29 Hours of Camping

This layout might be my all-time favorite.  

I love that I included so many photos, yet the photos are large enough to see easily and the layout doesn't seem crowded.  I love the dark brown backing the soft yellow patterned paper that I tore.  I love the tree accent by the title.  Mostly, I love that I told the (long) story of our 29-hour camping trip in my own handwriting.  

Journaling:

We certainly didn't plan on our annual fall camping trip to Bodega Dunes with Jonna lasting only 29 hours! The first 16 hours were perfect. We got a great site, #93. We did a super fun treasure hunt and all enjoyed our prize- Lego minifigs. Trevor rode his bike around the camping loops as we trailed behind. We grilled hobo packs and roasted crescent rolls on sticks, then had s'mores before bed. It was an awesome day.

The next morning, Trevor woke up complaining about his eye. It was swollen nearly shut... exactly like last year. It seemed like a really weird coincidence. Within minutes, he developed a large circular rash on his back. That didn't happen last year. We emailed pictures to his new doctor. Within the hour, Trevor was covered in hives- all over his entire back, his arms, his legs, and part of his tummy. His face was swollen, as were his feet. I called the advice nurse, then Steve drove into town for Benadryl. Within 20 minutes of the first dose, Trevor looked much, much better.

We spent the day geocaching, making crafts, and doing our scavenger hunt. Hives came and went during the day- all very minor. Then just before dinner (as we were sitting around the fire) a spot reappeared on Trevor's face. We ate dinner and watched in horror as his face got worse and worse. We made the decision to head home in case it got even worse during the night. We had about 45 minutes before it would be pitch black. It took exactly 45 minutes to break down our camp and hit the road.

After appointments with the pediatrician and pediatric allergist, our best guess is that Trevor is allergic to oils in the smoke from one or more of the woods we were burning. Unfortunately, there is no way to test which one without having him inhale smoke to bring on a reaction.

As I've mentioned before, I would love to be published in a print magazine someday.  Yet, what I love the most about my very favorite layout (the large amount of handwritten journaling) is exactly why it will probably never be published. Magazines can't publish layouts with journaling that would be illegible at a small size, nor do they have space to type out the journaling in the margin. Even though I would love to be published, it is more important to me that I tell my stories completely and in my own handwriting.