What is this stuff, Mama?

Grass?  What’s grass? 

I hate bugs.  I mean hate them.  I especially hate spiders and ants that bite.  The grass in our yard is full of both so I don’t dare go out there.  The exterminator was here the other day and I am beginning to wonder why we even bother with him.  I still see tons of bugs.  On the other hand though I wonder how many bugs there would be if he didn’t spray?  For that reason alone I continue to have him spray every 3 months both inside and outside. 

Back in April when my Dad was visiting we took a drive to the Mall of Georgia which is about 40 minutes away.  While driving Eli decides to throw a royal fit in the backseat.  After some time I pull off to the side of the road so I could get out and see if I can calm him down.  Since we were on the highway I made sure I pulled off the shoulder and into the brush.  I get out and go around to Eli’s side and suddenly it feels like my left foot has something crawling all over it.  I decide it’s my overactive bug imagination and just the grass brushing up against me.  The tickle turned into a burn.  I look down and see my foot (I was wearing flip flops of course!) covered in ants.  Not just happy little black ants but the red little biters!  I start jumping around screaming.  My Dad jumps out of the car to see what’s wrong because I was acting like a complete lunatic.  All the while Eli is screaming.  Did I mention is was like 90 degrees this day and I am now sweating profusely?  It was ridiculous.  We look down and see that I had stepped on an ant hill.  Those ants were angry.  Finally I get back in the car and go about my day.  I waited for the itching and swelling to appear but it never did.  That was until 10 days later.  While sleeping one night I woke up to a hot itchy foot.  Sure enough I finally had a reaction to the bites.  Who knows why it took so long but it did.  These bites were seriously worse than chicken pox.  Spiders have always been my most feared bug but not anymore.  I hate ants.

The Georgia heat and the nasty bugs have kept me from playing outside with Eli.  Unless he is at the pool or in the stroller we do not play outside at all.  That was until we were invited over to his little friend Ander’s house for a water table play date on Wednesday.  I decided it was time to let go of my fears and just allow Eli to be a boy and interact with nature (a.k.a nasty bugs and itchy Georgia grass.  The grass here is not soft and “fluffy” like up north).

Here is my little man happy as can be enjoying his outside world.