The Results of a Determined Woman to Have a Good Friday

Beware...Seriously LONG post.
So, here is how my Friday played out. I picked the kids up from school @ 12. Went to Phil's office to say hello and then took the kids hiking. I took them to San Tan Mountain & drove around looking for some trails. Well I couldn't exactly find any trails, so I finally parked the truck on the side of the road in a neighborhood and told the kids to get out. I then proceeded to put my children under a barbwire fence and off we went. 

We went through washes and brush and up rocks and boulders. At one point we were on top of a boulder pile & could see all the way to the Salt River...and that is when I noticed a trail. I thought to myself, I wonder if that goes to the San Tan Mine? So, off we went to find that trail & see where it goes. The kids were great and were excited for a good adventure. It wasn't till we were almost to the top, that they started to get tired. Mind you that by then we had hiked probably 2-2.5 miles. But alas, we made it to the top & the kids were so excited. The mine entrance has been blasted, so you can't get in anymore, but the kids were still excited & climbed all over the big rocks. 

While we were at the top, Raya collected an armful of rocks that she thought were special crystal rocks. She hiked those babies all the way down the mountain and then a mile through the neighborhood back to our truck without complaining once! I was seriously impressed. 
Kylie was my little warrior. She was the first one to the top & even though she would start to whine, she kept going and always wanted to lead the way. By the time we got back to the truck though, Kylie was so tired that she was crying, and she now tells me that she doesn't like to go to the tops of mountains because it makes her legs tired & hurt. Which I have to say, when she told me that, I thought to myself, this is one of those priceless kid speeches/mother moments.
The whole time we were hiking, Landon kept wanting to go off & explore all different kinds of areas. Which I thought was so completely authentic boy & I loved it and totally wanted to go with him. BUT, then I started thinking about snakes, cactus, spiders, gila monsters...etc, and I told him that he had to get his little booty back by me or else! He loved every second of the hike! I think he could have gone on for at least another hour. He kept telling me that he was going to go this way & that way. Up the sides of the mountain & climb the cliffs, and I just kept thinking about the snakes, spiders, scorpions...etc, and kept telling him he had to stick to the trail.
Then there was Aubry, I think she might have only touched the ground 5 times. One of which was when I was shoving her under a barb wire fence...LOL. Don't worry, the bottom wire was spike free. I literally held that little 30lb chunk of love 99.9% of the way and amazingly enough I was totally fine doing it too. Don't get me wrong I had to switch arms. But, I never felt like my arms were going to fall off.  I have to attribute that to my workout partner Jen & P90X. Aubry LOVED every second of the hike and it was one of my most favorite experiences of being a mom yet. I hope my kids can put up with me doing this a lot more often!
So then after the hike, I took the kids to Basha's and let them go in the Cub House, while Aubry and I grocery shopped. Can you guess what I bought?....DOUGHNUTS!!! A whole dozen & a half! Why so many you ask? Because on Fridays, if you buy a dozen Basha's doughnuts, you get half a dozen free. We then went home & I popped in some pizzas for the kids, hurried changed into my work out clothes, did my P90X Legs & Back workout for 30 minutes. Which by the way, I thought I was going to DIE! It hurt SO bad, and my kids kept telling me that it was easy and they could do that with no problem. All while they & their Father sat at the table eating pizza, watching me obliterate my leg muscles. I just have to say that my butt muscles were so sore that it literally felt like I had bruised my butt when I touched it.

Then I hurried and hoped in the shower for a quick rinse and we were out the door for dinner & a movie with our friends Jeff & Robin Raso. We ate at Streets of New York Pizza which is really good & then went to the AMC Theater (holy nice theater) and saw 
When in Rome. I was really excited to see the movie, but I have to tell you it is a serious Red Box rental only. Don't get me wrong, Josh Duhamel is HOT and I did get warm fuzzies. But the movie could have been SO much better. Plus, Phil was asleep before the previews were over until almost the end of the movie.
Few...well that was Friday...long day but almost every bit of it was enjoyable.