Peaches and Hornets

What an interesting day! Earlier this week we discovered a hornet nest in the front yard. The sucker was HUGE! I'm so mad at myself for not taking a picture of it. After 5 1/2 cans of bee spray the nest was not as active, but still buzzing and hanging heavy off the branch. I called Senske and had someone come out and take a look. He said we were dealing with Bald Faced Hornets.

They are extremely possessive of their nest and sting repeatedly if bothered. The Senske guy even said the nest was huge. We were home when the guy came to take the nest down. It was amazing to watch. You could tell he was nervous and he admitted he'd already been stung once today. The boys and I crowded around the window safe in the house to watch. I tried to take pictures but was totally mesmerized. First he sprayed the nest with a mass amount of insecticide. The bees were ANGRY. They came flying out of that nest like crazy. After soaking the nest and the bottom falling off, he got out a long pole started hacking at it until it came down. He came in afterwards and said the queen bee was very well protected and we wouldn't have gotten it ourselves unless we had knocked it down ourselves (NOT HAPPENING!). He then brought pieces of the nest over to show the boys. It was DISGUSTING! He showed them the larva, the eggs, the babies, all of it. The babies were all still wiggling and trying to poke out and escape. I was mortified, Thomas was in heaven and talked about the process of larva, pupa, etc. YUCK! But, problem solved, the front yard is once again safe.

Today we headed up to Greenbluff to pick peaches and apricots. It's something we do every year and the boys absolutely love it. Something about picking your own fruit makes it taste that much better. We met the Butterfields and the Shefflers and had a great time visiting. So far I've made baby food with the peaches and will make a pie for Thanksgiving tomorrow.

Tonight the kids were all getting anxious so I took them for a walk. It's really fun. The boys ride their little four-wheelers and and I push the strollers. Tonight Katie was mad, so I put her in the front pack. We went a long way and I got quite the walk in! Everyone was exhausted!