For the Birds...

This winter seemed to last FOREVER! 2010 has had its share of loss and disappointment too so when my niece Haley said she wanted to spend spring break with us, I jumped at the chance to welcome her bright spirit into our scene! I arranged to meet my parents in Des Moines as thats the half way point for all of us. They suggested the Des Moines Botanical Center which sounded great. It was a welcome blast of early spring color and cheer. Little did we know that they were also hosting a BIRD SHOW that weekend. From the minute Haley and I were reunited, she was begging I mean B-E-G-G-I-N-G for a bird. Grandpa and Grandma said no, but that was easy for them, as they bid farewell and left me in charge. What's an aunt to do? I mean, Haley does want to be a veterinarian when she grows up, so the way I see it; she needs all the pet experiences she can collect between now and later. The next thing i knew, we both had bird fever....it was so much fun looking at all these beautiful feathered friends. So an hour later we were on our way back to Lawrence for the week with a cage containing a SOCIETY FINCH chirping in the backseat of my car! We were giggling uncontrollably because we had both egged each other on....I mean, she didn't have permission from her dad, and as she pointed out, I didn't have permission from Aaron to keep it either. We figured one of the two situations would pan out. We promptly went to the library when we got home and checked out some books about finches to prove to her dad how responsible she is and how very much she wanted this new pet! Well, of course she got her way (thankfully!) She called me just the other day to tell me that she and her dad had just gotten home from the pet store where they got FlapJack the finch a new (much bigger) cage and a millet seed stick. I'm certain that the next call will be to tell me they got him a cage mate...