-objects in photo are larger than they appear-
bird moth (update I have just been told this is actually a Cicada)
giant gecko
12 inches long
him and his brother live in our bathroom
crab in our bathroom-huh?!
slug
headsman spider length=crayon
large ants nickname=”bastards”
they come by the hundreds
fact::an open air house is super cool
fact::an ant colony lives inside the walls
fact::2 giant geckos live in my bathroom and somehow sneak upstairs to poop in my bedroom every night
fact::Jarrett’s arachnaphobia is severely aggravated
fact::we get bit by the “bastards” numerous times every day and yell out “bastards!!!” every time we do
fact::a crab was in our bathroom (nuff said)
fact::I woke up one night to screeching and in the morning there was blood splattered all over the mosquito net that covers my bed
fact::a small mammal was murdered in my room
fact::there have been no mice or rat sightings hence why we are still here
fact:: we saw a King Cobra in our driveway last week
fact::bird moths sound like someone is breaking into your house all night long as they bang them selves into the walls
fact::the only thing missing from the Swiss Family Robinson house is a zebra and an ostrich
I have fallen in love with your family. Your family is a light, and I love how you’ve chosen to celebrate Trek’s life, always remembering and loving, but also taking steps forward physically. We definitely need to get you an ostrich!
Wow CAtherine, that is so kind. It is such a hard balance living and grieving, some days I have a hard time finding it, thanks for your encouragement. xoxo
Agh! Bird moths look like secadas! I hate Secadas! They don’t really hurt you they just make this horrible screeching sound. You need a good kitty cat that loves to eat all those critters:). I hope everything is well. I heard the song Paradise by Coldplay the other day (a personal favorite) and I always think of you when I hear it! I just enjoy reading your blogs and looking at the beautiful pictures of the little bits of paradise you find here and there along your journey. Girl you got talent and you are such a more uplifting read then the news with my morning coffee:)!
you are right Lauren, I just looked it up and they are Cicadas! I changed the post. I know about a kitty, sadly when we first moved in a cat came with the house and we kept shooing it out before we realized that we NEEDED her! now she won’t come back-lame. Thanks for reading us with your coffee, that means a lot to me. xoxo
Oops I spelled thier name wrong. It’s because I hate them lol:)! Yeah Those things are like candy to our kitty. She loves to eat them! Maybe it was your kitty that sneaked in to cause the nightly murders. If you have ever seen the Movie Cats Eye with Drew Barrymore when she was a kid you would never go cat-less again lol!
no! we need a cat asap!
I guess you know now, Amanda will never set foot in your house. You will have to book her a hotel. hA I have run across most of those. living in the country, you just kind of learn to exist with them but I have never had a crab in the house and the lizards were smaller. Enough cra.bs and you could have a crab boil. I still envy your exiting life.Love You!
I know MawMaw it is funny you said that because I told Jarrett the other day that it does not bother me so much because I grew up around all of them at your house and it seemed normal:)
Okay…..I might reconsider visiting & I don’t think Amanda ever will with the moths & that giant gecko lurking overhead:) You’re a brave woman Chelsea! But, if you can do it, so can I – especially since there have been no mice sightings – that’s where I would freak out! What do the boys think about it all? Are they bothered by them, or are they used to them (other than being bitten) & just ignore them? Look at it this way – it’s a great science lesson and you don’t have to order any specimens:) Love and miss all of you!
we all HATE the ants soo much, but the boys are not bothered by the other bugs, we just ignore them all for the most part. I know you and amanda could not though so I will tell you what I told her, I will gladly get a new house when you come visit, you are worth it! love you
You know it is good luck to have geckos in the house, as for the others…the boys would love to watch the slugs melt as you put salt on them. And I would be finding something to rid my hose of them! They do not have hount house to kill them? what about peperment, cyanne pepper, garlic, trying to think of things that get rid of them that you might can get. The moth, good luck. HUGS
good idea Nancy! I must admit they don’t really bother me too much, just the ants! I hate those things! I will research some ways to get rid of them-great ideas. and oh yeah baby on the good luck geckos!
When we lived in Laos for a couple months, there were so many fire ants in the house that I had to march in place while standing in the kitchen chopping veggies. Otherwise, they’d crawl up on my feet and legs and bite me like crazy!
Ant traps didn’t help much. We found out later that they had huge nests under the counters. Ugh!
that is exactly what I do!!! yikes, we hate them! i bet there is a nest under the counter:( bastards
I am trying to be brace, trying to erase these pictures from my mind and memory!!!! Why must you torture me! One day when I come visit….I will come visit one day…you must not tell me what lives in the place you are staying at that time;) If I do not know ahead of time you can get me there and then I can suck it up when I get there hehe. love you, you are soooo brave!!!!
Sorry about the “bastards”!!! Those look awful!!
bahahaha!! i hope you can sleep tonight sweet sister! when you come visit I will move to a sealed house with screens, air conditioning, and no bugs
aww you are too kind…just going to see you one day is enough for me! I can get over my fears:)
I am cracking up! Amanda, the first thing that I thought about when I saw that “moth” was you in CO with that bandana on your head and the net, running around the house trying to catch the moths! Just think of it this way…Your skills could be put to great use there! I love y’all! Thanks for the good laugh!!!
Oh my, I do remember that time, I can make a pretty big fool of myself huh?:) I’m slowly trying to get over my fears, hehe. love you!
i know Brooke! my poor sister and her moths, I am still thinking of how I could protect her here in Thailand from them
HAHAHAHA I was so thinking of Amanda the whole time I was reading this post! Those geckos look like wall decor theyre so big! Now to try to sleep without nightmares.
my poor sister:)
Freaky!!!!!!!!
pretty much, especially at night:( that’s when they bother me the most
You are killing our dream of going to Thailand!
BIRD moth, crayon sized leggy things– because I can’t bear to say the word and blood on your netting?! My dream is now falling apart!!! J/K!
I love following your family and hearing of your adventures in love and life. I am living through you with your fun, family and sorrows. Keep living your dream and honoring Trek.
thank you so much for reading about us! haha about your dream to thailand, it you get a hotel i think you will be safe, i think its just our open air house, we might as well be camping:) xoxo
Okay, I did not miss these about living in a tropical country! Hahaha! God! I grew up with those around the house and there was just no getting used to them. Mind you, we only had little lizards (but a couple dozen of them around the house), but I had some cousins who had big brown and gray geckos at their houses. I could not sleep during sleep-overs. I was always afraid they’d crawl up on my leg while I slept. Do their sounds bother you at all?
We also had toads that came in the house and ambushed me in the hallway outside our bathroom. I was crying and whining for my Dad to scare it away, then I would cry even more because I realized that if my Dad scared it, it would hop my way. That’s why I moved to Canada, to avoid lizards and frogs! You are one brave woman, Chelsea Ingram! Hahahaha! My mom used this chalk to keep the ants away. She kind of drew lines around the house that basically said “You can’t cross this line.” You should ask around if they have those.
PS. Which small mammal was murdered? As creepy as these pictures are, I loved the captions! This made me laugh.
what! chalk? i will have to get some-does it work? i am not sure what mammal was murdered, it was a lot of screaming and blood, but not body parts, just totally traumatized me. we have had a few little frogs, but no toads yet! yes the sounds are the only thing that bother me at night. i am glad you had a laugh, it was fun to write:)
It’s a special type of chalk…just for bugs. I think it worked..or at least I convinced myself it worked, so I could go to sleep without worrying about them.
Be careful with those geckos though. The reason I am so scared of them (besides their cold, slimy skin..eeewww) is because my grandma said once they’re on your skin, they are very hard to pry off. Fortunately, I have yet to test her theory. Keep writing about your adventures, Chelsea. 
:/ . . . I can’t move right now. (You said King Cobra?!?!) Call that kitty cat back!! . . . . (but not for the snake, for the critters.
)
i know, that darn kitty, why did i scare him off!?
Yikes! I was okay until we got to the slug, those things just gross me out….but I love the bastards!! hehe
the slugs are so gross! they are everywhere hiding in the house
I would be out of there!!!! Eeww, brave brave woman. I get the heebie jeebies reading this!
i know its creepy but for some reason it does not really bother me, i think b/c of the views and we have a super cozy bed with super nice linens! only the ants really make me mad:)
oh hellllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll no, hells to the no.
I second what Becky said haha!
haha, i think of you and amanda all the time especially when… the giant gecko poops in my room, it is about the size of 2 quarters with a rice grain size white thing at the end like the little geckos, think of you everytime!
ha ha ha…
I have been there and it is fascinatingly close to the insect world (especially for my boys)….I have just started following your travels this week after seeing your comment on Sparkling Adventures….I think you are all incredibly brave, especially sweet Trek.
It seems like he is a a great soul sent to give you all the greatest gift of true love. I think you packed a lifetime of love into his brief life, well done.
he is a great soul and did give us true love, we are forever indebted to our sweet boy. thanks for reading our story. I am glad you have seen the beauty and insects of Thailand too!
You are one brave mama, Chelsea! I thought living in Florida was enough of a critter fest to last a lifetime – alligators in the condo parking lot were pretty creepy – they sent me packing back up North. But a King Cobra? Yikes! I love the ant “mantra” – made me laugh right out loud as I formed the mental picture! And I, too, am a member of the morning coffee clatch – I have my first cup of the day with the NPA families – love you all and look forward to continuing on your journeys with you!
ok so gators by my car that would send me packing too! but i bet the boys would love it…thanks for keeping up with us. xoxo
oh, wow…hmmm King Cobras and the “Bastards” kinda scare me. I can live with everything else!
LOL.
yes the kind cobra-ahhh!!! it was so freaky, but also kinda cool they are very rare to see. and the ants-i hate them! i also don’t mind the other things-just no rats!
Ok..so you when we were IMing the other night, you did not tell me about all of this..spiders that big freak me out and the snake would put me over the edge!! I could handle the crab, geckos, and maybe the cicada..not the ants either. I am no longer jealous and I kissed the screens on my widows. Thanks for sharing all of that!. You rock, by the way!
bahaha!!! i love it Amy–jarrett and i are laughing about you kissing your screens-he misses screens too:)
I’m not exaggerating when I say my arachnophobia was aggravated just by looking at the pic of the crayon length spider…my skin is crawling from here, and that’s a long distance
I love that the lizards poop in your room each night…it’s like a puppy marking it’s territory…like our dog in the dining room! Dang it! Oh, and as I type this, I’m watching little black ants crawl in under the back door…bastards! xoxox
bahaha, poor adrienne! yes the stinkin poop in my room, i don’t get it-do it in the bathroom where you live giant gecko! and yes get those ants-call them all kinds of mean names:) hehe-love you friend
The only one I couldn’t handle would be the spider….I’m right there with Jarrett’s arachnaphobia! Great science lessons are living in your house, so start using them for home school! Love y’all!
I know! poor jarrett and yes about homeschool, never a dull day
I am having trouble with this post. Ants are my nemeses. I call them much worse things though.
I am itchy now.
they are pretty mean-sometimes i call them worse names too, but I can’t say it all on the blog:)
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