Cat Calling in Livermore

Today we took a break from the normal routine at Grandpa and Grandma Salvatore's (you know - throwing toys, running in circles, rearranging the fridge magnets, trying to change the channel on the tv, stealing Grandpa's glasses, etc.) and went for a walk outside.  Grandma had mentioned to me that she wished the kids brought shoes with them so she could take them out and "show them off", so the past few weeks I've been sure to dress them in "going out" clothes and bring their shoes.  Things haven't worked out for them to actually go out until today, though.

Caroline climbed the little step up to the landing in the living room (a definite no-no in Grandma's book) and ran to the door, so I suggested we go out.  She already had her shoes on, so she and Grandma ventured out first while Daddy and I put shoes on the boys.  I thought we were going to go play on the little patch of lawn in front of the house, but when we made it outside, we saw that Caroline had Grandma's hand and was leading her down the sidewalk, so we followed.  The Salvatores live on a quiet cul de sac, so I didn't worry like I would if they were venturing down the hill on the 4-lane divided street my parents live on.

I held Daniel's hand and Daddy had Max and we walked along to the corner, making sure to stop and check out every car or truck in each of the driveways we passed.  At the corner, we found a cat walking along.  Grandma told us it was Rocky - one of the neighborhood cats they feed in the garage - so we didn't worry much when the kids went up to pet him.  It turns out it wasn't Rocky - Grandpa denied knowledge of this cat at all, but he was still pretty friendly and followed us all the way back to the house.  Caroline pet him a few times, and he didn't hiss much when Daniel grabbed his tail.  Max got a little almost nip (he pulled his hand back quickly enough to just get a whisker graze) when he went over to pat him as he stretched out in the sun, and that was the worst of it.

The best part was that Caroline would try to coax the faux-Rocky over to us by calling to him in her best cat call: "NOW!  NEE-OW!"  It was so good, once or twice I thought it was the cat calling back!

Caroline stalks "Rocky"

Caroline and Daniel close in on him (he's in the shadow) while Max and Grandma head home

Getting closer

CONTACT!

Max was a little afraid at first, but not our little daredevil!

At one point, Max left us in his dust

Look how far ahead we were by the time I caught up with him!

Those of you with very good eyes will notice in that last photo that Caroline is trying to drag Daddy into the street.  Letting the Salvateenies roam free out of doors is a somewhat terrifying endeavor.  We tried to get them to just play on the lawn, but they wanted to run on the sidewalk.  Grandma explained it was because they are "city kids" and didn't like grass.  I don't know if that's true, but they don't play on grass that often, so who knows... once we get grass put in the back yard, we'll have to see how they feel about it.  (Speaking of which, if you're free next week and want to help my brother do some yard work, let him know!)