GRRR!!! ithy itchy!

So far, I've been very lucky and the garden has been doing great! So much better than what I expected, actually getting some harvest. I think my beginner's luck is running out since in the last few days I have realized that gardening is a battle...with the darn pests!! The zucchini plants down on the ground floor (in the smaller container) are not doing well. The leaves were discolored but I thought this was because the container was too small. The leaves though were sort of speckled (which apparently is a clear sign of infestation).  I looked really closely at the leaves and realized...spider mites!! ALL OVER! I almost don't want to post these pictures because it makes me itchy. I tried to wipe some off but I was starting to get this sensation of bugs crawling all over me so I had to stop. I decided to make diluted dish soap spray that I've read about and basically sprayed the whole thing.

A couple of days ago, I noticed that there are little brown specs on the stems of my tomato plant (early girl). At first I didn't even think they were insects because they were microscopic and I couldn't even see that they were moving. But they are EVERYWHERE. I don't know what these are. I posted some pictures on gardenweb forum to see if I can get some help. After some googling, I think they might be thrips...or maybe non-red mites. I don't know. I can't inspect them for too long because when I look at them (I have to put my face right next to the stem) I feel itchy all over (see the pattern?). I think these guys are also attacking my young tomatoes fruits :( booooo! I'm concerned because if they are thrips, I read that they can spread some nasty viruses. I hope I don't have to pull them out. I carried the whole plant off the balcony onto the ground floor (not next to my zucchinis) to isolate them from the other tomato plants on the balcony. Some of the young tomatoes had these little dotted bugs but it wasn't so widespread that I could just wipe them off (itchy itchy itchy!!!).

I shall NOT GET DISCOURAGED!! If you have any suggestions, please do let me know!!