July 16
Well, we've had a nice couple of days here! It really is quite lovely at this camground, though staying so near the beach means a lot of sand in the bed. Never before have I had to vacuum my sheets at night, but here I do. Oh, but I can never get it all out, and it's so hard to try to sleep with that grit against my skin! Thorin doesn't seem to mind much, though – or else he doesn't even notice.
And the fire-ants! Goodness, I'd heard about them, but I've never been bitten (or stung? or pinched?) by one until yesterday. It hurts so much worse than getting bitten by those big horse flies does, and the irritation lasts longer! I'm glad it was only one fire-ant that got me, I can't imagine getting bitten by a bunch of them. We're going to have to be careful that the kids stay away from them, but fortunately the only ants I see just around the trailer are those big black ones (carpenter ants, I think), and I don't think those ones bite.
Surprisingly, Gimli doesn't seem to mind the black ants very much! Instead of freaking out about them, he just brushes them away when they come near. In fact, it seems that it is the flying insects bother him the most – though fortunately not all flying insects, since we went outside towards dark last night and chased fireflies. He had never caught (or even seen) fireflies before! And Fíli and Kíli taught Gimli and Frodo that it is best to sneak up on the fireflies, and gently take them in your hand (rather than running at them like mad, and squishing them). So, it was a good time for all!
We should have thought twice about walking through North Carolina grass in bare feet, though! Besides the fire ants, there are sand burrs and prickers out there! Oh, and there are mosquitoes, too! Lots of them. Still, once we put our shoes on and sprayed our legs down with repellent, it was fine.
Then, of course, when we went back in the trailer, the older boys took turns playing some kind of game on the PS3; while Frodo watched Gimli play some fast-moving and flashy thing on his iPad for about an hour. So, Thorin and I lit a couple of citronella candles, then sat outside and enjoyed the (relative) silence and the wide view of the stars above us for a while. So, all things considered, it really was a nice evening!