Charlie got his first bee sting- it was a double sting, probably from a wasp or yellow jacket, actually.
We were at the park we call "Secret Park" with Chelsea, Emma and James. The playground was too hot to play on, so we watched the ducks, and walked along the paths instead. All the kids were playing on a metal bike rack when James started screaming and crying. We couldn't figure out what happened for a minute but then we saw that he'd been stung twice on the hand. I should have moved the other kids away from the area right away, but before I got a chance, Charlie got stung twice on his arm!
Chelsea and I were quite the sight trying to redirect Emma and George from the nest, calm the big kids, slather lavender oil on the wounds, and then haul everyone to the car. Chelsea was awesome- she had the lavender oil right there in her bag (mine was in the car), she hauled Emma and George over to me one in each arm, kept telling James that he was so brave, and then suggesting ice cream. Whew!
On the way to McDonald's, I used my righteous indignation to call several different county departments to insist that someone take care of the nest, right away!! Poor little brave boys. Charlie stopped crying as soon as I put the lavender on him, but he did tearfully ask me to call his Dad and tell him what happened. James was pretty upset for a while and Chelsea told me he asked her, "Why did they do that?!" and "When will it heal?" So sad but so, so sweet. We're so lucky to have these wonderful kids and to be on this crazy parenting adventure together!
