attack of the...

we're still in the process of exploring the area. every chance we get, we like to hike with the dogs. yesterday was no different. aaron wanted to show me some of the trails he found while riding his bike. so we packed up the dogs, put on our hiking shoes (yes, i went out and bought hiking shoes...chucks just weren't cutting it anymore) and drove over to the greenway. i hooked bosco up to his new "no pull" harness and commenced to start his "i'm the master, your the dog" training. (i've discovered the dog whisperer) of course, he's not having any of it.

well, while we're trekking uphill i really can't correct him and i give him more lead then i should. so he's off smelling and marking everything. when i finally catch up, he starts scooting around on his butt and acting really strange. he must have gone through some brambles and it's put him in panic mode. then i see the hornet on his little stump of a tail. i swat at it but it's almost like it's embedded in there. then i feel something on my finger and start flailing my hands. it's another hornet. *sting, sting, sting* on my back. i take off with bosco in tow. "bees, bees, bees!" i scream at aaron as i run past him. when i get a good distance away, i reach back and notice the sweater i've got wrapped around my waist is still covered with them. i fling it off in the middle of the road and start running again. seriously, this had to be a sight. finally, after we get a good distance away, i'm able to calm down and regroup. aaron heads back, with a big stick and picks up my sweater. it still has a few hornets hanging out on it so he flings it around and shoos them away. i make him carry it the rest of the hike. seems to be a hornet magnet of some sort.

we ended up in a neighborhood neither one of us was familiar with.

"i'm not going back," i tell him.

so we head down the paved road in the opposite direction.

"you know we're headed in the wrong direction?" he says.

i look down and see big lots and i know exactly where we were. damn it. if we continue, it's going to take us twice as long to get back to the car. i turn back around.

"when we get back there, i'm running past that hornet hole! you take bosco and you go first."

we run past. the only hornet that bothered us on the way down was stuck to bosco's tail again.

"there's one on the sweater! no, wait, that's a leaf."

"you're paranoid."

"i just got stung 5 times, i have a right to be paranoid!"

i guess i'm not allergic to bee/hornet stings. and neither are the dogs. marley's already been stung twice since we've been here. and yesterday was bosco's first experience. we're headed to the dog park shortly with jill and jigsaw. a little playdate of sorts. should be fun.