Climbing Camelback

After a solid couple of days at the pool and the parks (and a trip to our favorite ice cream parlor called the Sugar Bowl that necessitated more calorie burning than just a jog along the canal behind us), we decided to try a family hike today. I'm not really the hiking type, but the kids were so excited to give it a try. Camelback Mountain is a local landmark that serves as my compass when we are here. I can see it when we land at the Phoenix airport and I know what streets and places are on both sides of it. It is so named because it looks like a giant camel lying down.

Cooper and Doug went part way up several years ago when we were here and convinced me that the view was amazing. Well, they were right. Kinley started to get a case of tired legs about half way up and Cooper pulled a hammy somehow. Being the team player that he is, Doug agreed to turn around with those two while Kaiya and I kept going. I fully expected Kaiya to go a while longer, but not to the top. I was wrong. The girl had the eye of the tiger and I was her bait. There was no stopping this girl.

The last quarter of the hike is not a hike--it's a rock-climbing, wall-scaling expedition. Being that I am inching a litte closer to age 40, I was not going to be outdone by my kid. An hour later, we were at the very top. Going down was a bit scarier than going up and we made a couple of wrong turns, but 3 hours after we started the entire journey, we made it back. I am still blown away by Kaiya. She made climbing those steep rocks look effortless. Jumping in the pool afterward was heaven (wherein Kaiya then swam for 2 hours--no wonder she's a skinny minny).

Tonight, we capped our day with a trip to the Mesa Temple for their outdoor Easter pageant. What an amazing show that is! On the way home, I have never seen my kids so tired. Cooper suggested they have a race when we got back to see who could fall asleep the fastest to which Kinley disappointedly replied, "Oh, man! Look! Kaiya already won!"



The Mesa Temple Easter Pageant

Playing with dough while waiting for our pizza

From blizzard to bliss!

Greetings from sunny Scottsdale, AZ--where the orange blossoms are strong, the cars have no mucky snow, the highs are in the 80's, my kids already have green hair from swimming and the old people are aplenty. :) After a blizzard dumped a foot of snow on us on Thursday, I can honestly say I was as excited for this spring break trip as any. I am not a cold weather person. Never have been. Never will be. My ideal winter would last one week.

It is hard to believe that it has been almost 30 years since we started coming to AZ for spring break--first as a kid and now with my own kids. The condo down here, affectionately referred to as "The Pad" was purchased by my dad and grandparents in 1980. There are so many memories here for me. Now that it has been remodeled and no longer looks like it was purchased in 1980, it is good to go for at least another 30 years. I hope my kids bring their kids here someday.

I finally get to post something that fits my blog background right now. We made it to a Rockies vs. A's spring training game today. Good times. Wierd to see Matt Holliday wearing green, but a great day for baseball. It's so fun to see the players up close and to watch the young talent trying to make their mark. The girls weren't overly thrilled with going to the ballpark on day 1 of their vacation, but they were troopers.

After the ballgame, we headed to the pool, fixed dinner and ate in. I'm not sure what it is, but my kids eat like beasts when we are down here. Must be the sun.

Not sure what the rest of the week will bring, but that's part of the fun. We might head to an African safari outside Phoenix one day. We will probably feed the ducks at the huge park up the road, definitely will eat ice cream at the infamous Sugar Bowl, might have to have a mom/daughter day at the nail salon, need to hit a bucket of golf balls, many jogs along the canal, some shopping at my favorite local places, and many hours in the pool.

More later . . . . .

Ready to board the plane

Go Rockies!

Right in front of our seats

Take me out to the ballgame

A year in the books

It is hard to believe that I have been a nurse at Children's for a year now. The time has flown by and yet I still feel like I have so, so much to learn. Getting through your first year as a nurse is kind of a hallmark occasion. Most people told me if you can survive your first year without coming apart at the seams or quitting, you will make it. There were certainly times that I wanted to throw in the towel, but something makes me keep going back (something more than just the paycheck). And because of some turnover on our unit, I've had to be trained a little early to be a charge nurse. Being in charge is scary bananas!

We lost 5 kids in my first year. Two of them were especially difficult for me. I didn't expect to be attending funerals on my days off. There is an unwritten rule about creating professional boundaries at work and yet I don't know how to NOT get close to these kids and their families.

Part of me wishes I could work days so I could interact more with our docs and other ancillary staff, but the fact that I can do this job one or two nights a week and still be able to do all the mommy stuff makes it work out pretty nicely. Here are pics of three kids that I fell in love with (all of whom stayed with us for weeks or months). One of them has cardiomyopathy (diseased and enlarged heart) and may yet still need a transplant (and being raised by a single dad), one of them got a mechanical valve replacement (and whose mother is not yet 18) and one of them had his diaphram quit working after surgery so he had to get a long-term tracheostomy to help him breathe. Each is a sad story, but I am impressed with the fighting spirits of the kids and the families. Aren't they cute?

Yankees and Rockies and Reds, oh my!

I have bragged a lot about my little brother, Bennett, but he gave me reason to do it again. In this last week, I have parked my butt in the stands at CSU to watch him play in the final four of the state basketball championships and then in the bleachers at two baseball games. It was a season change in less than 48 hours!

Today, however, was a big day for this kid. It was #1 vs #2 in the state facing off in a baseball game that is likely a preview of the state title game in May. And because the game featured two potential draft pics (a pitcher from the other team and my little bro), there were pro scouts aplenty in the stands.

It looks as if he is going to be invited to play on Turner Field in Atlanta and at Coors Field right here in Denver for a pre-draft workout in early June. Holy crap!! There were scouts at the game today from the Yankees, Orioles, Rockies, Reds, and Red Sox watching Bennett. This is all so surreal. He played a great game behind the plate and went 2 for 4 with a rocket shot that turned things around in the game that they ultimately won.

He may have a decision to make coming up here soon. The MLB draft is the second week in June. If he gets drafted high enough and decides to sign, he loses his ability to play college ball for Oral Roberts (but still gets college paid for). If he gets drafted in a lower round and defers, he can still play college ball and hope he gets drafted in a few years again. Glad it's not my decision! That's what my brother Brandon is for. :)
Scouts in the bleachers looking on
Shooting a free throw in the semi's


The Bennett Pickar Fan Club

Overscheduled?

I promised myself when I had kids that they would not be overscheduled. I believe very strongly that kids need down time and time to just play and be kids. That said, I'm afraid I've backed myself into a corner with Miss Kaiya--one that we will have to ride out until spring is over.

She had been doing gymnastics once a week and then playing soccer in the spring and fall with a team she's been with for several years now. It was a busy time, but it worked. Now that she is on the team, gymnastics is twice a week for 2.5 hrs and soccer is twice a week with games and meets both on Saturdays. Of course, none of this includes activities for Cooper and Kinley!

At the time we signed up and paid for soccer, she had not been invited to be on the gym team yet. So, gym is now on M/W and soccer on T/Th (although soccer may now be M/Th in which case she has to miss a practice, which isn't fair to the other girls who show up to all practices). She is holding up remarkably well and staying on top of her schoolwork and church activities. She's showing no signs of being overscheduled and loves to be this busy. When soccer is over, she wants to start piano lessons. Ahhh!! What's a mom to do? You want your kids to thrive and develop their talents, but . . . .

She is loving school this year and absolutely loves her teacher. It has been a struggle, at times, having kids in two different elementary schools, but it was the right choice for all of them. I got to go into her class yesterday for a career day/community day and talk about being a nurse. I brought lots of medical equipment and they seemed pretty engaged. I love this age when having your mom come to your class is still very cool. Kaiya was on cloud 9. :)

Here are a couple pics from yesterday in her class and Kaiya's home life. I may have to rearrange my furniture in the house. Kaiya no longer stands upright. She is either in a handstand or upside down 24/7.

Idol: Home Version

When Kinley gets older, she will hate me for posting this, but it's too funny to keep all to ourselves. Kinley has really gotten into Idol this year and gets so mad that I won't let her stay up to watch the end.

About a week ago, she discovered an old MP3 player that used to be Kaiya's. It only holds about 60 songs, so I loaded all her favorites on it and it hasn't left her hands. She wanted to know if she could take it to church on Sunday. You will see why that would not have been a good idea.

Anyway, after tucking her in last night, she retrieved her MP3 from her nightstand and all we could hear was this yelling. I started to go in her room and realized it was just her singing along with her headphones on, oblivious to how loud she was "singing." I grabbed my camera (the lighting is horrible, sorry, but her room was almost dark) and she didn't realize I was filming until about half way through. Without missing a beat, she just kept singing. Too bad this kid has no self-confidence.

Crossed over, but almost crossed off!

There are those moments as parents that make you so proud, then there are those that make you want to slip out the back door, praying you go unnoticed. Saturday night was just such a night.

The annual cub scout Blue & Gold banquet was Saturday and it was the last one for Cooper. As an 11-year-old scout, he is no longer a cub. Our pack goes to great lengths to make the cross over ceremony special for the boys (crossing over from cub to boy scouts). Many people spent all day preparing for the banquet and his Webelos leaders have been wonderful this last year helping him get everything done. Despite all this, it has been a bit of a struggle to get him excited about scouting. He would rather be shooting hoops, playing catch or watching ESPN.

So, there we were on Saturday night watching Cooper get award after award and feeling proud that we all survived to get to this point. He and four other boys were about to go through the cross over ceremony when the Scout Master decided to give each boy an opportunity to reflect on their time as cub scouts. The microphone was placed in front of Cooper after being asked, "What was your favorite part of cub scouts, Cooper?" His reply with a straight face in front of 150 people . . . . . "Uh, the days we didn't have it."

The look on his face told us he was a little shocked it actually slipped out of his mouth. After a sincere apology to his leaders, we are able to laugh about it. Sort of. <