We went to Arches in the middle of July for the Clark reunion. Jeff couldn't make it work to get that much time off so I took the kids myself. Josh took turns driving and that was a lot of help.
We stopped in Goblin Valley on the way down. I had fallen down our garage steps that morning and was in severe pain. I couldn't send the kids down in that maze by themselves so I braced myself and went down in with them. (I found out 4 weeks later that I broke one of my metatarsal bones and should've been in a boot).
Here is Caleb. He was so excited to show me this rock formation. I asked him why, and he replied, "It's a butt-crack rock". Well, we had to get a picture with him in front of it.
Can you see the kids on the very top of the left formation? They are nuts!
They ended up wandering MUCH further that we wanted them to and Uncle Jason had to go find them. Caleb and Blake were suffering from thirst, heat, and hunger. I had two screaming boys clawing at me with such severe pain in my foot. I don't know how I survived. Of course, Josh had the car keys in his pocket with all of our water and food. It was touch and go there for a while.
Blake was quite adventurous and kept climbing into places I couldn't go. I just had to stand at the bottom and pray I'd catch him if he started sliding.
Here are the kids doing water pressure rockets. The theme of the reunion was NASA trip to Mars. We had an astronomy lesson, local Mars flora and fauna demonstration, we went swimming at the Moab pool, and went on a few hikes through arches.
This sweet and sassy 2 year old is such a booger. I had a bed for him right next to me. "Nope", he said. "I shall sleep right next to you all night. Good luck getting some rest."
The second to last day, Caleb woke up and didn't move from the couch. I took him to the ER (no doctor appointments open and no Instacare in Moab) and he was diagnosed with strep. I had to plead with the doctor to administer the antibiotics with a one-time shot. I knew that getting him to drink medicine twice a day for 10 days would be nigh impossible. I am so grateful for medical professionals who listen and trust me as his mom to do what's best for him.
Because of my foot, I was only able to hobble along the shortest hike with the group. It ended up being serendipitous. Caleb came with me because I want him to have as many normal experiences as possible. My slow speed of pain perfectly matched his slow speed of sensory overload. We made it to see Landscape arch. I can't find my pictures from that hike or from when we walked to the easy viewpoint of delicate arch. Josh and Kyle were able to go with aunts and uncles to an early morning Delicate Arch hike and a late night hike to a group of other arches. Thank heavens for family help.
Here are Josh and Kyle standing under the arch.
I should take lessons from Josh on photography. He catches some beautiful images.
The kids couldn't believe their eyes while viewing "Balanced Rock". Nature is incredible.
We drove to Dead Horse Point on the way home and had a picnic lunch.
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