Thomas and Madison stayed a week after the party, so we made sure to plan something special while they were here. We planned a camping trip to Starve Hollow, southwest of Columbus, over the 4th of July holiday.
Brandon, Jackson, and I headed down the day before the 4th and Thomas and Madison met us there that evening.
It was super hot while we were there, but we had a gorgeous campsite right on the water, perfect for fishing, and had full shade which made it much more bearable. Plus, it was an electric site so Thomas brought a few fans which helped a lot.
Cutest fishermen!
Thomas brought firewood, and we made a fire the first night, but it was just so hot that we didn't sit very close to it. But we did make s'mores! Lots of 'em.
Brandon fished most of the time we were there - it was so nice for him to be able to do what he loves about camping (fishing) while still being at the site where the rest of us can enjoy other activities. He had the best luck, of course, early in the morning and late at night.
Our first morning there, Madison, Jackson, and I went for a short hike but the mosquitoes were so bad that we quickly turned back. It was beautiful, but just not worth getting 15 bites in 5 minutes.
Jackson had a lot of luck fishing, too - I think he caught 5 or 6 of these little guys in a row. Brandon even caught a turtle!
Madison and Jackson practiced throwing rocks into the gorgeous, glass-like lake.
On the 4th of July, we headed to the beach to beat the heat. Jackson loved being the only kid and having all the attention of a fun aunt and uncle who played with him, threw him into the water, and made a human totem pole in the water.
My parents came down for the day on the 4th and brought lunch and made homemade ice cream. I'm not going to lie, I was pretty jealous when they left heading back to their air-conditioned house...
We didn't get to see any fireworks on the 4th of July, but I had some leftover sparklers from our wedding so we lit those to celebrate.
This was hands-down the most gorgeous campsite I've ever been to. Granted, I haven't done a lot of camping, but being able to camp right on the lake shore was so beautiful.
Thomas and Madison headed back late that night, but the Esselborns stuck it out and camped the last night. Brandon and Jackson got up for an early morning fishing lesson. They also rented a boat for a short fishing trip on the water and went back to the beach for a quick dip. I, meanwhile, stayed back at the site reading with all the fans trained on me.
That last morning, I woke up with a little bit of a sore throat, but generally felt ok. When we got home, though, I was super tired and sticky so I took a shower and then things just went downhill from there - started feeling achy and feverish. I woke up the next morning feeling a teeny bit better so I went to a training I had scheduled for work, but came home and went straight back to bed. The next couple days were miserable - high fever, burning throat, and aches all over. I finally went to the doctor on Saturday (we got back from camping on Thursday) and found out I had strep. I'm pretty sure I had strep as a kid, but only remembered having a sore throat. This was way more than a sore throat, though. I was laid out for 2 solid days - literally only going from my bed to the couch and sleeping most of the time. I was achy and tired, freezing and hot, and just all around miserable. Strep is no joke! I'm just so grateful it waited until we got back to really hit me. Camping in that physical state would have been terrible. I was super bummed, though, because I wasn't able to go to the temple with my parents, grandma, Thomas, and Madison on Saturday or the demolition derby with Thomas and Madison on Saturday. In fact, I didn't get to see them again before they left which was really sad. But it made me even more glad that we planned this fun getaway together while they were here. We had a great time!
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