This year I turned 38. We were spending a week up at the Ecker's lake house and my birthday fell right in the middle of that week. The plan was to spend the day on the water, in the sun, enjoying the best of Minnesota summers. The reality is my birthday was far more memorable than that.
I awoke around 1:30 AM feeling hot and dizzy. I thought my allergies were bothering me and the air conditioning might not be working so well. I tried to get out of bed to check the thermostat when I realized I couldn't really walk too well. I laid back down and let the room spin wishing that I had a libation to blame. Around 2:15 I woke Todd up and asked him to get me a motion sickness pill so I could sleep. I was pretty sure this must be some side affect from allergies. When I tried to sit up to get my water, I could not focus on the clock. It was spinning too fast. Todd had to help hold my head so I could lift it enough to take the medicine. By 3:30 I couldn't take it anymore. Every time I drifted off to sleep, I dreamed I was moving and I would wake to waves of nausea. I knew it was time to head to the bathroom. But I could never make it on my own. Todd had to help me get there. But, as soon as I stood, I started throwing up. I had to sleep on the bathroom floor near the toilet because I couldn't get back to bed.
Finally as the sun rose on my 38th birthday, I was able to crawl (literally) back to bed. I stayed there until mid-morning when I decided to try to drink some Gatorade. The Gatorade stayed down but I still felt very tired, so I turned on a movie. Since we were going to be altering the plans for the day, Gail and Linda decided to head into town to get some bait so the kids could fish from the dock. Once they got back from the bait shop, the movie was almost done. Todd and Gail decided to head down to the dock to see if the fish (which we had been watching jump all week) were biting before the kids came down.
With about 7 minutes left in the movie, the front door swings open. There is yelling and stomping and general chaos. It took a few minutes to figure out that bees had attacked. Emmie had found the yellow jacket hive at the base of the dock and disturbed them. They bite instead of sting, and they got her close to 50 times. They found Todd next and got him 25 times before he made a mad dash up the hill. Gail was last off the dock and got between 25-35 bites. Gail had to head to the hospital and Emmie to the vet for treatment for an allergic reaction to the bites.
We called a bee expert to the house to take care of the hive. It took him digging the hive from the tree to get the bees to die. And we learned it can take longer than 3 days until the bites stop itching. In the meantime, you should stay away from the outdoors because you are a target for other biting insects. Our last three days of vacation "up north" were spent inside!
The funny part of the story is that Gail and Todd were heading up the hill to show us the fish they had just caught. Gail and cast out once and hooked a large (we will now call it a 2 foot...it is growing as any good fish tale should) catfish. The ugly sucker would have been fascinating to the boys. But then the bees attacked and the guys had to run up the hill for their lives. Except when Gail got to the top of the hill, he still had the catfish! He dropped it on the grass and ran inside. Over two hours later, when the bee guy arrived, he found the catfish in the yard still alive. He brought it down to the lake and put it back in the water. It swam away safe and sound.
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