SUCKERS!

Nope, not name-calling. Just calling it as it is: an entire exhibit at our local kiddo science museum on the blood-suckers in our midst. I didn't go searching for gross--we had to find a release of Winona's need to "do science" today before any more baking soda and vinegar exploded or food coloring dyed our walls. After a full morning of chores and cooking, we all needed to get out, so to the science museum we went. Unprepared, and without our DEET.

 This should be video, because only a "talkie" would do justice to this thing. It's a TICK that inflates to HUGE when you sit on the little yellow stool long enough. 

 It's eating me alive. 

Did you know that a mosquito can smell and track your carbon dioxide from a half mile away?

Did you know that 19th century meteorologists kept leeches in jars of water because when the barometric pressure dropped, the oxygen in the water would reduce just enough to send the leeches to the surface for air... hence, an approaching storm? 

Did you know that a mosquito taps into you about 20 times before hitting a vein and sucking?

Did you know that I could have happily lived out my days without any of this knowledge? 

We did not get a picture of TICKSTER, which is too bad, because instead of shouting out "Right hand blue!", I would say "Right hand Bed Bug!" "Left foot TICK!" 

What ever happened to good ol' dinosaur exhibits? But, of course, the girls loved it. Jezzie sleeps happily with a tick tattoo on her hand. 

I DID love the spinny things from the gift shop and the great outdoors afterwards (ironically bug-free).