City of Rocks

When something scary happens with Sarah whether it is something like what we experienced Friday night, or it is a situation where she needs to be hospitalized, or whatever else the case may be the only thing I want to do is close myself off from the rest of the world and hunker down with my kiddos and Bob. 

I don't care about anything else. I just want to be with my tribe. I want to have them close to me so that I can allow them time to process all that is going on in our lives and to allow them to have the freedom to express themselves in any manner they see fit. After all, what Sarah goes through and experiences affects them all. Her disease is written deeply into their life story as well. Her ups and downs are playing a role in who they will become as adults. Selfishly, I want to have them close to me so that I can feel like I am sheltering them and protecting them. I want us to have a chance to bond together to understand that we are in this together for better or worse because we are a family. I want them to know that the 6 of us are bound together for life and that our immediate family takes precedence over everything else in this world. That family is first - always. 

Often when something goes down I like to take them away from it all. I like to plan a trip somewhere so that we can know that despite all that we have gone through and will go through we can still have fun as a family and we can still create happy memories. I do this as much for the kids as I do it for me and Bob. 

Bob was at work when Sarah's vision completely went dark on Friday night. I was (and still am) so rattled by what happened that I told him Saturday morning that I needed to get out of town. Bob was completely on board. So we planned a trip to a place called the City of Rocks State Park. It is these enormous group of rocks in the middle of the desert. There are mountains in the distance on all sides of the city, but the area surrounding it is flat with desert landscaping. Out of no where are these rocks. They look so out of place in the middle of no where. 

We had so much fun on Saturday. The rocks are there to climb on and explore. We did this all afternoon long. It was just what we needed. It was the perfect place for everyone. Bob and Andy could climb super high. Josh was able to climb up some not so super steep rocks. (Josh injured his other knee and is almost 100% recovered, but he still needs to be careful.) The rocks were big enough that Sarah could feel her way around them. My monkey child, Elizabeth, was able to freely be her lively, hyper, crazy self all without worrying about being told to calm down. 

As usual it was sunny and warm. It was the perfect day and was just what we all needed. 

All of the kids help Bob and I show Sarah around. They do such a good job of helping her. It is second nature to them now. 

Sarah took a selfie. I love this picture so much. 

Sarah and Elizabeth were talking about what a cool Barbie house this spot would be. 

The area was flat like this all around City of Rocks.