Brian and I never expected to own a cat. Not that we dislike cats. It's just that we both love dogs, we grew up in families that had dogs, and here is the kicker...we are both (mildly) allergic to cats. We had happily owned a dog until a few weeks ago. Annie, our sweet golden retriever mix, was a wonderful dog for us. However, when Daniel was about nine months old he tested positive for a dog allergy. No problem. We built a fence around the back yard, and Annie became an outdoor dog. Then, Daniel grew older and came to love Annie too, and it was virtually impossible to keep him from petting, cuddling, laying on, and even riding Annie. At first Daniel's reactions were fairly mild...a little itching, a few hives. We always washed him thoroughly after he had been around Annie and figured no harm was being done. But, then his reactions got worse...lots and lots of hives, swollen eyes, continual itchy nose. So, Brian and I made the very difficult decision to give Annie to my parents. We still see her, and Annie is very happy living in the country. We adjusted to being a petless (except for the fish) family. After the initial sadness, it was kind of a relief.
Then along came Bob.
One morning, we found this pretty black and white cat peering in the window. He lived under our deck for days. He was such a sweet, gentle cat, and we quickly began petting him and eventually, feeding him. And then one evening Brian and Daniel came inside, and I found out they had named the cat. Bob. Very fitting since this guy has a short tail, like a bobcat. So, he has pretty much become part of the family. He lives under the deck. We feed him twice a day. And he endures such things as this...
And this....
And even this...
He has never clawed Daniel, never hissed at Daniel, nothing. He even follows Daniel around the yard. Daniel calls him, "Come, Bob! Come!" And by golly, Bob comes. We would consider this a happily ever after story, but yesterday Daniel got hives after holding Bob. Ugh. Can he seriously be allergic to cats too? Stay tuned for more updates on Bob!
Good bye, home!
Daniel with his first surprise bag. We bought a few small goodies and separated them into different sacks for him to open during the trip. I think his favorite surprises were the Cars fruit snacks and the crocodile dentist game.
We stopped for a picnic lunch at Gage park in Topeka.
Daniel and me playing on the caboose.
We made it to Omaha! Here we are at the Spaghetti Works in the Old Market District. Daniel ate his whole entire spaghetti meal. Perhaps it will make up for the fact that he ate almost no lunch! We came back to our hotel and went swimming for awhile, but the water was so cold! And now, it is pouring rain outside. I hope it stops tomorrow when we have our trip to the zoo planned! 
