Sick boy camping

We had our big family camping outing in Kettle Moraine this past weekend. Unlike last year, which was beastly cold, the weather was perfect. Ethan was so excited we had to start camping in our living room a week ahead of time. We were ready to have some good camping and hiking fun.

The trip to Wisconsin went well enough, although Ethan was very impatient. We found the site without any trouble and got set up. We were the first ones to arrive, and had a quick dinner before Aunt Rita and Uncle Steve pulled in next door. Later, after Aunt Terrie and Uncle Kevin settled in to their site, we had a beautiful campfire and enjoyed s’mores. 

Ethan was restless all night, and felt very warm, but he woke up Saturday morning happy and full of energy. After breakfast, and Grandma and Grandpa’s arrival, we went for a walk along one of the hundreds of trails. It proved to be a perfect Ethan hike — the path was lined with interesting mushrooms. Big ones, tiny ones, orange ones, a cluster of hundreds of them. Ethan was in heaven.

But by the time we got back to the campsite, he was clearly wiped out. In fact, he said he wanted to go to bed without lunch, without stories. That’s quite unusual and I knew something was up.

And it was. 

Long story short, Ethan had strep throat (although we didn’t confirm that until Tuesday at the doctor’s appointment). Because he was sick, we never were able to go back out onto the trails (too bad, because conditions were nearly perfect), and sleep became an elusive thing for all of us. 

But we are all on the road to recovery now, and are planning our next trip in the spring, back to the same campground (on the quiet loop this time — why does everyone feel the need to drink excessively in the state parks?) so that we can have some more fun. 

Now, if only I could find the energy to finish unpacking the van.