damn jellies

Todd and I are convinced that Gordy is a jellyfish magnet.  He's only 5 and he's had 5 pretty bad stings already.

Yesterday we ventured to the windward side of the island for a going away party for our friends.  Gordy was in the water for a grand total of 5 minutes with all the kids before he listed his arms out of the water with a look of concern on his face calling to me.  When I got close enough, I saw the blue strings that were wrapped around his arms.  So, I carefully unraveled the tentacles from his arms trying not to let them sting him any worse than they already had and we hustled up the beach to a friend who had a spray bottle of vinegar on hand.  We doused him with it and then he decided he was ready to go back to playing on the sand - such a trooper!

All was fine until the night came.  His arms swelled up and red bumps appeared in long lines where the tentacles had been stuck.  We spent the night taking warm baths, rubbing on anti-itch cream, and laying with heating pads.  All of which, only marginally helped.

As of this morning, he's had his third dose of benedryl and he's painfully itchy.  Thank goodness he had his spring suit on, or he may have had more of a fully body issue like last time.

Damn jellies!

little harvester

I am so lucky to have a kid who likes gardening as much as I do.  We'll be hanging out and he'll say, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?... GARDENING!!"

We got some seeds recently, so he helped me plant beans, tomatoes, peas, squash, corn, peppers, radishes, carrots, and watermelon.  Gordy helped me plant all the seeds, keep them watered, and then he helped me transplant them once they grew big enough.  Some of our plants grew quite quickly, so we have green beans and radishes that we can pick a few times a week!  Gordy absolutely loves to harvest the vegetables and when we cook and eat them, he seems so proud of himself.  

He also loves pulling weeds, trimming the plants, mowing the lawn, feeding our composting worms, and spreading compost and fertilizer on the garden.  I'm a lucky mom.