It was all about survival of the fittest on Counting On‘s Tuesday, September 6, episode! In the literal sense, Joy, Jana, Jinger, Jedediah, Jason and John David were trekking through the wilderness at the Signa Survival School in Missouri. In the figurative sense, Jill and Derick Dillard were trying to survive their second anniversary celebration — with their young son, Israel, in tow.
Running in Heels
It turned out that running in heels is nothing compared to hiking in skirts. At the wilderness camp, the girls participated in the physical activities clad in knee-length, flowing skirts and flip-flops. “It’s just a personal conviction in our life that we wear skirts because it’s more modest,” Joy explained. Jana acknowledged that others might raise their eyebrows at the Duggar girls’ attire choices at times (like, um, this one) but shrugged it off and explained, “We just do things a little differently.”
It seemed, however, that the person struggling to survive most was Jinger — because parts of the camp did not have cell service, which made it impossible for her to be in constant communication with Jeremy. “I don’t know how long Jinger’s going to last without cell service, but it’s good to have her back,” Joy laughed to the camera.
The group learned a variety of survival skills, including how to purify drinking water with plastic bottles and charcoal, fashion sleeping bags out of leaves and build survival huts. Jinger learned all of the spots on the campsite that had cell reception. While she admitted she was on her phone a lot, she seemed fairly certain she wasn’t “driving people nuts with it,” and added, “It’s just when you’re in love, everybody knows about it.” In other words, she can’t help herself, so everyone should just get with the program and leave her alone. For the most part, they did — mainly because they realized it was a battle they could not win.
Nothing Like a Romantic Getaway … With Your Baby
In celebration of their second wedding anniversary, Jill and Derick attempted a different type of survival: going to a romantic hotel with their son along for the ride. The parents — who were currently stationed in Central America doing missionary work — were thrilled to enjoy some luxuries they hadn’t had in awhile, such as air-conditioning, hot water, a bathtub and a security guard (so they didn’t have to keep watch themselves).
As they reflected back on their two years of marriage, Derick reminisced about how special their first kiss was, since it was on their wedding day. “We’ve gotten better at it,” he assured the cameras. Jill chimed in that her favorite part of their wedding was “driving away” from everyone, and Derick added that just weeks later, they found out they were expecting their first child. (Guess he was right that they got better at the kissing stuff pretty quickly!)
While on their getaway, Israel enjoyed a swimming lesson in the pool, and the parents attempted to have a romantic meal. Jill curled her hair and put on makeup for the occasion, and while both she and Derick gushed over the luxurious restaurant, Israel seemed eager to leave and kept trying to squirm out of his high chair.
Is Jill Pregnant?
Despite the challenge of tending to Israel while eating and chatting, Jill and Derick managed to discuss their goals for the year — which included giving Israel a sibling — and exchanged romantic letters they’d written for one another.
After repeated references to how much they wanted another child, a production member asked Jill on camera if she was pregnant. “Lots of people ask that,” she said with a smile. (Well, yes, because she kept talking about it so much!) “We are looking forward to having another baby soon,” she added.
Jessa Has Babies on the Brain
Jill wasn’t the only one thinking about growing her family. While dropping off some clothes that Spurgeon had outgrown to friends who had a son six months younger than he was, Jessa got nostalgic about newborns. “Oh, well — we should have another baby sometime soon,” she mused to the camera with a big smile. Ben seemed on board with that plan, though Jessa mentioned that she did realize having a newborn now, with another young son at home already, would be quite the challenge.
“It would be totally different, though,” she explained. “Double the work, double the diapers.” Still, she and Ben were obviously determined to expand their brood relatively soon. (This was before her recent announcement that she’s pregnant with baby No. 2.)
“We’re looking forward to whatever’s next,” she shrugged … especially if whatever’s next includes having another baby … which it does.
Tell Us: Do you think Jill and Jessa will be pregnant at the same time soon?
Counting On airs on TLC Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET.
