We have a beautiful inviting trail with stairs just off of our front entry that isn't frequented much since we are usually too bees-y to stop and smell the roses. But my adventure seeking toddler deviated from the normal routine and decided to explore this tempting path with his buddy Berkley. About 45 seconds into this mini-adventure he was interrupted by a most unpleasant pest that was not excited to see a couple of toddler's in it's territory. The little pest gathered about 100 of it's buddies and declared war.....in clearer terms, Jesse got swarmed by hornets. Jesse's battle wounds consisted of 8 stings, mostly all on his head since he was wearing adventure-appropriate head gear (a bicycle helmet). Jesse's younger counterpart, Berkley, unfortunately did not escape unscathed and was also stung twice. But the hero of the story was Amanda, who was quick enough and strong enough to grab and run both kids down the stairs and into the house...all while being chased by the swarm. She was rewarded with only one sting for her bravery but being a mom, experienced the most pain, by seeing her cute son (Berkley) and his buddy Jesse in tears while she stripped them of their battle gear and gave them a cold path to help ease the pain.
3 things (+1) I am thankful for:
1. Amanda for being a hero and for providing Jesse TLC until I could come home. (I left work as soon as I heard but it took me approximately 30 minutes to get home. I don't love my commute right now.)
2. Grandpa Don for finding the hive originally, (he was also a victim of the ornery pests), and warning us to take care of it. Obviously we didn't heed his wisdom in a timely manner and the guilt will stay with us for a long long time.
3. Lastly, and most importantly, I'm thankful that Jesse, Berkley, and Amanda didn't experience an allergic reaction. All had a rough day but were 95% better the next morning. Chris (yes, Chris was also a victim - he got stung once on the eyebrow when trying to eliminate the hive), on the other hand, didn't fair as well. Imagine Sloth from the Goonies, but again, luckily, only for a day.
+1. mamabeehoney, my bee-keeper buddy at work, for letting me borrow her bee suit.
