Critter control

Today I officially declared war on the ants.
Aside from one incident last March, we haven't had any issues with bugs so far in the townhouse we've been renting since December.  In March, some corn chip crumbs were scattered all over the basement play-room area when we had folks over for my birthday celebration.  Later that evening we noticed itty bitty ants all over the place, so T attacked them with the vacuum cleaner and we haven't heard from them since.
Until a little over a week ago when some crumbs were left under the dining room table after lunch and I noticed later in the day that little ants were congregating around their new find.  Ugh.  So I sucked the little buggers up with the vacuum, hoping that's all that would be needed this time too.  But they keep coming back, either randomly finding a lone ant wandering, or a few congregating on a crumb.
So I've been continuing with the vacuum when I see them.  It seems to be first thing in the morning that they're most active.  But maybe that's just because they've had some time where it's quiet or maybe that's their more active time.
So the routine for the past 7 - 10 days or so, is, upon waking, to attack them all with the vacuum while the kids hide upstairs, and do 'maintenance checks' throughout the day, sucking up stragglers as needed.
The girls have been sent outside to eat many meals on the porch so I don't have to gripe about them dropping crumbs of food on the floor.
Friday, T moved the fridge and cleaned thoroughly under there but there were still some ants this morning.
So today, we did a clean sweep and scrub of the entire area using a 50/50 vinegar/water solution with about 15 drops of lemongrass essential oil that I found in my secret stash.  ;-)
We also stuffed some used coffee grounds in a small crack outside the back door that seemed like it may be where the buggers are coming from.  I found that idea in a google search for 'natural ant deterrent' or something similar.  If it helps, great.  If not, oh well.  They would've gone in the trash anyways.
For the next couple days after each meal, we'll vacuum/sweep, clear dining table and kitchen counters and wipe down table & counter with the vinegar/lemongrass solution.  Daily, i'll clean the floors with the solution.
We'll also try and observe where the ants like to hang out outside.
It rained some today.  But before this morning, it had been quite dry, so maybe they were also trying to find water.
In general, I don't mind ants.  As long as they stay outside.  :-)