While I have not ever considered myself an ornithologist of any sort, it has been fun to watch the baby robins grow. Bobby, who likes to work on his laptop on the back porch, enjoyed watching them even more than me. I was taking these photos of them yesterday...
Suddenly, the baby sitting a little higher in this photo flew out of the nest, across our yard, and into the neighbors yard! If you were wondering if I was running across the neighbors yard in order to get a shot of the baby bird in the grass, the answer would be yes. Yes, of course I was running like a loon across my neighbors yard with my camera to get this picture...
The adult robins were really mad at me for prematurely prompting this baby to fly the coop. They were making a racket. I felt bad for the baby and was a little ashamed of myself for being too exuberant with my photos, so I backed off for the day and left the nest alone. When I woke up this morning and went out to see how the other babies were doing, this is what I found.....
Then, right in front of me, the baby took to the air, hit a beam on the back porch and smacked down on the deck. Poor little guy! Here he is recovering from his not-so-successful first flight....
While I was watching the one little guy recover, I noticed I was being watched....
The other robin had already left the nest and was resting comfortably. Then, as if on cue, both babies flew away to their parents, who were waiting for them in the bushes. I now literally understand the feeling of having an empty nest! It is a little bittersweet. As I was walking back inside, I noticed a goodbye gift they left for me.....
Goodbye baby robins, we'll miss you (especially Bobby)!
I know that this blog has disintegrated into highlighting my children's quirky behaviors or showcasing the living, dead, and sometimes believed to be dead animals we have encountered this summer. This is what summer is all about for us though. Unless you want to hear about the upcoming home inspection today, how my Friday closing was delayed until Monday, or that I have to visit a work site I'm managing, this is what you get; our boring, non-real estate life. So sit back and enjoy....=)
As soon as we finished our back porch and placed our outdoor speakers, we noticed a bird's nest taking shape. The nest is messy, but the birds are cute (they are robins) and it's very educational for the kids. Here are the birds a few days ago, there are three babies......
Here's the mom (or dad, I can't tell which is which) feeding the babies.....
The babies are getting ready to fledge, here they are today looking quite alert......
The kids have really been enjoying watching the birds grow. I hope we can watch them fledge. I'll post some pictures if we are lucky enough to observe, it should be any day now.
Bob has tried several times before, and Gary has the scars on his shell to prove it, but I think this time Bob prevailed. It's a little blurry, but Bob has Gary in his clutches and is picking at the soft parts. Rest in peace Gary.
I've been receiving a lot of flack for only highlighting certain kids. I do admit that the oldest kids and Allie get the bulk of the ink here but that's just because they're the loudest or more involved in activities that are easy to document. Tommy is a bit more subtle in his workings. Last night, as I made dinner Tommy kept me company by chatting my ear off. Here he is talking to me.....
After about twenty minutes of conversation, I realized that something was not quite right. Here is what I discovered.....
That's correct. Tom had been dangling while talking with me for twenty minutes. I know it's not earth shattering but it's what makes Tommy so special.
We are entering exciting territory. After being a diaper family for 11+ years with no breaks (sometimes with two kids in diapers), there is finally a light at the end of the long, long tunnel. Allie is doing great with toilet training. Both numbered excrements are making their way to the potty without much issue. The last week and a half Allie has been mostly in the buff but we are slowly trying to coax her into clothes again as she becomes more comfortable with the training process. For bedtime or naps we are using up her existing diapers and then will switch to pull-ups. I am happy to announce though, that we are no longer buying diapers (well at least until Bob or I need them!). Yeah, for Allie! To celebrate we bought Allie some "pretty pretty" unders at Target this weekend. Here she is with most of her brothers showing off her "Dora the Explorer" unders.....
Suddenly, the baby sitting a little higher in this photo flew out of the nest, across our yard, and into the neighbors yard! If you were wondering if I was running across the neighbors yard in order to get a shot of the baby bird in the grass, the answer would be yes. Yes, of course I was running like a loon across my neighbors yard with my camera to get this picture...
The adult robins were really mad at me for prematurely prompting this baby to fly the coop. They were making a racket. I felt bad for the baby and was a little ashamed of myself for being too exuberant with my photos, so I backed off for the day and left the nest alone. When I woke up this morning and went out to see how the other babies were doing, this is what I found.....
Then, right in front of me, the baby took to the air, hit a beam on the back porch and smacked down on the deck. Poor little guy! Here he is recovering from his not-so-successful first flight....
While I was watching the one little guy recover, I noticed I was being watched....
The other robin had already left the nest and was resting comfortably. Then, as if on cue, both babies flew away to their parents, who were waiting for them in the bushes. I now literally understand the feeling of having an empty nest! It is a little bittersweet. As I was walking back inside, I noticed a goodbye gift they left for me.....
