halloween!!

Monday Bunday

2009-10-19T15:40:00.004-04:00

Here is P&P's new house. Its pretty much the same as the one they had in Rochester, but it's one cube bigger. They love it so far. We've set them up in our new finished basement along with our office so they have lots of company down here:) A also created a pen for them so they can run around and Henry can be down here at the same time. They are doing binkies as I type this:)

New house!

2009-10-15T11:51:00.003-04:00

Hi everyone! We're finally back online after a couple weeks without internet service. There are still lots of boxes to be unpacked, but we're settling into our new house. We love it here and are so happy to be closer to friends and family again. I'll have pictures up soon, but the zoo seems to like their new digs just fine and everyone survived the move unscathed:) More soon, I promise!

Monday Bunday

2009-09-28T10:55:00.003-04:00

Me: We're closing on our new house tomorrow!!! And we're moving in on Saturday!!!
Patch: Yeah, whatever.
Me: Come on Patches, be excited!
Patch: Show me some Craisins, then we'll talk.

Liberty Bell and Independence Hall

2009-09-16T12:38:00.011-04:00

We decided to take advantage of our proximity to Philadelphia (and some nice weather) last Sunday and spend an afternoon in the city seeing some sights.

The Liberty Bell is housed in a building just across the street from Independence Hall. I really liked how the building was designed because, as you can see here, they put a huge wall of glass behind the bell looking out onto Independence Hall, which of course is where the Liberty Bell was originally hung.

Here is a close up of the famous crack in the bell...

After that we took a tour of Independence Hall.

There are only two main rooms in this building that you get to see on the tour, one of which is the Assembly Room where both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were drafted and signed.

Here is one more from outside the building, looking up at the bell tower...

Monday Bunday

2009-09-14T16:03:00.002-04:00

Those ears... they get me every time!

Wednesday Disapproval

2009-09-09T11:59:00.005-04:00

Patch: I disapprove that it has been so long since you blogged about us, Mother.
Me: I'm very sorry Patches. It won't happen again.
Patch: Also, this new cage does not live up to our high standards. What are you doing about that?
Me: I know my dear. Papa promised to build you a better one when we move into the new house. This one is only temporary. The new one will be bigger! With carpet! And 3 levels like your old one!

Pumpkin: It better be. Well, until then, I'm giving you the butt. And some foot flicks.

The Real Zoo!

2009-08-27T13:27:00.010-04:00

I dragged my father-in-law to the Philadelphia Zoo with me yesterday. After all, what's the point of being unemployed if you're not going to enjoy it, right?!? :) If you ever visit Philly, you should definitely make a visit to the zoo. I've been there a few times now and just love it! Here are a few of my favorite pictures from yesterday.

Goodbye Rochester

2009-08-24T14:53:00.008-04:00

So a lot has happened since I last wrote... We moved out of and sold our house in Rochester, we went on vacation to Cape Cod, we moved into my father-in-law's house in PA, we've seen lots of family and friends, and Andy started his new job!

Moving is such a pain in the butt. We decided to do this move ourselves because frankly, hiring movers is SOOOOO expensive. So we rented a trusty UHaul, and hired two guys to help us load it in Rochester and unload into a storage unit in PA. We have sold our house in NY but we won't close on our new house in PA until September 25th, so we had to find somewhere to store everything in between. We are living with Andy's dad in between houses, and I have to say, the man is a saint! He not only welcomed us into his home for a month in a half, but all four of our animals as well! Pumpkin and Patch have a space in the basement that they, of course, disapprove of, Chloe has taken over the whole house, and Henry has decided that Dad is his new best friend. Dad works from home, so Henry now spends all day right next to his desk on an arm chair, sleeping and barking at things out the window. It's very cute.

So, it will be a while still till we're settled in our new home, but we're excited for this new part of our lives together. Andy's new job is going very well. It's only week 2 but he loves it! I've started looking for a new job as well, but mostly concentrating on finishing up all the paperwork for buying our new house. So, that's it for now! I'll keep you all updated, and I promise to get some more picutes up here too:)

The truck full with everything we own!

Empty living room :(

Goodbye to our first home!

Monday (Moving Week) Bunday!

2009-08-03T08:00:00.002-04:00

We're loading up the truck on Wednesday and driving to PA on Thursday! Things have been so crazy around here wrapping everything up, but we're just about done and ready to move.

Even the neighbors are coming out to say goodbye :)

(picture taken by A)

The drive to PA will be P&P's first long car trip. They will be sharing the car with Princess Chloe while Henry rides shotgun in the truck. It will be quiet around here for another couple of weeks while we move and then go to Cape Cod for some much earned R&R. I'll catch you up on everything soon!

Springer Sunday

2009-07-19T11:15:00.004-04:00

Supervising all this packing is exhausting!

Packing.

2009-07-18T20:41:00.005-04:00

Wow! It's getting dusty around here. I just wanted to check in and let you all know that we're still alive! We can barely walk around here without stepping over boxes, but it will all be over soon. We're heading down to PA this week to start house hunting, then we will move all of our stuff out of the house and into storage in PA, then we'll go on vacation to Cap Cod (YAY!), then we'll head back to PA and we will all move in with A's dad till we find/buy/close on a new house and then A will start his new job. Did you get all that?!? Not too complicated, is it? :) We don't like to make things easy on ourselves. What fun would that be? Cross your fingers that we'll find a house fast so we don't have to torture my father-in-law for too long!

Monday Bunday

2009-06-29T09:50:00.003-04:00

I disapprove of being in the basement.

Almost sold...

2009-06-24T14:42:00.003-04:00

So, we got two offers on the house, accepted one of them, the engineer's inspection is on Friday... so... as long as everything goes as it should and there are no surprises, that means, we sold our house!! Yay! Overall, it's gone so much fast that I thought it would, and so much easier too (knock on wood). We're not done yet, but we're getting there.

The only thing is... now I have to start packing. I hate packing. And unpacking. Come to think of it, I hate moving! But it's worth it. And besides, if I procrastinate long enough, A will do most of it anyway :)

Don't tell him I said that...

The Zoo is Moving!!!

2009-06-13T18:53:00.005-04:00

So, one of the reasons I've been MIA lately is that we're moving to Pennsylvania! We've been working really hard the last few weeks on cleaning up the house and getting those last few projects done that we've been putting off forever. Our house is on the market as of today and we're having an open house tomorrow. Crazy times. Keep your fingers crossed for a quick sale!

Andy got a new job at a small university about 1 1/2 hours outside of Philadelphia, in the Allentown/Reading area, and we jumped at the change to move back east. We'll be a lot closer to friends and family, but it means we have to say goodbye to Rochester and all the great friends we have made while living here for the past 3 1/2 years. It looks like if all goes well, we will probably be moving sometime in August, but we're figuring things out as we go:)

For now, the buns have been relocated to the basement :( as their room is really a bedroom and it needed to go back to looking that way. They disapprove of being down there and Patch keeps escaping and running back upstairs. Hopefully the house will sell fast and they can move back up! Henry and Chloe seem confused as to what's going on but they will figure it out once we start packing! That's it for now. The countdown begins!

Monday Bunday

2009-06-01T09:27:00.004-04:00

Patch is trying to escape!!

Air Freshener

2009-05-19T10:00:00.001-04:00

I wrote this back in December and I'm not sure why I never posted it, but its been in my drafts folder since then. It's a bit long, but if you can get through it, I guarantee it will make you laugh!

An old friend of mine recently posted some pictures that I took when we were in China together during the summer of 2002. I haven't looked at these pictures in a few years and one in particular brought back a very vivid memory.

I went to China in July of 2002 to teach English at a Chinese middle school for 6 weeks. I flew from New York, to Chicago, to Tokyo, and then finally to Shanghai. It took over 30 hours. After spending a few days in Shanghai seeing the sights, the group I was with took a 3 hour bus ride into the country side to a small town named Changxing. The school we were teaching at put us up in the hotel next door. It was called the Party School Hotel, but not for the reasons you might think. It wasn't, to our disappointment, a happening place. It didn't have a disco in the basement or even a bar. We couldn't drink the water and the beds were hard, but every morning at 8:00 AM, there were people streaming up the stairs to the big open meeting room on the 4th floor. This hotel hosted meetings for the local chapter of the communist party complete with sickle and hammer paintings on the walls.

The school also provided all of our meals. Some of the students went home at the end of the day, but some also stayed in the same hotel we lived in. During the first week of classes, we discovered that "breakfast" consisted of soupy rice, something similar to porridge, and meat filled dumplings. Our group consisted of ten college kids, most of whom, like myself, didn't usually eat breakfast at all. After the first week, we all stopped attending breakfast in exchange for another fifteen minutes of sleep. Well, the principal of the school, who was determined to take good care of us, found out we weren't eating and demanded to know what kind of food he could get for us that we would actually eat. We insisted that we didn't need to eat in the morning but he wouldn't hear it. We finally broke down and told him that some fruit would be nice to have in the morning. The next day, a 50 pound sack of watermelons was delivered to our hotel.

None of us knew what to do with them, had a knife to cut them, or really wanted them, so our group leader, Glen, put them in the closet in his hotel room and they were soon forgotten. Fast forward to six weeks later. It was our last day of teaching. We had all prepared skits and musical numbers (all in English) with our individual classes to perform at the end of the summer all school recital and had just returned after to the hotel after a long day of performance that were fun but exhausting. It was late and most of us were heading right to bed. Well Glen entered his room and threw open the door to his room a little to enthusiastically and it hit the door to the closet. This caused the closet door to pop open and 50 pounds of rotten watermelons to spill onto the floor.

I don't know if you've ever smelled rotten watermelon before, but it is really foul. Before long, the whole hall smelled. Being that my room was right next to Glen's at the end of the hall, we had to suffer the worst of it. Everyone else closed their doors to keep out the smell and went to bed. We were suffering, however, and finally at around midnight, Glen declared that he couldn't take it anymore and was going out to find some air freshener to at least try to mask the odor.

Now, running out for some air freshener might not seem like a big deal. But let me paint you a picture of the city we were living in and you'll begin to understand why this was not an easy endeavor. Changxing is a small city in Chinese standards. There are still around a million people living there, but this is still relatively small. Up until about 10 months before we arrived in Changxing, it had been completely closed off to foreigners. The first night we arrived, we decided to take a stroll around, all 10 of us white, college aged kids from America, to get our bearings of the city and see what was there. We started walking through the main town square, that was the size of about 4 football fields, and within about 10 minutes, we had a group of a few hundred people surrounding us, pointing, and staring. From then on, as soon as we left the school yard, we had to deal with crowds following us. I began to feel a bit like a celebrity, and I have to say, it was not fun.

We were told that many people who lived there had probably never traveled far from home their entire lives and had therefore never seen a white person. Growing up in a diverse country like we have, it was hard to imagine this, but it helped us understand why these people would stop and stare.

So here we were, leaving the hotel at midnight in search of air freshener in a town in China that didn't even have McDonalds or KFC (which every other town we visited did!). After exiting the school gaits, there was a row of small stores that sold all sorts of things, like fruit, water, various nuts and candies. We often stopped there for bottled water when we were out since we couldn't drink the tap water. Since it was so late, all but two were already closed. Inside the first store were four men sitting in a circle playing cards. We had no idea how to say "air freshener" in Mandarin and these men didn't speak English, so we mimed spraying air freshener with our hands while making a "ssssshhhhh" noise. It took a couple tried, but they finally got it. We asked them if they had any, which we did know how to say, and they of course said no.

Moving on to the next store. We did the same skit for the woman in that store and again got the same response. No air freshener. As we were leaving the store, I almost stepped on a rat the size of one of our rabbits. After screaming and demanding to go back to the hotel, Glen gave in and we started walking back. We were about to pass the first store we went in when one of the men came out and started gesturing for us to follow him. He took us past the school and around the corner to the local hospital. This hospital was gated, like most buildings in the town, with an outdoor courtyard and then the hospital entrance was inside the gate. Now I know you're imagining a hospital you've been in anywhere in this country, but it was nothing like that. It was basically one small building with only a couple rooms with some gurneys set up. There was one woman lying on a gurney moaning and she was hooked up to an IV coming out of a glass bottle. It was like something out of a movie. We stood in the entrance while the man from the store found the doctor and brought him out to us.

We tired to explain that we didn't need a doctor when he stared speaking to us in broken English. He asked us what was the matter and we went through our skit again, miming air freshener and making the sounds. After a few minutes, he understood, and wrote down "air freshener" in Chinese characters on a piece of paper. We were finally getting somewhere! We asked him where we could find some and he said he would be right back, and left the room. We stood watching the woman on the gurney moaning in pain, not really knowing what to do. The doctor returned after a few minutes and said, "I have called the police. They will come. They will help you." Panic immediately set in. This doctor had just called the police and told them who knows what and now they were coming here! My mind was screaming run! You don't want to be here when the Chinese police arrive and find out that you don't have an emergency and this doctor called them for nothing!

The doctor, sensing our panic, offered us drinks and cigarettes, and started asking us questions about where we were from, what we were doing in Changxing. We sat, still in shock, when a couple minutes later, a small van with 5 Chinese police officers came tearing into the courtyard with their lights going and sirens blazing. This was it, I thought. I'm going to end up in Chinese prison and no one will ever know what happened to me. I didn't even have my passport with me! It was back in the hotel! I had no way to prove that I was in their country legally!

The van screeched to a stop and the five police officers piled out of the van one after another like they had been practicing for this their whole lives. They ran up the stairs into the room with the woman on the gurney, still moaning in pain, and lined up in front of us as if to say, here we are! What do you require? Not knowing what else to do, I held out the piece of paper in my hand that said "air freshener" in Chinese. The police officer that seemed to be in charge took it from me, looked at it, nodded, handed it back to me, barked something in Chinese and they all turned around and piled back into the van, turned the lights and sirens back on, and tore out of the courtyard. Glen and I stood there for a moment, stunned. Had that really just happened. Glen turned to the doctor and asked where they went. Very simply, he said, "They will go. Get air freshener. Bring it here."

Five Chinese police officers were going to get us air freshener? Surely he must be mistaken. I wanted to run away. I wasn't convinced that they were going to buy us air freshener, but whatever they were doing, I knew I didn't want to be there when they got back. The doctor coaxed us back into his office and we talked some more and I began to realize there was no polite way to get out of there.

About five minutes later, the police came tearing back into the courtyard, lights and sirens blazing. All five of them piled out of the van in formation, ran back into the hospital and handed us two bottles of air freshener. They ran right back out, piled into the van and sped away. Glen and I stood there, not able to comprehend what had just happened. Had five Chinese police officers really just ran an errand for us? We didn't even have a chance to pay them back for the air freshener!

We walked back to our hotel and woke up some of our fellow teachers. This was just too good of a story to keep to ourselves. We had to share it immediately, and document our proof!

Here it is... Me, Glen and our air freshener!

Midweek Chloe

2009-05-13T08:00:00.003-04:00

Not the greatest picture in the world but it makes me laugh. That's the box our Chinese take-out came in!

Monday Bunday

2009-05-11T08:00:00.001-04:00

Wow! It's getting a little dusty around here! Life has been so crazy, I've had to neglect my blog a little bit. But don't worry, I've been keeping up with my bunny slave duties. I'm sure they would tell you I've been slacking off, but there really is no pleasing those two...

Welcome to the World Jonah Paul!

2009-04-29T13:02:00.004-04:00

Baby Jonah Paul was born Monday night at 11:55 pm to my cousin Lauren and her husband Dan. Congrats to the new family and welcome to the world Jonah! We can't wait to meet you!

Monday Sunny Bunday!

2009-04-27T14:45:00.002-04:00

It is the most beautiful day here! 85 degrees and sunny! We'll take it. It's supposed to be in the 60s and rainy for the rest of the week. But hopefully this means spring is really here... although we sometimes get snow in May here so keep your fingers crossed:)

I've got the fans on to keep the buns cool. Henry and I spent all afternoon at the dog park where there is a little stream to swim in so he's happy now! Hope you are all enjoying nice weather where you are too!

Monday Bunday

2009-04-20T13:14:00.002-04:00

Can you handle the 'tocks?!?!?

Happy (belated) Easter!

2009-04-15T19:22:00.003-04:00

We went to CT for Easter, and brought home a stomach bug. Yuck. I got it first and now A has it. Stay far, far away from the zoo right now. You don't want this, trust me.

Hope everyone had a great holiday with their Easter bunnies!