Kitties Ride

Happy Friday! Happy weekend! After all the daring adventures of the past few weeks, I was looking forward to a nice quiet week so I could recharge my kitty batteries. I was lounging on the deck with a cool glass of lemonade when Bobbi stopped by. She sat down next to me and asked what grand event was in the works. I told her I was taking the week off, and she nodded in agreement. She told me that she and all our friends appreciate all I do for them. How sweet! It’s always nice to know you’re appreciated!
Bobbi and I just lazed around sipping our lemonade and chatting about all the fun things we’ve been doing lately, when along came Skippy and Hammy. They had decided to drop in and surprise Bobbi. She was so excited! She told me not to worry, she would entertain her guests. I told her that I wouldn’t mind throwing together some chunky peanut butter on crackers – the crustless bread is only for special occassions – but I would have to go to the grocery store for more peanut butter. The squirrel contingent offered to accompany me to the store. Everything is more fun with company, so I gladly accepted their offer.
It was a nice day, so we decided to leave my poor brother alone and walk down to the grocery store which was not far away. I grabbed my mother’s magic plastic card and we headed out. We picked up more friends as we walked along, Malcolm and Rocky were busy debating the pros and cons of original recipe versus extra crispy. They were surprised to see me leading a parade of squirrels down the street. I invited them to come along with us, pointing out to Malcolm he could use a nice long walk. One can’t eat buckets of chicken and stay healthy without doing lots of exercise. Malcolm rolled his eyes at me, but when he heard we were going to the grocery store, he fell in with the rest of us.
When we came to the big highway, we were careful not to wander into the street. As we walked along we made a list of what we needed from the store. I let everyone pick one special thing for themselves. Bobbi wanted some pistachio nuts, Hammy wanted pecans, Skippy had a hankering for hazelnuts, I was going to grab one bag of every kind of the Frisky’s Party Mixes, Rocky wanted a fresh tuna, and Malcolm wanted a whole roaster chicken. We were all getting hungry just thinking about all those delectable delicacies!
As we turned off the highway toward the little strip shopping center, a splash of color and lights hit us! Wow! What was going on?!?!??! In the big parking lot and open field next to the shopping center someone had set up a carnival complete with rides, games and FOOD!
We all looked at each other, paused a few seconds, then ran as fast as we could toward the carnival. Much to our delight, Mom’s magic plastic card worked at carnivals too! As we were trying to decide which ride to go on first – we thought the food should wait until later, much to Malcolm’s chagrin – we met three of our dear ferret friends, Brutis, Jibbers and Cami. They had seen the pretty lights and had come to enjoy the carnival. I invited them to join our ever growing party and they were happy to have more friends with whom to go on rides.
We thought we’d start out slow and go on the teacups. Malcolm refused to go on such a sissy ride. Rocky, being the gentleman that he is, agreed to accompany me into the teacup of my choice. Bobbi’s escorts were equally gallant and did not hesitate to climb aboard with her.





Brutis said he wasn’t much for spinning around, so I asked him if he would keep an eye on Malcolm for me and keep him away from the food until we were finished going on rides. He was very sweet and agreed to do so.
The ride started and Rocky began turning the metal wheel that makes it spin. Wheeee! I had to hold on to my hat! The more I yowled the faster Rocky made it spin. We both started laughing so hard neither one of us could turn the wheel. That gave me the chance to see how my friends were doing. Cami and Jibbers were turning the wheel just as fast as they could. They were going so fast they were becoming a blur of fur and hats. I could hear them chirping with glee as were my squirrel friends on the other side of me. You know Hammy and Skippy didn’t want to be outdone, so they turned that wheel with all their might. I do believe both the ferrets and squirrels maxed out those teacups!
When the ride ended we all spilled out of our teacups. It took a minute or two for the world to stop spinning. We looked like a pack of drunkards the way we were weaving when we walked! We sat down for a minute to get our bearings and pick our next ride.
There was a yellow submarine ride that looked interesting. I had to assure Rocky that there was no water involved – it just looked like a submarine, it wasn’t actually an underwater vessel. This time Cami and Bobbi volunteered to look after Malcolm who didn’t want to ride on anything so yellow. Boy that cat has some hang ups!!





We buckled ourselves in and then it started. It went round and round, faster and faster – I was thankful I had not eaten anything yet! We all screeched every time it swung down. It was fun.
Despite all the spinning and swinging around we were getting hungry and decided we would go on just one more ride and all of us would go on it. Since Malcolm hadn’t gone on any rides yet, we let him pick what he wanted to go on. He picked the roller coaster. Not the big scary one but the kiddy one – he thought it was a “kitty” roller coaster. That was fine by me – I didn’t want to go on the big one!
We all climbed aboard except for Cami. She said she was still spinning from the teacups. That worked out great because we needed someone to hold our hats. We were afraid that they might blow off and get dirty, so we took them off. The ride started slowly and as it got going it was really loud and bumpy. For all the adventurous things I’ve done you would have thought this would have been tame, - but it was scary. I did all the appropriate roller coaster things you’re supposed to do. When we went down a hill I put my paws up in the air and just screamed. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!





When the ride was over I noticed Malcolm looked a little shaky. I asked him if he was feeling okay. He mumbled something about being hungry and stalked off to find food. The rest of us were also hungry so we feasted on corn dogs, peanuts and giant turkey legs. Once our bellies were full and we no longer needed to go to the grocery store, we headed back home. We didn’t want to leave without Malcolm so we split up to try to find him.
I heard Skippy call from the other side of the carnival and I ran over to find Malcolm in all his glory.





He was having a nutritious meal of funnel cake and fried oreos! He was washing it all down with a humongous bucket – yes, bucket – of Kool Aid. All I could think was, boy was he going to be sick tonight!!
It felt good to walk off some of our dinner. We ended up having quite the activity to amuse our guests! We were glad I had run out of peanut butter or we would never have known about the carnival. See, you never know what the day has in store for you!
Have a good weekend and week, my friends. I hope you find some unexpected fun!

Love & licks,
Josie