Pet Pick-Up

On the way home from our trip, we made a stop by Maga's house to meet the little friends she secured for us. The kids were pretty excited to meet the little pigs--only two though, not three :) At least we're hoping that's all we'll find in the cage in the coming months (we're just kind of trusting the former owners that they are indeed both boys).

For posterity, I'll have to tell the story of how these two little fellows joined our zoo. In April, my mom texted and said, "I found you two hamsters and they'll be here waiting for you when you visit." Pictures followed--one of the "dad" of the hamsters--he was as long as the lap he was sitting on. I texted back, "That's the biggest hamster I've ever seen!! Are you sure it's not a guinea pig?"

"Oh wait, let me check . . ." and later, "Yes, guinea pigs."

I said, "We would love to have a guinea pig, but we don't have room in this house. They need like 7 foot long cages and we don't have room for 7 foot long cages. No pigs for us, please."

A week or so goes by, and I get a texted picture, "Got your guinea pig--his name is Pickle. The lady was so nice I couldn't say no."

Well, we decided Pickle would just have to live indefinitely at Maga's house, since we still had the same size constraints as before, here at The Manor. However, as the kids saw pictures of him and we heard more good things about guinea pig ownership . . . we caved and set a pick-up date. Fast forward a week or two:

"Your brother-in-law found more free guinea pigs . . . they are herd animals you know . . ." This was while Buck was doing building check on a holiday weekend. As we drove home, I mentioned this new development to him, and his response was, "Sure--why, not?"

So our animal kingdom expanded for Pickle--who became Glorfindel Pickle--who became Nutterbutter, and for Legolas who became and stayed Oreo. They are pretty fun little pets, and get along well. They are very messy babies though!! Graysen built them a cardboard "Pigloo." When they run they kick up all the stuff in the bottom of their container and it flies all over the laundry room! So, today Graysen designed a cardboard wall on the back of the tub to see if we can contain their excitement in that way :)



They make so many different noises and mostly sound like Wookies or little Ewoks when they're rumbling around. They also sit very still when they're held, so that makes them nice to hang out with. They don't really poop on us as much as other people said theirs do, but it has happened--and Buck got peed on. That was at the very beginning though, so I think we're cool now :)

Oh, and when we returned home from our trip we had exactly enough time to unload the little guys and our van before hopping in the other (hot) van and catching the kids' hockey game. It was blazing out there! We decided this was another poor parenting choice, though they wanted to go. Graysen made it through half a period as goalie, then requested to sit out the rest of the game. None of the kids played with much energy, and this ended up being their only loss of the season. We were all ready for cool air and comfy beds when we returned home to try to get everyone on the mend!