Goblin Valley 2018

With Lacy, Benjamin and the girls in town for a bit longer, we took advantage and took a long weekend trip to Goblin Valley. This was my first time there, and we just loved it -- but my favorite parts were actually camping and hiking in Little Wild Horse Canyon right near Goblin Valley. Our camp was awesome -- big wide open spaces, rocks to scramble on, little canyons to climb into and explore, and beautiful views in every direction. The sky at night, before the moon came out, was probably my favorite! We could see the Milky Way so well. The kids spent our first afternoon exploring, and scrambling up and down the giant hill next to camp. 

The drive up had been pretty rough, as Ellie was feeling pretty sick and had missed school. We determined she was going to feel crappy at home, or crappy out in nature, so nature it was. Fortunately, she made it all the way up there and never threw up. She did sit out the first hike the next day, but felt good the rest of the trip.

Our first night didn't end so well though for poor Owen, who finally got the bug that's gone through his other siblings multiple times and missed him until now. We found him and Isaac in their bed in Grandma and Grandpa's trailed COVERED in Owen's vomit that morning. It was pretty gross :-) It also eliminated a big chunk of the boys blankets and sleeping bags. We determined we could still make the next time work, bagged up the gross stuff, and let Owen take it easy all day. He happily played cards with whoever stayed back with him, and when he felt well, he ran around camp and climbed rocks and explored. Unfortunately, night two didn't go much better, and in the morning, it was pretty clear he was getting worse, not better. Plus, at this point we no longer had any pajamas, blankets, or sleeping bags for nighttime. Him and Greg stayed back while we went on a hike that morning, with Cody & Sara, who'd made it up the night before, and when we came back, we found a note that they'd decided to go home in my sister's car. I was hoping when I got home today he'd feel a lot better, but unfortunately he's still pretty sick. I love the feeling of being 'unplugged' when I'm camping, when there's not even cell reception, let alone internet; but it was actually kinda stressing me out and making me sad when I couldn't even call in to check on my baby boy. My Dad told me he'd been able to get cell reception in a specific part of the parking lot inside the park, so following his careful instructions I headed back into Goblin Valley after dark to call in and check on my boys. I was starting to feel almost panicky and teary-eyed as I drove around the parking lot with my phone searching for reception, then all the sudden my phone lit up with dozens of messages and I felt a wave of relief when I had reception and could check in. It made me realize how lucky I am to be able to so easily connect with my people so easily most of the time! 

Anyway, one last night, nobody puked, which was great, and then we headed home this morning. I was pretty antsy to get back, and then Ellie was feeling kinda under the weather again, and poor Annie's allergies were suddenly out of control and due to sand getting in her eye the day before (and having to be flushed repeatedly, then wearing a cold compress the rest of the day), she was pretty done now too :-) . So, I took my smelly and exhausted kids home and it was so good to all be home together! It was SUCH a great trip though, and I'm so glad we did it, and I can't wait to go back! I'm especially thankful we got one last family trip in with Lacy and Ben's family before they leave!