Keeping the Mosquitoes at Bay

I'm not sure what the final total rainfall this past week was, but it was a lot. The toddler sandbox that still gets play as Helen's favorite watering hole was filled to the brim. Water was pooling on the side of our house, which inspired me to at least temporarily fix some of our many drainage problems - getting completely soaked in the process. I also ran 9.5 miles but that is only because I didn't get the email or text suggesting we cancel until I was already sitting in front of my friend's house. And by that point, I was ready to run (my friend and her neighbor, another friend, decided to join after all which was super nice of them).

And now we sit and wait for the swarms of mosquitoes that will surely thrive in all this water that has been left behind. Our backyard has the worst mosquitoes - and they bite during the day and in the evening. We've done a lot of work in our backyard to get rid of them (mostly getting a lot of air circulating through there, and getting rid of standing water before it is around for more than a couple of days) but still, they persist.

We leave bug spray on our screened in porch at all times so that anyone who dares venture out beyond the screens can try and protect themselves. But last weekend, I tried something new! We had friends over for a BBQ on Friday night, and when Helen went out to play ping pong with her friend, I turned on the Stinger All Natural Mosquito Lantern. I placed it beneath the center of the table.

The packaging claims it'll keep mosquitoes away over a 225 square foot area, and by the looks of Helen's legs, it actually worked! Which is awesome, because we love hanging out not just on the deck, but the patio beside it. And normally, we get enough mosquito bites to be driven back to the safety that screens offer.

When I'm brave, I'm going to try weeding the garden with this lantern nearby. I'm thinking it might be possible to NOT have to put on two layers of long sleeves to keep from getting bitten!

The Mosquito Lantern is super easy to use - just put this little strip that looks like a piece of Juicy Fruit gum in a holder in the lantern, drop in the batteries, and turn it on. Almost like magic!

Elaine

I received the Stinger All Natural Mosquito Lantern as a gift from Stinger. I'll be purchasing additional ones for my annual Oktoberfest party, in a bid to keep the mosquitoes out of the party!