Reunions and Goodbyes

It's amazing to see how things have changed for us in just a few short months. With the onset of the pandemic back in March, things were definitely "not normal" for several weeks. We were thankfully able to remain open and stay healthy the past few months, but not all of our cubs were able to come since parents were heeding the stay at home order.

Several of our cubs went down to a part-time status for the summer and a couple of our cubs have given their notice since they will be heading off to preschool in the fall. Triceratops was our only cub that we were unable to say goodbye to because of COVID. His parents have been working at home this whole time and kept him home with his older siblings. We thought he would return over the summer, but their jobs have not yet transitioned back into the office. We will miss our little superhero friend and the sweet little way he would move his head from left to right.... not to mention his great, belly laugh too!

Triceratops our little Superhero buddy!

We will also miss Piglet's belly laugh!!! We have had her since she was eight months old, but her last day was June 2nd as she headed off to Florida for the summer to be with her dad before attending preschool in August. We were very blessed to have some quality time with her on her last day here. My kids all got some special moments with her to say their goodbyes. Keegaroo will especially miss her since they shared a special bond. We will always remember the way she was creative in play and decided that the mustard bottle in the refrigerator was a "baby". She kept having Keegaroo go check on Baby Mustard to see if it was okay.  Her vivid imagination kept us hopping each day as she played doctor, mamas and babies with Owlette, or buckling up to go to "Costo". We hope to stay in touch and have visits with her when we can.

 Piglet                                                     "Baby Mustard"

 Last Fall with Keegaroo                                   Last day cuddles

Saying Goodbye!

Platypus was with us for a few days the end of May while her mom packed up her classroom for the year. She's a bit bigger since the last time we saw her in March. She's off again for the summer months, but should be back in August depending on what the school situation looks like by then.

 

Platypus

 

Platypus and Rabbit

Iguana also was staying home for quite some time with his mom. He lives very close by, so we would have a few visits with him while Rabbit was doing her driving lessons around the neighborhood. He was so excited to see us and was finally able to return to care last week. He's coming part-time over the summer and hopefully will return full-time if schools open back up. We were thrilled to find out that his mom is having a baby in January, so we are hoping to have a new baby cub next summer if things all work out.  We've learned though that things can happen unexpectedly at an time, so we are learning to take things a day at a time.

 Iguana

Tortoise, Owlette, and Seahorse have been with us pretty regularly and little Swan has picked up some extra days this summer. Also joining us for the summer is Ladybug since her parents have returned to work in the recent weeks.

  Ladybug                                                    Sea Horse

Swan

Owlette

Tortoise

 Cooling off on a hot day!

All the kids with Puppy, Rabbit, and K-Bird

Last but not least we have a new little cub, Red Panda. She joined our cub family on June 11th and will be coming three days a week. We decided her touch of red hair and need for continuous snuggles are quite fitting with her cub name. She's been a bit fussy on her first few days day while trying to adjust to her new surroundings, but she's getting used to us the more often she comes.. We look forward to getting to know her personality more as she grows, but so far we love her little wavesd, smiles, and the way she clicks her tongue. We love her already and enjoy having her here.

Sweet little Red Panda

Now.... let's see what the last half of the year brings our way....

Hamster Heads Home

We said farewell to Hamster on August 21st. His mamma is having another baby boy in October, and she will be staying at home with them. We have enjoyed his time here and watched him grow from a quiet, content 13-month-old to an expressive, active 20-month-old. He is definitely approaching the two-year-old stage and shows lots of determination. We will treasure and miss his smile and the way Keegaroo could randomly make him laugh. My kids and all our cubs adored him, especially Bullfrog. They were good buddies and loved riding cars together around the backyard. They also shared a common love for "Thomas the Tank Engine" and would excitedly exclaim "Choo, Choo" and bounce back and forth together on the couch while the beginning song played. Hopefully, we will visit with him soon and also meet his new baby brother. Here are some pictures to enjoy from his final days with us.

Seasons Change (Quickly)

We have been wanting to update the blog for quite some time now, but time just got away from us once again. We've had lots of fun interacting with our cubs the past few months, and they have kept us super busy. We are thankful that spring finally seems to be right around the corner, and we have been taking advantage of the opportunity to get outside on the recent warmer days.

 

 

It seems like just a short time ago that we welcomed Flamingo and Penguin into our home. Well, two weeks ago we found out that they will be moving out of state because of a new job offer that their dad received. April 26th was their last day, and we had an enjoyable time laughing and playing with them. Wish we could have updated the blog a lot sooner, but here are some of the highlights that we will remember in having the girls in our home.

One of Flamingo's favorite things to do was play Bowling games with us on the Wii. She would get super competitive with each of us, and especially loved getting strikes. She also loved to play fashion puzzles, playdoh, outside, and have craft time, especially when Puppy came over. We especially enjoyed making snowmen and kites to decorate our door. Most importatly, she was an awesome helper with the little kids and very eager to serve. She would often jump to her feet to help out before being asked and was very perceptive in anticipating other people's needs around her. I'm sure Meerkat will miss his playmate and Otter will miss giving his many hugs and kisses away.

 

 

On their final day, Flamingo came with her long, curly hair down instead of in the usual braids. It was fun to watch her hair free-flow and wave around as she was super active in laughing, helping, singing, walking on tiptoe, and trying to take down the ever-strong Keegaroo in a final afternoon show down. She also showed off her special ring that her imaginary husband Rihad gave her.

Penguin will be dearly remembered as well. She LOVED snack time and often expressed her need by saying "uh, uh" and pointing to the snack stash. She would often walk around with her cheerio cup and leave a little trail behind her. She was very good at smearing yogurt all over the place at lunch time and had an infectious laugh. Her favorite thing to do, aside from snack time, was to give sweet little kisses to Wallaby on a regular basis. We love how she was just learning new words like "Yesh", "Acesh", and "Baby". Let's not forget the ever famous "Burrrrr", which is how she asked for her bottle.

We will be working on getting a Season 3 slideshow put together soon in order to capture some of the fun times we've had the girls and guys, but in the meantime we hope you enjoy the pictures we've posted of their last few days with us. We are so thankful that Flamingo and Penguin were in our home for this season and that they have joined our lasting legacy of lovable little ones! Lots of love and blessings to you and your family as you venture on a new journey!

 

 

Recent Reunions

We had the wonderful opportunity to visit with Brown Bear and his family recently. He has grown up so much, but once again we enjoyed hearing him laugh and show off his unique personality.

 

Also, Turtle and Monkey showed up one day to pick up Rabbit for a special dance that they were going to together. We took advantage of the opportunity and snapped a quick shot of my kids, the current cubs and two of our former cubs all together. It was a pretty special moment on a very sunny day.

Welcome, Baby Wallaby!

After 6 weeks of waiting, October 4th was a very special day. We had the privilege of welcoming Baby Wallaby into our care. He was born in August, and we were chosen to be his caretaker. We are very blessed to have him and his family join our daily life in the den.

One of the things we enjoyed the most was being involved in Wallaby's life even before he was born. We counted down the days excitedly until his arrival, and we were thrilled to get a picture of newborn Wallaby the day he was born. We also met him in person a week before he started care and bonded with him right away.

Wallaby is very little, has big expressive eyes, adorable dimples, and loves to be in a front pack. Thus, we felt it very fitting that we chose an animal name with a pouch! The name Wallaby seems to fit him just right in my honest opinion. He is a very good baby, and we are enjoying his cuddles and sweet baby smell.

Otter's impression of the baby has been to continually point at him and say "baby" and then nod his head up and down knowing that he's communicating at deep levels with us. Kitten has noticed the baby, but is too preoccupied with other things to pay attention.  Meerkat, on the other hand, has had a bit of a different reaction. Let's just say he's a bit jealous, and we've had to give him lots of extra TLC.

The first day we cared for Wallaby, I was holding both Meerkat and the baby in the rocking chair. Out of the blue, Meerkat placed his hand on the baby and said "shoo, baby". He tends to need "Miss Kanna" a bit more these days, and I often end up with Meerkat and Wallaby in my arms at the same time. Recently Meerkat has warmed up to Wallaby and now insists that he "hold, baby! hold, baby!" with my help.

Rabbit has been wonderful in helping me care for Baby Wallaby. She insisted on doing most of the bottle feedings the first few days and also gave K-Bird a time limit when she asked to hold him. Her excitement has calmed down a bit since then and now K-Bird, Rabbit, and Kangaroo are each enjoying their special moments of holding Baby Wallaby. He's definitely a keeper in our home, and we are very thankful for the opportunity to care for this new little blessing.