Cicadas and other adventures

Last entry was about pretty things, this entry will be about ugly things!
The Cicadas are out this year in Illinois. I don't know where they are elsewhere in the world, but here they only come once every 17 years. It's kind of fun because I remember the last time they came. I have a few distinct memories of being at the Arboretum with my family. One cicada flew in my mom's hair and I remember her running and screaming a bit. I also remember my brother's throwing sticks at my hair so I would freak out thinking they were cicadas. I did freak out of course! Who wouldn't with these big nasty bugs clumsily flying all over!
We actually don't have cicadas in my neighborhood because the trees are too young. I heard downtown Glen Ellyn was swarming with them though. It just so happened that I had a dentist appointment there today. I thought it would be fun for the boys to see the cicadas, and I wanted to also, for old times sakes. (I miss my family!)
Sure enough, the trees were covered and the air was filled with their high pitched hum. It can be quite noisy actually. Ravinia, a wonderful outdoor concert venue, postponed their summer concerts a month so the noise wouldn't interfere with the music. I suppose it wouldn't be very romantic to be listening to a beautiful classical music concert over a candlelight picnic with huge bugs buzzing all around.

Here's a close up. It is a bit blurry because it was busy crawling up the tree so it could serenade for a mate. They are quite freaky looking with their large bodies and red eyes, but they are totally harmless, which I had to remind myself several times this afternoon. They are clumsy and nearly blind too, so they will randomly fly into you. Just hearing them buzz as they fall onto the ground and try to get up is disturbing. After I had finished taking pictures and returned to my van, I found one on my shirt.
Yes, this is gross. But it's kind of cool to see the sheer number of them. These are all the shells/skeletons, (whatever the proper term is) that they have shed on their way to the tree tops.

Seeing the cicadas was just the first part of our adventure. The second began when I turned the key to our new van (new to us this January) and it wouldn't start! That's just great, I thought. It's very hot and humid, and we're surrounded by cicadas! After several tries I realized it wasn't just a fluke, so I got the boys out of their car seats and started the calls. They were soaked in sweat after just a few minutes of sitting in our van.
Fortunately I have family here in Glen Ellyn. I called Jason's home and his mom came with cool drinks and jumper cables. To make a long story short, my van wouldn't jump even after a very kind man spent 15 minutes trying with his huge truck to jump it, so I waited for a tow truck for an hour and half. Thankfully, the tow truck was able to jump the van. I bought a battery, Jason's neighbor installed it, and 5 hours after I meant to leave Glen Ellyn, I was on my way home.
I'm so grateful that we have family nearby. It makes life so much easier. Jason's mom took the boys while I waited for the tow truck and watched them for the rest of the afternoon. So I got to sit on a blanket with the cicadas and read a magazine--it almost made for a leisurely afternoon.

I just had to get some cuter pictures in here than cicadas. Here's James enjoying our picnic before the car fiasco happened.
Finally, a picture of Nathan! He has been avoiding the camera but I caught him in a happy moment.

This picture I like because James took it! He wanted to take some pictures of the cicadas, and then he said "And now I'll take a picture of you mommy!"