The Birds and the (SWARM OF) Bees!

So to keep all the stories in order, we are still catching up from last weekend. We came home about 6:30 on Sunday night and decided to get pizza for dinner so we didn't have to cook and clean up before school started on Monday. Mark left to pick up the pizza and the boys went outside to play.

I was getting plates out of the kitchen cabinet when I heard terrifying screams from outside. At first I thought it was coming from the backyard and not our kids. The second time I heard it, I knew it was from the front yard and as I ran to the garage door, Andrew was coming in. He was in tears, his face red, and screaming ow, ow, ow! I sat him down to figure out where he was bleeding and then he finally said "It was a bee mom, I got stung by a bee!". So he shows me where he was stung (twice) and one of the stingers was still in his leg. I ran to get a paper towel so I could pull out the stinger and accomplished that when the screaming from the garage started all over again.

What in the world? I flung open the door to the garage and I see Matthew being attacked by a swarm of bees right outside the garage door. There must have been 20 bees circling around him and as I ran toward him I caught something in my mouth. Thinking it was a bee, I spit it out on the garage floor. I ran back to Matt and pulled him into the garage, swatting back the bees as we made our way into the house. Matthew was screaming like I have never heard him before. I sat him down next to Andrew and he continued to wail for a good 20 minutes. He was stung 5 times (ear, two on the arm, three on the legs)! I checked for stingers and couldn't find any. Matthew had been stung once in the past and didn't have a reaction, but he was so traumatized by the swarm and not being able to get away that it took awhile to calm him down enough to decide he wasn't having a reaction. (Matthew repeatedly said he didn't mean to hurt the bees - turns out Matthew was playing paddle ball against the bushes).

I remembered meat tenderizer for stings, but we didn't have any so I went for a paste of baking soda and water. I went back to the kids and the stings had turned into quarter size welts. I put the paste on and then we tried to eat dinner - no one was very hungry. Matthew was really uncomfortable the whole time. After dinner we gave him Motrin and they watched a TV show for distraction. I went to wipe off the baking soda paste and the welts were gone and all that was left was a small red blotch. By Monday morning, everyone was fine and Matthew went off to school. I guess it is good to know your kids aren't allergic to bees, but this is not the way I prefer to find out.