Big Kids and Big Bugs

We'll start with the cute stuff. You know, to draw you in.

(First off, check out Peter rocking in the background.)

I found this sweatshirt at a yard sale. I didn't realize it had ears until after I washed it. Ellie has pretty much been wearing it ever since.

And since she's wearing a kitty shirt, with kitty ears, of course she has to act like a kitty.

And this is how kitties eat pizza.

The attack.

And there's really no way to lead up to this, so here it is.

This is a kitty wearing 12 pairs of underwear... over her shorts and diaper. And one sock.

And this is a kitty not wanting to share books with her cousin.

Enough with the kitties. Here's a chunky baby.

3 months old and he thinks he's so big.

You can see that he's starting to grab things. He mostly grabs at cloth things, such as his clothing. But if he manages to get something loose, like a towel or burp cloth, it goes straight into his mouth.

My handsome boys!

Okay, now that you're feeling all warm and fuzzy, I have something important to discuss. And it's gross. Like, really gross.

This is a cicada. For those of you not living on the east coast, these things are EVERYWHERE. There are millions of them flying around all over. They are big, gross and have orange eyes. And they only swarm like this every 17 years. Unfortunately this is my second time experiencing them.

You might think I'm over-reacting. I'm not. Despite what my family says. These things are horrible.

They crawl out from hibernation and leave these holes in the ground, which are seriously big for bugs.

Then they climb on things and shed their skin. These husks are stuck everywhere.

This one died crawling out.

Then they fly around, mate and then die in piles everywhere.

They are nasty huge and erupt when you squish them.

This is one that hit our car. That's Will's thumb (which is like twice the size of mine), and that's just the smear left by the nasty thing.

Not only are they gross and huge, they are LOUD.

Ignore the camera going all over (I was trying to show how many were in that tree, but you can't see them in the video) and just listen. That is what they sound like ALL THE TIME. Seriously, 24/7 they are out there buzzing. Supposedly it can reach the decibel level of a rock concert. I choose to stay inside most of the time, where it's not nearly as loud. And where they can't get me.

As far as I know they don't hurt anything. But I hate them. Twice they have made me scream like a little girl (and Ellie has had to comfort me). Hopefully they will only be around for a few more weeks (fingers crossed!), but they've been out flying around for like a month now and I'm so sick of them.

Just thought I should let you non-east coasters know what you're missing.

And back on a happy note: WE GET OUR NEW HOUSE ON WEDNESDAY!