Weekend recap (Father of the Year and new member of the family!)

Highlights from this past weekend (which was packed, as usual):

1. The boys went to the zoo, to music class and to their twin cousins' birthday party. Fun, fun, fun!
2. Lester got deemed "Father of the Year" at the zoo.
3. The Davis family adopted a cat.

Here's the breakdown:

I had to go to a work session from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. for the charter school of which I'm on the board.
Saturday was the same day as the member picnic at the Maryland Zoo. I was sad that the kids wouldn't get to go because there was no way Lester was going to take all three kids by himself to the zoo, right? WRONG. Lester gamely wore Clair in an Ergo and pushed the boys in the double stroller, braving the heat and the crowds to make sure the kids got to go to the zoo.

So while I was doing this:

Writing policy on a beautiful day while my children are at the zoo without me.

The kids were getting to do this:

Giraffes!

Elephants!

Junk food! (Sidenote: Why doesn't Cary know how to eat a hot dog yet?)

I was very impressed with my can-do husband, let me tell you. But not half as impressed, apparently, as ALL THE PEOPLE at the zoo. Lester said he was like a local celebrity, walking around the zoo with twin toddlers and an infant in a carrier. No less than TWO DOZEN people stopped him to marvel at and compliment him, and ooooh and ahhhh over the sight of a man with all of his children! What a concept!

Listen, I was proud of him, too. Taking three small children out by yourself is no small feat. I don't take that lightly. But I know, beyond the shadow of a doubt, if any woman in all of America took all three of her children out somewhere, she'd barely even register with most folks, save a couple people who might say, "Boy, you've sure got your hands full, don'tya?"

Lester thought the whole thing was incredibly funny. He said if ever he needs an ego-boost, he's going to take the kids to the zoo again. We both had a good laugh at that.

And in other news,  I went to the local shelter intending to select a cute, furry little kitten for us to adopt and instead developed the biggest soft spot for a 3-year-old, scruffy old cat who'd been dumped by her owners. Among her many flaws:

• She was pregnant when she came to the shelter, so they had to abort the pregnancy. She seemed a little sad to me.
• She had been recovering from surgery, so wasn't really eating much, making her quite thin. Little bony thing!
• She's sneezy (Poor thing caught a cold in the shelter).
• She's dishwater brown and scraggly. Basically, she looks like an alley cat.

I'm not one of those people who goes around rescuing strays off the street. But being introduced to this poor, sad kitty made me want to bring her home and love on her and fatten her up.

And so now we have a new member of the family, Sara.

Doesn't she look so sad??? 

Originally, we thought we'd try to let the boys name the cat we chose, but I decided not to rename her, since she'd been through enough change.

Since she's been home, she's mostly been hiding in the basement. Everyone at the shelter says we got the sweetest cat ever, and so far, she does seem quite sweet, if a bit shy. Cary is fascinated by her; Dean is a little afraid of her. Every time Sara ventures upstairs, she gets freaked out by the boys' 2-year-old noise level, and runs away. So I'd say we have a ways to go before we're all one big, happy family.

But I hope she likes it at our little house. Yes it's loud. Yes, it's chaotic. No, we have no idea what we're doing. But we are very good at loving, little Sara, so I think, soon enough, you'll feel right at home.