Sunday was an absolutely beautiful here! The thermometer even got up to 80 degrees! We were stunned and amazed--and took advantage of it! Just down the road and around the bend is a little waterfall. In fact, it's down "Lovers' Lane" which really is a very pretty drive (even in the endless winter). We doused the kids and ourselves in bug juice and sunscreen after dinner, threw the backpack in the car, grabbed hats and headed off.

Punk found a walking stick right away and was thrilled to carry it along. Pea petered out pretty quickly and we were glad we had the backpack for her. It's just a short hike from the parking area to the falls and we had fun looking at the flowers and not so much fun swatting at the swarming mosquitos. Aaron and I sat on a fallen tree and snuggled close and whispered sweet nothings (between slapping skeeters) to each other while Punk and Pea threw rocks in the water and explored the place. They were so sweet together. Totally the best of friends. It's so amazing to see their relationship growing.

And then I felt a drop. "Must be just a splash from the falls," I thought. Then A said, "I think it's raining." And it was. So, A loaded Pea back into the pack and Punk and I started off. Fortunately, Punk thought we were in some kind of race with Dadders and everytime he caught up with us, we had to run a bit to get ahead. I say fortunately because this way he invented his own fun way to get us to the car (and out of the rain) faster. And, it was fun. And, it was warm enough and the rain was slow enough that we didn't get too cold. All in all, it was a fun little family adventure.

We got home, stuck the kids in the warm bath and then got them in their beds. And we thought the adventure was over. But it wasn't. The next morning, Punk had a swelling by his right eyebrow, about the size of a quarter. "Boy," we thought. "That's some mosquito bite!"

When we saw him again at lunch time, his eye was swelling shut and his forehead looked like it was growing another lobe. Aaron figured it was like a black eye and that he had bashed his head into something (aside from the fact that there was absolutely no sign of bruising, this was a pretty good surmise since he had run into a post and a doorframe the afternoon before). I gave him a Benedryl anyway, just to see if it would help. But, by dinner, it was still growing and between giggles and sly comments like, "Neanderthal!" and "Cave Boy!" we were getting concerned. I had already made an appointment to see the doctor the next day, but A called to see if we should go to Urgent Care. Of course, they said yes. So, after dinner I took Punk to town.

Without hardly looking at it, the NP announced it was indeed a bug bite and that whities like Punk have very delicate skin and are prone to such over-reactions. Continue the Benedryl, add in some Ibuprofen and stop being a worry-wart. Buh-bye. At least nice nursey lady let him take home a book.

Next morning, it was STILL swelling. His eye was almost totally swollen shut and the other eye was getting puffy too. So we kept the appointment with his regular doctor who said it was definitely an allergic reaction of some sort, but no telling what. It could be a bug or spider bite, but none of us could find the actual bite site, so it could be pollen or soap or a new food or anything. The dr. prescribed Zyrtec for several days and sent us on our way.

One day later, the Zyrtec seems to be doing it's thing and the swelling has gone way-way down. Whew. Our 21st century son is back!