Our New Friends

For those of you who haven't heard, Buddy has a new home. It was a tough decision, but we think it was the right one. After the initial sadness, Kelsi immediately started letting us know that she'd like a new pet...preferably a bird, hamster or hairless rat. Well, we had already been planning on getting her a pet for her birthday, but now would be a good time to get something as well. So we (and we means "I") decided a bird would be a good choice for now. After all, we wouldn't have to buy any supplies =) So, we headed over to Duncan's yesterday and took a look around. I had planned on getting two parakeets (one for me, one for Kelsi) but then we saw these guys:

They are zebra finches and cost almost half the price! So after about 15 min, Kelsi picked out one. It was quite the decision for her. There were only 4 at the store, but three of them (the females) had no feathers on the back of their necks because their brother (the only male) had been picking on them. So Kelsi had to thoroughly examine them to see who had the least amount of feathers pulled out. She of course wouldn't listen to the lady who worked there who told her the feathers would grow back quickly. So, we finally picked out our two, they boxed them up and we brought them home. This is when the fun began.

We got the cage all set up and ready for them, and since they are really small and were in a box, I thought I could kind of "pour" them in. Well, they didn't tell us at the store that their wings weren't clipped. So, out comes the first bird, she landed in the cage and immediately shot out and flew across the room. Fortunately, before we had a chance to react, she flew right back into the cage. Then it was time for the next one. Not so easy. She flew off as well, and we had to spend several minutes chasing her around. And by "we" I mean "I", Daniel just kinda stood aside and laughed. He claims no ownership of the birds, and therefore has no responsibility. Convenient. Oddly, he didn't think to take pictures so he could share the amusement with others. Since we were in the dining room, there was a nice big sliding glass door that the bird kept trying to get out through. So, I finally caught her and got her in the cage. I don't think she's forgiven me.

Naming then was also quite the process. Kelsi was determined that they should both be named after Avatar characters (thanks, Robyn!) but I managed to deter her from that. She got to pick a name, and I got to pick a name. Matthias thought they should both be named "Bird". Yep, he's imaginative.

This one is names Swiftfeather. She got this name because she's the one that we had to chase around to catch! Kelsi picked this name since it's the kind of name they would use in the Warrior books.

This one is Lady Polgara. She is named after a character in one of my favorite book series, a magician who can talk to birds and turn into one as well.

So, those are our new birds. They are pretty fun so far, and they are very active! They also don't "tweet" like you would expect a bird to, they kinda sound like a squeak toy. We like them though =)