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
2 comments:
Looks like you're having a great time!! Nice view there from the top.
Thanks for sharing your trip. We would love to go to spring training one year. Cute picture of you and Kaiya. Did the whole family color coordinate for the hike or just the two of you? I want to see Doug in his purple shorts and white top.
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