A trip to see Kate

Two weeks ago Kyle and I decided to take a road trip to see Kate in her college city. It was great to see her! Much to our surprise however we found that she had decided to go brunette! In my opinion Kate would look great no matter what her hair color, however I admit it is hard to get used to Kate's darker hair. She has always been the quintessential blond haired blue eyed girl. Her reasons for the change make sense though...as she has gotten older her natural hair color has gotten darker. Therefore the cost and time commitment of up keeping the blond hair has become more and more challenging. This will be a lot less maintenance for her. So for the tme being anyway, Kate has a new look!

Here is both the kids standing on the patio of Kate's apt. I ended up with a nasty cold on the 2nd day of our trip, and stayed in to rest while Kate and Kyle went out to lunch, bowling and to a movie. Wait a minute...is the same two kids that used to fight like cats and dogs while growing up? It's so great to see them spending time together!

Something else new at Kate's was the addition of two new pets. Kate is a big time animal lover and works at a pet store part time while attending school full time. She has had her sweet dog Lily for over a year now and we all just love her! I wasn't sure HOW I felt however, (nor was Lily!) about her two new pets....RATS named Remie and Rupert!

 It was a crack up to watch little Lily flitting around and following Remie as  she explored. Ears straight up and eyes bugged out...Lily was totally on guard with the rat!

 Funnier still was the fact that Remie could have cared less about  Lily's little barks and panting as she nervously followed her around and came face to face with her! That is one brave rat! The truth is that Lily wouldn't hurt a fly.

Here is Kyle holding Remie and Kate holding the much smaller and younger Rupert. Remie and her cage with all the accessories came to her free when a customer walked into the pet store and donated the rat and cage back after her daughter failed to take proper care of Remie. (when this happens  any of the employees are welcome to provide a home to the pet)  Kate had a rat in her Sophomore year of high school named Sydney that she adored and who sadly died of a a respiratory infection. After spending some time holding and playing with Remie in the store, Kate found her to have a similar personality to Sydneys so she took her home! A few weeks later while at work she went back to the baby rat cage to get a "feeder" rat for one of their boa constrictor customers. Kate said she picked the little rat out of the cage and she said she was sure the little guy was staring at her with a look that said "save me!". Kate didn't have the heart to sell this feeder rat to the snake owner, so she "hid" him with the intent of paying for him later and taking him home as a playmate for Remie! So that is how Rupert came into the picture. Since then Kate has asked one of her co workers to please go get and sell the feeder rats to the snake customers as she just doesn't have the heart to do it herself!

The reality is that it won't be long before Remie and Rupert multiply and Kate has baby rats on her hands to deal with. Luckily for her, her boss has multiple rats and has promised to take any and all babies from her to raise and or sell as pets. (Kyle has first dibs on a baby rat for his own pet)

Truthfully rats are very smart and fun pets. The tails are the only thing that really creeps me out and I never hold them. Kate and Kyle enjoy them though! I don't mind Kyle having a rat down the road as long as he cleans the cage weekly and keeps the cage locked! I don't want any escape artists!

While visiting Kate, Kyle had the opportunity to see his good friends Wyatt and Steven who were on their Spring break. I got to spend quality time with my friends in the city as well. It was nice to get away!