Annnd hopefully I made it home from vacation and was able to get some pictures of the kittens to post here. If you’re seeing this, for some reason I either didn’t make it home, or I made it home so late that all I could do was fall into bed.
I am! I’m home! I got home late yesterday afternoon after two flights that could not have been easier. Did I mention I was going to Florida? I thought I had, but people seemed surprised that I was in their area after I’d left, so I guess I didn’t. I visited with my parents in Titusville, Florida (flew in and out of Orlando), which was really, really nice. I’ve never been to that area of the state.
There will be pics of THIS vacation next week – probably far fewer than you’d expect, because like a complete dummy I talked myself out of taking the camera with me and had to depend on my phone to do the job. So, we’ll see how THAT turned out. (I still managed to take nearly 1,000 pictures, so.)
The rest of the New Orleans vacation pics are in the next section.
I went and hung out with Nola and the babies as soon as I got home, and could not BELIEVE how much those babies have grown. They actually look like kittens now! Tiny drunk kittens. I weighed them and their weights are:
Andouille: 13.09 oz
Roux: 12.45 oz
Praline: 13.9 oz
Beignet: 12.5 oz
If you’d like to see their weight chart, you can go to their page (clicking on any of their pictures in the sidebar will also take you there) to check it out.
Look at the ears, slowwwly moving upward! (I believe this is Praline.)
“Mama, Mama, Mama, ::smack!:: Mama, I looove youuuu.”
Roux also loves her mama.
Praline, keeping an eye on things.
Andouille came right on over to me and wasn’t sure what he thought about being petted… but then he climbed into my lap for a moment, so apparently it wasn’t too bad an experience.
Praline certainly does like to hang out on her mama’s tail.
The whole family. As you can see, they remained out of the crate the entire time I was gone. As far as I can tell, the kittens haven’t wandered too far from home base. But they did do a little exploring…
“This place is cool! I wish we lived in a place like this!”
The most surprising thing to happen as I sat there was that Andouille wandered by me, and discovered…
His Mama’s plate of food! That boy is 17 days old (well, 18 days old today, but that was yesterday) and he was trying very hard to eat that food. After a little while, he gave up and wandered away. I have never seen such a thing. That boy is a genius.
I guess this weekend I’ll put the whole family in the bathroom so I can clean the foster room and put down washable pee pads. If that boy is trying to eat on his own (though of course it could just be a fluke), using the litter box might not be far behind. Better to be prepared!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
New Orleans: Global Wildlife Center.
The last of the pictures we took at the Global Wildlife Center.
Fenced-off pond area.
Turtles and… kangaroos!
Kangaroos rolling around in the sun like cats.
We didn’t get the full tour because we showed up so late (THANKS, SIRI), but I expect the tour doesn’t involve hands-on experience with the kangaroos.
I bet if you offered these guys some feed in a cup, they’d take the whole cup and then slap you. Or punch you. And you’d totally deserve it.
Ears of Annoyance.
“You is super annoying, lady.”
“Can’t I get one moment of privacy, lady?”
Hey! Hey! GUESS WHAT?
Zebra butt!
We also didn’t see zebras on our tour – our driver/guide Danielle told us something about zebras, but I can’t remember exactly what. I think that they’re mean and so the center doesn’t let you feed them? Or something? My brain is a sieve. Anyway, we saw these guys on the way out.
Another shot on the way out.
If you’re anywhere near Folsom, it is absolutely worth driving a few hours to take the tour, it was really cool and everyone working there was very friendly and helpful. Two thumbs up!
We stopped at the Cranky Corner General Store for a selfie. This is what happens when you let the old folks take a selfie.
On the way to Folsom, we went up Rt 10, which only takes you over a small part of Lake Pontchartrain. On the way back – since I have no bridge phobia and I was driving and Debbie didn’t try to stop me – we took the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, which is over 20 miles long.
It was very neat to look out and see no land at all. The drive went a lot faster than I expected.
Some (but by no means all) of the food we ate in New Orleans.
Caprese salad. Not particularly New Orleans-y, but BOY was it good! We ate it along with…
A Muffuletta. Both the caprese salad and the muffuletta came from Frank’s Restaurant in the French Quarter. We wanted a light lunch, so split the muffuletta and salad, and it was so good that before we left to go back to the hotel, we got another of each to have for dinner.
Pralines and mini King Cakes. Way too good.
And that was my trip to New Orleans. There was a lot we didn’t do that we wanted to (plantation tours, graveyard tours, ghost walks, airboat tours), but when Monday came around we just totally crashed. I guess that means we’ll just have to go back again one day. I want to!
Oh, and speaking of food. One evening, Debbie said “I want ice cream. Where’s the Baskin Robbins?” We looked and found that it was only about a ten minute drive away.
“But I’m wearing my pajamas,” I objected.
“So? I’m wearing my pajamas,” Debbie countered.
“I don’t want to put a bra on,” I said.
“I’m not wearing a bra,” Debbie said.
So we took our bra-less, pajama-wearing selves down to the car and headed for Baskin Robbins. We got on I-10, which (to my eyes, at least) is a big, scary interstate highway. I was in the left lane and needed to get into the right, and there was a lot of traffic, so I put on my signal.
“Why is that guy flashing his lights?” Debbie asked, pointing to a car behind us and to the right.
“Oh! I think he’s telling me I have room to get over!” I checked, and indeed I did have room. I slid over. “That was really nice of him!”
“Why is he still flashing his lights?”
“Are we about to get carjacked?”
“I’m not stopping!”
And then I realized.
“My lights aren’t on.” Duh.
No one in Baskin Robbins gave a second glance to the old ladies in their pajamas, and that ice cream was really really good.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Oh. You’re home. Joy.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Previously
2016: This looks like some kind of clothing ad for disaffected youths.
2015: “What you doin’, weird lady?”
2014: Orlando was all “I NEEDS CLEANIN’, PLEASE,” and Tricki gave him a lick or two.
2013: No entry.
2012: “Hmmm…. Nah. If I drink that much coffee, I’ll be up ALL night.”
2011: Rooster stomping over to see WHAT in TARNATION is going on.
2010: Jake sniffs Bolitar.
2009: “THIS ARE MY KITTY CONDO YOU STAY AWAY!”
2008: Note that Momma Kitty is kneading the air, and in the background, the little gray tabby’s got her paws in the air like she just don’t care.
2007: No entry.
2006: No entry.
2005: No entry.