It wasn't the 6 additional girls and one boy who were over for a birthday sleep over that led to the excitement. No, that was left to the sparrow that flew into the house via the open deck doors and then proceeded to tour the house in what had to be one heck of an amusement ride.
Birds have inadvertently flown into the glass deck doors, seeing the mirrored image of the clouds and blue skies behind them and mistaking the glass for open air.
We've also had 'gifts' proudly presented in such places as our bed or near the dinner table by two very eager and proud cats. But we've never been sitting at the table casually conversing while the other zoo, the kid zoo, was firmly underway only to have the level of chaos reach a frantic level as when a lone sparrow zipped over our heads and began flying about the room as though he was in an exercise wheel.
Thankfully, our vaulted ceilings provided an area that was safely out of reach of the screeching children, and eventually the bird made it's way to JB's room.
Quietly closing the door after slipping inside, I found the bird perched for dear life on a loose section of the wallpaper boarder near the ceiling.
Spotting me, the bird flitted about the small space, and eventually flew into the mirrored closet doors. (As a side note, every sliding closet door in the house is mirrored. When we first moved into the house, we joked that the previous owners must have been into filming porn or another form of self expression.)
Momentarily stunned from its run-in, the small bird was scooped up in a cardboard gift box and gently carried out to the deck where it could recoup and hopefully fly off. Which it did, eventually flying off into the nearby cottonwood. Later we saw him eating at the bird feeder, and the kids cheered that the little guy made it.
"Mama. It's certain now. We live in a zoo. Even that poor bird thought it was home."
"Indeed, BW. Indeed."
