Blissful Encounters with a Watermelon Beetle

I love bugs (in the wild that is) -- especially unique and unusual bugs.  I am the type of mom who encourages her kids to stop and smell the flowers and while we're at it -- to stop and notice bugs.

But, at summer camp in BC, Canada (I think it was 1994), I had a bug encounter that nearly turned me off of bugs forever.  All of us counselors were hanging out the night before the kids arrived, relaxing and enjoying the cool summer air when I noticed a massive beetle type bug with a back patterned like a watermelon.  

I picked the bug up and showed it to the other counselors.  No one had ever seen a bug like it before.

And then, after sufficient ooohing and awwwing, I was ready to set the bug free...

But the bug would not leave my hand.  I wiggled my hand ever so slightly in that "Go on now" gesture that all bugs are supposed to know and understand, but still it would not leave my hand.

We'd become good friends, watermelon beetle and I.  Clearly he was not ready to move on.  As I attempted to gently pick the bug up off my hand, he stabbed his feet into my hand.  Stabbed!  

"AAAAAAHHHH" I screamed in agony. 

I could not remove the bug from my hand.  A friend grabbed hold of the bug to take a try, but still the bug would not let go of his death grip on my hand and instead stabbed his razor like feet further into my hand.  

I spent the next half hour laughing hysterically and crying and screaming randomly as my friend tried everything to remove this bug's death grip on my hand. 

My friend would pry with a stick like a lever and the bug would stab me with his feet.  They took turns alternating back and forth.  Finally my friend and the stick launched the bug to who-knows-where and I was freed.

I had an awesome picture of me holding the bug with a huge smile on my face (pre-torture), but I can't find it...  The picture proves that ignorance is bliss, but only momentarily blissful...  

If you have a bug story of your own that you would like to share check out 5 Minutes for Mom and enter to win one of two $500 Walmart Gift Cards.

~❀~ Chelsey ~❀~

Getting Near Deer -- Thankfulness

Thankfulness -- Summer vacation edition

39. Camping!  This was our first camping trip in 4 years so it was really special.  We found a campground where we could play horseshoes, ride a zipline (even the adults tried it!) and spot chipmunks (bottom right picture of Elijah).




40. Spending time with Great Grandma and Great Grandpa -- We don't get to see them very often because they live so far away.  We were able to see them a few times -- once they even came to the campground to visit us there! 

41. Making S'mores and listening to the kids sing the S'mores song:







"Graham cracker, graham cracker, chocolate bar.
Sitting 'round the campfire under the stars.
Marshmallow, marshmallow sticky and sweet.
Put 'em all together and you've got a treat."  (Veggie Tales)

42. Pony Rides

Elijah picked Princess and Desiree picked Snickers.  The kids were thrilled with their ride around the campground and with getting to feed the ponies afterwards.

43. Visiting Grandma, Papa, Uncle Daniel, Uncle David & Karlee, Great Uncle Bryan and Grandma's kittens. 

44.  Getting near deer






My parents' backyard is often visited by deer.  It was amazing to see them (and for the kids to see how close they could get!)


~❀~ Chelsey ~❀~

Spending Time with Oma -- Thankfulness

The continuation of thankfulness...

27. Desiree "reminding" us that it was the birthday of her stuffed cat, Meows. We went to an event at a farmer's market with face painting, hot dogs, corn on the cob and watermelon (all free!). We called this event Meows' "birthday party". Maybe your family doesn't celebrate the birthdays of stuffed animals, but we do and we have great fun doing it!

28. Desiree's reaction to finding rhubarb at the produce store: "Mom!!!! Come and see!!!! They have rhubarb!!!" She was ecstatic! We also grow it in our backyard, but mostly pencil sized. Desiree, Elijah and I made a rhubarb meringue when my parents were here for a one night stop over on their way home. My dad loves rhubarb, but his reaction was quite subdued compared with Desiree's.

29. Being given a baby butterfly to take home from school. The class had hatched butterflies and when it was time to let them go this one wouldn't fly away. I carefully carried it all the way home and protected it from the wind. We took pictures with it and then let it free on a snapdragon plant in our backyard -- never to be seen again...

30. Time with "the cousins" -- my cousin, her husband and their kids who came from Alberta to visit for a couple days. My kids have never met their first cousins so these third cousins are quite a big deal! They had water fights, played Wii and we all had a trip to the water park together.

31. Going to the school's Beach day -- it was dreary and windy, but good fun still. Elijah crying as if his heart were broken when he saw a dead crab with no legs... Elijah yelling excitedly when he saw a live crab in the wild for the first time (that's his expression in the collage). Me convincing the kids that it was okay to catch them!

32. The little girl in the center of this photo from Ernie's 36km run. We asked her dad to take a photo for us so we wouldn't have a person missing from the picture and she automatically ran into the picture. How cute is that? She figured if her dad was taking the picture she should be in it!

33. Ernie's mom, Oma, coming from Ontario for a long-awaited visit and to see Ernie's run. It had been two years since we'd seen her last so the kids (now 4 and 6) were super excited. While she was here she gave me a tutorial on my sewing machine, baked all sorts of goodies for us, learned how to play Wii, gardened with Ernie and went for a hike at the river with the family. We all miss her now that she's back in Ontario...

~❀~ Chelsey ~❀~

Listening to Echoes -- Thankfulness

One Thousand Gifts Continued...


18. Elijah's excitement at seeing a moving train up close! He kept saying "I always wanted to see a train for my birthday!" (which was in March lol)




19. A Wii Fit workout -- the only kind I do... (and haven't done in such a long time prior to this workout).

20. Watching Desiree on her hands and knees hollering down a storm drain and listening to the echoes.

21. All the amazing animals that God has made! -- like capybaras which are the largest rodents in the world.

22. Going to the zoo for a Family Fun Day and taking the train while we were there:


23. Desiree and Elijah collecting wood bugs / potato bugs / tank bugs to bring to school in a jar with holes in the lid that Daddy banged for them.

24. Reading a book about a family living during the Depression Era ("The Booky Trilogy") and remembering to count my blessings because finances could always be worse...

25. Our first visit to the outdoor splash park this year. The kids had a blast sending Desiree's crocs floating down the little creek and chasing after them.

26. Pre-teen boys who are kind enough to share a few of their water balloons with my little on-lookers.

~❀~ Chelsey ~❀~

Bringing Home Worms -- Thankfulness

One Thousand Gifts continued...

11. Elijah's Mike Wazowski (from Monster's Inc) impersonation when trying to get his sister out of bed. Yelling at her "WORK OUT THAT FLAB THAT'S HANGING OVER THE BED!" Of course he doesn't know what flab is and so sort of garbled his way through that part of the quote, but aside from that the impersonation was great...

12. Watching Elijah and Desiree play with the pet snails they found in our yard -- naming them, racing them, swinging them on the swing.... If you click on this picture you can see the snails as they approach the finish line.


13. Me teaching Elijah that it's okay to pick up worms. He rescued a big one from the wet street and carried it home to our garden.
Bringing home snails -- No. Bringing home worms -- Yes.


14. Explaining "Amelia Bedelia" books to Desiree as she reads them -- especially the part about getting the bread to rise...

15. Doing a favour for someone when I haven't had opportunities to lately: walking Desiree's classmate and her brother to school while their mom is out of town. Desiree pretending that she and Mia are sisters as they run down the sidewalk on the way to school together.


16. Watching "Dreamer" for Friday Family Sleepover night. The kids loved it (even though it wasn't a cartoon! lol...) and my husband and I enjoyed it too. Elijah(4) describes his favourite part: "Did you know that the girl actually was helping the family by taking popsicles and helping the dad's horse by feeding it?"


17. Chocolate covered almonds that my husband bought unexpectedly. Expected chocolate is great, but unexpected chocolate is always better.

~❀~ Chelsey ~❀~

Great Pets!

Desiree (5) said to me today:

"Slugs make great pets -- they're free and they're sticky."

Well, you can't argue with that. (Okay -- you could argue with the greatness part, but she's right about the rest!). She and Elijah (3) have a bucket that they've filled with sticks, leaves and flowers to house the slugs they find. Each morning they find that their slug has left his home via the ramp they've provided and so they go in search of a new one. No slugs have been harmed (or named ironically). And while the slugs don't shed there is the matter of that slim they leave behind... I guess greatness is subjective.