Meet James.

Some Bunny to Love

National Adopt a Shelter Pet Day is today April 30, 2019. What a perfect day for us to share the newest little member of our family…James.

Let us back up a little bit to see how we got here. About a month before Easter, the Easter Bunny left our family a note asking a BIG question. The Easter bunny thought perhaps a rabbit would be a great pet for our family. He had a cousin looking for a fun family to live with but only if we all felt up to adding another pet to our family again. He knew our beloved family dog passed away almost a year ago and that we have been taking our time getting over him being gone. If we were, in fact, ready to add another furry family member he knew just the guy who would fit into our crew.

The kiddos were quick to jump on board with the idea. We all (mostly Claire) watched countless YouTube videos on pet rabbits. We had to learn what they eat, the bedding they like, type of crate they would need, basically how to care for them in general. After a couple of dinner time discussions, we decided we would write the Easter Bunny back and say YES!!

I took the kiddos to the Olympic Peninsula Humane Society. We spent some time petting the cats (Henry would have taken home every one), feeding the dogs treats and of course held a couple of bunnies.

Claire and Henry noticed some rats and begged to bring them home for Dad as a fun surprise when he got home from work. Levi has a phobia of rats and mice so I had to tell them that while it would be a funny joke, it would probably not be well received.

Claire was a natural with the bunnies. She snuggled one bunny right in and was in heaven until the moment it jumped out of her hands and left a scratch just barely visible to the naked eye. At that point, the questioning of actually getting a pet bunny began all over again.

However, by the time we got home Claire had forgotten about the scratch and could only talk about how sweet Leon, the bunny was. She found a new YouTube video that talked all about caring for your new bunny and how to make it feel at home. She went to the recycling bin and started pulling out “supplies” so that when the Easter Bunny dropped his cousin off he would feel at home.

The night before Easter the kids and I went to a friends birthday party while Levi had to go into “work” for a bit. While we were partying it up Levi was at the Humane Society picking out a bunny. They had 5 bunnies in total. Levi decided that the smaller black and white bunny who was missing some fur on the back of his neck would be a perfect fit for our family.

Easter morning Claire was wide awake and in our room at 6 am, “Do you think we have a rabbit?” I told Claire that she and Levi could go wake up Henry and I would go and scope it out. Henry was up like a rocket and was very excited to see if the Easter Bunny had left him some chocolate. I let the bunny out of his cage and set him near their Easter Baskets just to add to the excitement.

I called the kiddos from the living room and told them that the Easter Bunny had indeed visited our house. Their little excited squeals almost made me forget that we were awake at 6 am on Sunday. We spent the better part of the morning learning more about rabbits and letting the kids take turns holding him.

Claire again suffered a very small scratch from a jumping bunny so she had to quickly change out of her pajamas and into a sweatshirt, jeans, and fingerless gloves to protect against the “razor-sharp” claws of the bunny.

Picking out the perfect name was a task that Claire took extremely serious. Levi and I threw out some suggestions but they all went over like a lead balloon with Claire. Names like Snowball, Oreo, and Cotton were not to her liking and were quickly dismissed without a second thought. Out of nowhere, she decided that he would be named James. Claire still is not sure how or why she decided on the name James other than “I like that name”. After the bunny was officially named, Claire set her sights on building an elaborate “hidey house” that James could crawl into and feel safe. Levi and I had to stifle her dreams only slightly in order to scale back her design to something more manageable. Even though we did not use 4 large moving boxes to create a bunny hotel she still enjoyed the project.

A little over one week has passed since James joined our family. Henry still checks on him first thing when he wakes up. Claire has been doing a great job cleaning his cage and giving him food and clean water daily.

The kids and I spent yesterday afternoon putting together James new hutch once it arrived and they couldn’t be more proud of how it turned out. James seems to like it too and really likes to hop around and nibble on the fresh green grass. The kids like to watch him eat and think its funny when he yawns or when he stands up on his hind legs to get a little better view of the world.

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Claire is already asking what the next holiday where you receive gifts is as she has found a stroller that would be “perfect” to strap James in and take him out for walks around the neighborhood. Don’t worry James, we won’t be letting you hop in any strollers anytime soon but more than likely you will be getting a one of a kind Claire made bunny mansion in the near future.