Thursday, November 13, 2008

What we won't miss about North Carolina

Fire ants.

I think they get worse every year. This year they have infested our back yard and have traveled from place to place, no matter how much ant killer we put out for them. They move really quickly too, so one day they'll be in one spot and the next day the whole colony will be somewhere else.

Today while I packed up the kitchen I sent the kids outside to play. I kept my eyes on them through the window but was surprised when Camille came in panting, "Chloe got bit by a fire ant!"

I went out to see and the poor thing was covered in bites. Caleb had a friend over for a play date and he told me that Chloe climbed into her little car and then started crying. I looked over there and saw the car was parked on top of a huge patch of fire ants! They must have just moved there because they hadn't built it into a mound yet, plus I know there weren't ants there yesterday when she was playing there.

The girl was barefoot so she has bites all over her feet and ankles and halfway up her leg. Then she has them all over one hand and wrist (presumably the hand she used to swat them away) and even one on her belly. Once I got the last of the ants off her (squishing them with a vengeance for hurting my baby) she stopped crying and was thrilled to get some unexpected time in the bathtub!

Caleb friend's mom is a nurse and looked her over when she picked up her son, and agreed that since she's not acting like they're bothering her I'd be fine to give her some Benadryl and just keep an eye on her. She's totally fine.

But yeah, I think fire ants totally top the list of things I won't miss. Hopefully I'll have time before we roll out of here tomorrow to take pictures of some of the places and people that we will miss.

1 comment:

Chazzie said...

I know you were working on selling your house...did it happen? Where are you moving?