Ants are EVIL!

Too many of the Meissler children have had unpleasant fire ant experiences...

Natalie was subject to literal 'ants in the pants' when she was a newbie and mom wanted a pic of her in some Texas bluebonnets before we moved to Wisconsin. (It turns out I plopped her right onto an ant pile...brilliant!)

Last summer, Grace was sitting in the double stroller for an easy ride home only to find fire ants waiting to eat her alive. After a soothing baking soda bath, Benedryl and Tylenol for a series of days, she was on the way to recovery.

Again last summer, our family was leaving an outdoor gathering with friends, and since we were leaving late we just decided to gather all shoes and leave barefoot. Well, the next morning when Claire went to put her shoes on for the day, she started crying that her shoes hurt. Guess what was in them? ANTS! They camped out in her shoes all night, just so they could munch on her soft little toddler skin. Incredibly tenacious little vermin...

Now, our latest encounter.....

Yesterday, Claire was trying to put her shoes on at the playground and fell from the curb she was on onto the field about 3 inches behind her. It didn't seem like any big deal so when she started to cry, we at first tried to brush her reaction off as a 'non-injury fall reaction' (all parents know what I mean here). So when the cry escalated to hysterical screams and cries over the agony on her back and neck, it finally occurred to us to strip those clothes off and see what lay beneath them. Evil, EEEEVVVVIIIILLLL Ants! Her poor little body had bite welts from her ankles, over her back and up to her neck. All of this in the time span of about a minute. They just had themselves a picnic of Claire! I HATE ANTS! I hate them!

So this Thanksgiving, I'm going to be thankful the weather is cooling off so those lousy ants go dormant. (Did I mention that I HATE them!?!) I'll also be thankful for my beautiful family, and for all of you!

Happy Thanksgiving!

The Meissler 7