Poison What?!

NOT ONLY do we have to deal with ticks on a constant basis out here, we have to really watch for those poisonous plants. I didn't really think anything of it until this happened to the two littles, Leilani and Tunoa.

I first noticed the afternoon that we took all of the kids to the tennis courts to play tennis and pickle ball. Leilani and Tunoa decided to play with sticks and walked down through the weeds where there was apparently poison ivy/poison oak (not sure which one). When I first saw him scratching his face and his arms I thought it might be chicken pox because they can still have an outbreak if given the vaccine, but not a very bad case. I gave him some Benadryl and told him to go shower. Later, I texted pictures to my mom and sisters asking them if they thought it might be chicken pox. I also texted Kami, a nurse, to get her opinion. I decided to wait until the next morning to take him into the doctors office (because that is what mothers do). We wait to see what will happen, worse or subside. Well, it got worse. These pictures were only the beginning. He had to be put on a steroid and had to get calamine lotion. Leilani ended getting it on her tummy pretty bad. I thought it would scar them both. I actually kept Tunoa home from school because his face looked so bad, I didn't want other kids to freak out!

Needless to say, we have become more aware of not only ticks, but poison ivy and oak. These are the joys of living in Pittsburgh. It is right in your back yard.