The Strep Plague

Jude in front of Papa's tomato plants

Nothing says "Welcome Back to Florida" better than a giant water bug (aka biggest flying cockroach ever) on your kitchen floor at 1am.  That's what greeted us when we came home. Lovely. But I took it all with a smile because...after our July 4th trip...nothing could really surprise me anymore.

It all started as planned: antiquing, delicious meals, family time, happy kids, even a very first trip to IKEA. The big day - July 4 -  was hot, as always, with plenty of food, pool time and badminton matches. Nothing lit up the sky (it was too dry for fireworks) but still, it was fun. And then...Jude woke up at 8 pm, hot as a fire and with what appeared to be a terrible sunburn. That night...and the next three or four...were filled with lots of tears and little sleep for anyone (well, I probably slept more than the rest, but hey...I was getting sick too!).

This "plague" that struck our family and had us in urgent care a total of THREE days (it hit like this: Jude, me, Maddox - Andrew got lucky), was diagnosed as strep and it was misery. Red skin, red eyes, high fevers (Jude's spiked at 104!), headaches, body aches, and of course, the terrible sore throat.

We had so many bottles of medicine on the way home that we probably looked like drug dealers.

But, strep didn't ruin our time in SC (even though it came close). We wrapped it all up with my mom's birthday and Andrew and I even managed to squeeze in a date night at Arizona's.

Leaving SC is always hard. I always cry. I always think of how it could be ... weekly outings with my mom and grandma to "treasure hunt" and sit back with some coffee, familiar faces...and places....having my kids grow up around such a loving family.

Maybe one day.