Bye Bye Birdies!!!

Earlier this year, I posted a picture of a new little nest with four eggs inside. Isabel LOVES birds...she has a mild obsession with them (seriously, you can ask anyone that knows her well and her love of birds is one of the firtst things they would tell you about her). So, I was really excited that she would get the chance to see another nest grow. Unfortunately, that nest didn't work out. But a few weeks later, a new nest was built in our playset and the excitement returned to our household! Isabel checked those eggs often (but, only when the momma left to find food) and was really disappointed when we left for vacation before they had hatched. She was convinced (and secretly, so was I) that they would all hatch while we were gone and she would miss it. So, when we pulled into the driveway from our trip at 7:30pm with a storm blowing in, she jumped out of the truck and made a mad dash across the yard to check her birds. To her delight, the eggs were in the process of hatching. There were three fresh babies in the nest and one just emerging from the last egg. So, she got to watch one of them hatch!!! Immediately, the birds responded to Isabel...whenever the mother left for food, she would climb up to talk to them. She thought it was hilarious that the birds would try to eat her worm-like finger when they were only a day old (no, they never actually touched her finger...I told her that they had to have real feathers before she could touch them). Isabel is a pretty tiny kid, and these little birds make her hand look giant!!!:
The next day, the mother had downsized the nest to two babies...isn't it amazing how nature takes care of situations??? Within a couple of short days, the birds had tripled in size and started to grow real feathers...UGLY!!!:About a week later, most of their feathers had filled in. They were looking less like creepy creatures and more like birds:It was around this time that I noticed that the nest was infested with bird mites. I read conflicting reports about bird mites surviving in the human home, so I took the cautious route and spent two full days deep cleaning my whole house which was not an entirely bad thing...it was due anyway, plus it gave me an excuse to buy the newest model of the Shark Steam Mop...The Pocket Mop!!! If that thing can kill the bacteria under the blacklight like they showed on the infomercial, then it could definitely kill a few bird mites, right??? Anyway, it broke Isabel's heart (almost literally, I think), but they were no longer allowed anywhere near the nest. I had to make a special trip to Peoria to buy another bird Webkinz to make up for her loss...it worked pretty well. It turned out to be okay because the birds flew away a couple of days later (maybe they were tired of getting sprayed with bug spray every night after the girls went to bed???). After the mite scare, I think I might have to take the hose to any nests that begin to form anywhere near my house from now on!