Getting Caught Up: End of May 2012 Happenings
Jack's Chess Club Tournament / X's Kindergarten Graduation / A's School Picnic / A's Play Date with "Little Jack" / Alex Comes to Visit / Scouts Swimming Party
Tuesday, May 22 - Jack is the new Chess Club coach for Apollo Junior High (AJH). He voluntarily took this on in April. After school today, the Chess Club had its first tournament since 2002 (when it disbanded after the current coach, Bill Devins, left). In 2002 the Apollo Team won the U.S. Open Chess Championship - Under 15 Division. We have a 5 foot trophy in the robotics classroom to prove it.
Mr. Devins was not an Apollo teacher, but rather a nearby, local townsperson who at one time had a son at AJH. Jack decided to revive it after observing the "Chess Club" playing in the newly-created after-school, federally funded "PACE" program (called Panther After School Nation). PACE consists of one, hour-long program in the morning that Jack runs out of his classroom ("Before the Bell" - a homework help center for kids who arrive early to school) and two after school classes that change each day and run until 6:00 PM. Jack is the "School Liaison" for both and answers to a full-time PACE administrator. This is a nice extra-duty pay throughout most of the school year for Jack. The morning program meets daily and the after school program meets Monday through Thursday. X is enrolled in a PACE program every afternoon at his school, though he only gets to go a few times a week due to his busy schedule. If it were up to X, he would go every afternoon because he enjoys the socialization and fun programs.
Since the PACE after school program is divided into roughly six-week sessions (following the school calendar) with a series of once-a-week programs, the Chess Club had a bunch of students who had picked it for one of their one-hour session on Tuesday. There were about 8 kids, most of who had never played chess and no one who seemed to know all the rules.Jack decided to take this on as a morning project during the morning "Before the Bell" in order to increase the morning enrollment. The federal grant that funds the after school program pays a certain amount based on enrollment and Apollo's contract stipulates that they need 100 kids to attend at least 30 distinct days over the course of a year - not quite as easy as it sounds for a new program.
Jack decided to seek out Bill Devins and revive the old Chess Club and wanted to make it once again the powerhouse that it once had been. Mr. Devins was excited to get back to his son's Alma Matter and eagerly agreed to voluntarily coach most mornings from 7:00 until school starts at 8:30. After officially making it the Apollo Chess Club and transferring a small amount of funds from Jack's defunct AJH Robotics Club (there is a long story about that, but won't be discussed), the new Apollo Chess Club officially started in late April 2012. The Apollo Chess Club bought 15 tournament-level chess sets and other things that support the club.
The tournament today had 14 students and went very well. Jack and Mr. Devins are both eager to see what can happen in the 2012 - 2013 school year with an active club that meets daily. Mr. Devins predicts the club will do well since most clubs just meet weekly at the most. Things are already underway to schedule tournaments between schools and enter contests at the regional and state level.
Thursday, May 24 - X graduates from Kindergarten with a nice ceremony where his class sings a few songs. He, like all of Team Nelson, are very happy!
Immediately after graduation Jack attended a cub scout adult leader meeting and found all about Twilight (Scout) Camp for X.
Friday, May 25 - A had a school picnic. This was a big deal for A. He and Melinda had a great time.
Saturday, May 26 - X had a second birthday at Nanny's house where longtime family friends came and celebrated for the day in Nacogdoches. X and A loved driving around battery-powered cars in Nanny's driveway, eating custom-made donuts from Nanny's donut shop and, of course, playing with Nanny!
Tuesday, May 29 - A had a fun playdate with his school friend, "little Jack." Melinda and Little Jack's mom set this up a few weeks back in anticipation of the end of A's school for the season. "Little Jack" (as A refers to him to distinguish from "Daddy" who Melinda still calls "Jack" sometimes) lives nearby and coincidentally is adopted. Having a nearby adoptive mother gives Melinda another sounding board. Melinda plans to meet with Little Jack and his mother several more times this Summer.
Wednesday, May 30 - Alex, Jack's oldest son, came up to visit for a few days. A and X always love to play with their "brothers" and Alex and Erich love playing with them! A and X take a lot of pride in telling others about their older brothers and have long since considered them as such. In just a few more months, they will all legally be siblings.
Oddly enough, A and X will have their birth certificates and social security cards changed actually showing Melinda and Jack as the parents (that is how the law works). Legally speaking, it will look as if Melinda gave birth to them. At that time, the State of Texas will completely and forever wipe out the kids original records of birth. We assume this goes back to the days where "closed adoption" (no contact with bio-parents) was common and often kept a secret from the children. Legally speaking, in Texas ALL adoptions are "closed adoptions." The State of Texas does not and has never recognize "open adoption" and the kids become part of our family free and clear of all prior agreements. The agreement that we signed last December that we worried about when negotiating the parental rights becomes unenforceable the day we adopt. That being said, we have chosen to keep in contact with X's and A's biological mother and her family as well as A's biological father and will continue to do so as long as it is healthy for the kids. There is a great deal of science that indicates that post-adoption bio-parent contact is beneficial to the children's sense of identity. Additionally, Federico and Liliana, X and A's biological cousins, and "Grandma Bonnie" are close to X and A and will likely remain a very important part of their lives. Our philosophy has been from the start and still remains that the kids cannot have "too much love" in their lives and as long as the visitations remain positive for the kids and stay infrequent (as strongly advised by X and A's psychologist and every single expert we have talked to) to allow and maintain proper bonding with our family, we foresee continued visitations for their entire childhood. We also intend to keep this blog and our private Shutterfly (online photos) available for the bio-family to access. While still maintaining the privacy that the kids and our family needs, we feel it is important for the bio-family to know that the kids are happy and well taken care of. These notes and pictures also serve as talking points for the bio-family to use when discussing with X and A what is happening in the kids' lives. Again, there can't be too much love for X and A!
Thursday, May 31 - "Scouts Swimming Party #1" (of four throughout the Summer). X had fun swimming and meeting the scouts of his new pack while Jack helped prepare the burgers and hot dogs. Meanwhile, A and Melinda went out for a special treat.
Tomorrow Alex will catch a ride back to his home in Houston with us (for Melinda's nephew's high school graduation). It is hard to believe that Chance is graduating. The boys are looking forward to spending time with Aunt Patti and Uncle Gary as well.
Yes, May was a very busy month for Team Nelson and the Summer is all lined up to be busy and very exciting as well!
6-Year-Old "Rite of Passage" Camp Out / Family Visit at the Park
Friday, May 18th - In the evening, Jack prepare X for what they were going to do on Saturday and Sunday and began explaining the "Rite of Passage." Jack's great, great, great grandfather was an Indian and Jack explained the detailed lore behind ritual. As we found out on Saturday from one of his aunts, X and A are actually descendants of an Aztec Indian tribe from their great, great, great grandfather (or something like that).
Jack carefully painted a two-inch henna tattoo of a Tyrannosaurus Rex (T-Rex) footprint on X's right hand symbolizing "knowledge" and the need to think before doing. He did one over his heart for "compassion" for the land, animals and people. Finally, he did one on his right foot for "courage" and the need to be brave in the face of danger. As the legend goes, a tribe of the Tawakoni Indians (http://www.accessgenealogy.com/native/tribes/caddo/tawakoniindianhist.htm) (and including later Jack's great, great, great grandfather) found some of the first theropod (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theropoda) footprints in Texas (a T-Rex is the most famous of the theropods). This tribe was so impressed by what they saw that they used the three toes of the theropod to represent the three phases of the "Ata'wa" (meaning "Ready Boy") ritual for when a boy turns 6 years old. There are also similar, but more advanced rituals at 11 ("Awa'ko" meaning "Young Man") and 16 ("Ako'ni" meaning "Man of the Tribe").
The henna tattoos (which would have been originally been done by other plant dyes that are not readily available) took about an hour and a half to dry and would last up to two full weeks.
X was thrilled to show everyone and told everyone that would listen about the legend and mainly what the three symbols stood for.
Jack explained what he would have to do for each. Fortunately, each generation of Tawakoni Indians has leeway for what constitutes completing the phases.
KNOWLEDGE: X would learn bird shadow identification and have to correctly identify several birds in the wild. He would also have to learn animal tracks and identify those as well. All of these are also both Junior Park Ranger requirements (to earn a badge).
COMPASSION: X would have to take care of the land at the State Park (including picking up trash as we came across it, clean up after our campsite and "leave no trace"). Also part of the Junior Park Ranger requirements (to earn a badge) as well as Boy Scout pledges for camping and hiking.
COURAGE: X would have to do a night hike with Jack of at least one mile. Jack knew this would be tough because the trail is dark, steep and winding, but, of course, they both would have headlamps for the hike.
Saturday, May 19th - Today was destined to be a very packed and crazy day long before it happened.
First, we all had a visit in a local park with the biological mother and baby, maternal grandmother, two aunts and three child cousins. We started at 10:00 because X and Jack had plans for later that day. All the kids played very well and X got to have yet another birthday party. Following the park play, we all went to McDonald's for some food and more play on the big indoor playground. While the biological mother and baby had to leave early, everyone else stayed for the full time and then a little extra. X loved all the attention, but even more loved all the play (as did A).
The Nelson's rushed home and packed all the final things into the car in less than an hour for the big camp out.
As soon as we (Jack and X) arrived at Eisenhower State Park and got our campground assignment, we set up the tent. We had practiced setting it up once before, so X knew what we needed to do. We also started a fire in the fire pit. We then quickly got dinner started on the Coleman stove (beans) while X roasted the hot dogs. We were fighting daylight hours and I knew we wanted everything completely set up BEFORE going on the night hike (since it is tiring and we would want to go to sleep soon afterwards). Cleaning up the dishes was a time consuming as was trying to find the utensils. While I had done a good job of gathering everything before leaving, I needed to have spent more time in logically packing (so I knew where everything was).
We started the hike soon after eating. It was pretty dark, but we had on our Black Diamond headlamps (http://www.blackdiamondequipment.com/en-us/shop/mountain/lighting/wiz-headlamp) that worked great. Regardless, it was kind of scary for X, but I kept reminding him about courage. We walked from the top of the trail to the creek bed of the trail (about a half a mile or maybe more) and then turned around and went back up to the trail head. Normally, in daylight, we go from one trail head to the the end and back - twice as far. He did great and was very proud that he made the hike (later telling several random people).
When we got back to the tent he got his first bead on his leather lanyard - a very cool dark blue and white glass bead - for Courage. He would later get an orange and white bead for Knowledge and red and white one for Compassion (all hand-blown glass). He was very excited about his first bead.
We also put together a large Star Wars puzzle (2 ft x 3 ft) that he got for his birthday, but then promptly went to sleep around 10:00 PM (2 hours after his normal bedtime). We both slept pretty well - waking around 6:00 AM.
Sunday, May 20th - We then did iron skillet scrambled eggs and bacon (which was again a nightmare to clean up) and packed up some of our things. For knowledge, we used the Eisenhower State Park Junior Ranger Program http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/publications/pwdpubs/media/pwd_bk_p4503_0032m.pdf guide and simultaneously earned his Junior Ranger Badge. We had worked on some the night before. The main things we focused on was the bird identification and animal tracks identification, but we did well more of the activities than required for his age. As we went the entire trail on Sunday, we stopped for awhile throughout the hike to do the "Use Your Senses Nature Hike." He really like this and got to appreciate everything that was really going on in the outdoors (which was part of the purpose of the campout). It was still early in the morning, so the heat had not gotten to us and there was nothing rushing us to make it through by a particular time. He really enjoyed stopping and spotting birds. The Knowledge portion was a huge success. For Compassion, we picked up any trash along the trails and roadways that we saw and, after returning to the campsite, made sure that we left the site even better than we arrived the day before.
By noon, we had completed everything and had everything packed up. We were exhausted and X even opted not to go swim. He was very happy with the camp out. Now, with all three beads earned, he was as an Ata'wa!
We headed to the Ranger Station for one last thing, to get him certified and sworn in as a Junior Ranger. We had practice the oath several times before arriving. They Rangers were very accommodating as X proceeded to give a long version of what we had done. They were impressed by how much we did on the program and what all he knew. The Ranger that actually swore him in had the same name (X) - but as a middle name. X thought was pretty special. X got his Junior Ranger badge and to celebrate, we got X the official Junior Ranger vest (we already owned the hat) and a nice, laminated bird identification flyer that would have come in handy earlier that day.
After taking a picture with X and his new friend the Ranger, we got back in the car and headed home. X made it 1,000 yards before he was fast asleep! I had to fight the urge for another hour until we got home.
Overall a very, very successful camp out and birthday. He would talk about this for weeks to come.
Playdate for A / Practice Camp Out / Cedar Hill Park / The Start of A's Birthday Parties!
Wednesday, May 2nd - A friend from school named Jack came over to play with A. This was a special treat, but something we intend on doing much more. Melinda has gotten with Jack's mom and is planning on many play dates over the Summer. A had a great time!
Friday, May 4th - Unbeknownst to A or X, Jack (the foster dad, not little friend of A) did a "practice camp out" in the backyard. One of X's big birthday presents is a ""Rite of Passage" overnight camp out at Eisenhower State Park (see May 18th). For the last two months Jack has been carefully researching and buying all the gear to make this the best birthday present ever. Things included sleeping bags, tent, lanterns, headlamps, Coleman gas stove, games, puzzles, henna (for temporary tattoos) and much, much more. The test was successful even through heavy rain and a very muggy night. He would have waited until a little closer to May 18th, but every weekend day was already booked up with fun activities for X and A.
Saturday, May 5th - Changing it up a bit... off to Cedar Hill State Park and Joe Pool Lake. This was a very hot day and the hike was over 2 1/2 miles of very little shade (unlike all the other hikes). Melinda and I dubbed this the "Death March" because the hike just would not end and we were getting annoyed by the weeds and grasses that were taller than A. This was not our favorite hike and we vowed not to do this one again. HOWEVER, the lake at Cedar Hill State Park is Joe Pool Lake and they have the best beach we visited in a state park. It was large and a very gradual slope, so X and A got to run around a lot more. It was actually quite packed that day with other families and kids, but X and A never minded (and, of course, played with everyone). Since the swim is always the last thing of the day, X and A decided it was a great day!
Friday, May 11th - The first of what would be MANY of X's birthday parties that even extended into June. This one was with his friends at school. They had cupcakes and sang "Happy Birthday" (cha-cha-cha) to him. x Since the 11th is X's actual birthday, he turned six and we also had a party at home and gave him his tent, headlamp, sleeping pad and more in anticipation for the camp out. He was very happy to be celebrated.
Saturday, May 12th - X's big swim party (birthday celebration number 3 already). He had several school friends and even some old friends show up. The water was a little cold due to recent rains, but the kids still played wildly. After getting out of the pool. all the kids played with Hexbug Nano robots on tracks for about an hour before opening presents and having a sheet big cake.
Sunday, May 13th - The family went on a short, local-trail hike. We had to cut it short due to a death in the family that required Melinda to travel down to Houston for a funeral. Regardless, we all had fun on the local hike and will definitely do that again.
And this is only the FIRST half of the month!
April Fun at Church and Eisenhower State Park
Sunday, April 15 - X and A attended church and had plenty of time to play on "The Tubes" after eating a nice meal.
Monday, April 16 - X got to go on a field trip with his school to the Environmental Science Center where he learned all about recycling and taking care of the earth.
Saturday, April 21st - A rare Saturday church visit for X and A as Melinda and Jack attend a special fostering/adoption -related meeting on integrated medical/psychological child care. Afterwards, the kids got to play on The Tubes again.
Sunday, April 22nd - Back to Eisenhower State Park - our favorite, nearby destination. Of course we did the Nature Trail hike, picnic and swim at Lake Texoma routine. The beach was not too crowded today.
Saturday, April 28th - Grillin' time in the backyard - complete with hotdog roasting and s'mores making over the gas grill. We are trying out new wiener-roasting sticks.
Sunday, April 29th - Yep, another hike, picnic and swim at Eisenhower State Park! This time we went over the Texoma Dam and crossed into Oklahoma where we took pictures with X and A at the "Welcome to Oklahoma" sign then backtracked into Texas and found the similar signage for Texas.
As a reminder, all this hiking is not only for fun, it is try and condition us for our long end-of-summer trip for Foster and Adoptive Families.
Sunday, April 15 - X and A attended church and had plenty of time to play on "The Tubes" after eating a nice meal.
Monday, April 16 - X got to go on a field trip with his school to the Environmental Science Center where he learned all about recycling and taking care of the earth.
Saturday, April 21st - A rare Saturday church visit for X and A as Melinda and Jack attend a special fostering/adoption -related meeting on integrated medical/psychological child care. Afterwards, the kids got to play on The Tubes again.
Sunday, April 22nd - Back to Eisenhower State Park - our favorite, nearby destination. Of course we did the Nature Trail hike, picnic and swim at Lake Texoma routine. The beach was not too crowded today.
Saturday, April 28th - Grillin' time in the backyard - complete with hotdog roasting and s'mores making over the gas grill. We are trying out new wiener-roasting sticks.
Sunday, April 29th - Yep, another hike, picnic and swim at Eisenhower State Park! This time we went over the Texoma Dam and crossed into Oklahoma where we took pictures with X and A at the "Welcome to Oklahoma" sign then backtracked into Texas and found the similar signage for Texas.
As a reminder, all this hiking is not only for fun, it is try and condition us for our long end-of-summer trip for Foster and Adoptive Families.
Lake Mineral Wells State Park
Lake Mineral Wells State Park
April 14 - After a few hours of blog updates here (getting everyone caught up with what we have been doing), we packed up the CamelBak hydrating backpacks, picnic food, towels, changes of clothing, hiking sticks and more and headed off to Mineral Wells State Park (a little over 1 1/2 hours away) for what was an incredible sight to see and experience. We left about 10:30 AM.
This is the first place we have been to that offers rappelling and rock climbing. They already have the anchors sunk into the rock, so one needs only provide the rope, harnesses, etc. With X only being 5 (although he is about to turn 6) and A being 3, there are no harnesses for them to wear for this kind of fun. The rock climbing areas at "Penitentiary Hollow" were accessible via the most treacherous natural stairs we have been on at a State Park.
It was very windy and constantly on the verge of raining (although it never rained), but also a great temperature - so not too hot or cold.
We went through small caves, climbed lots of big rocks and watched several troops of Boy Scouts climbing and repelling for their badges.
After the rocky section of the park, we went on a much more gentle slope trailway (that we will explore more next time). We saw plenty of butterflies and lizards.
Finally, we to the small beach and played for about a half hour before heading back around 4:30 PM.
In the words of X, "This place is wicked!" That is a good thing, I guess :-)
April 14 - After a few hours of blog updates here (getting everyone caught up with what we have been doing), we packed up the CamelBak hydrating backpacks, picnic food, towels, changes of clothing, hiking sticks and more and headed off to Mineral Wells State Park (a little over 1 1/2 hours away) for what was an incredible sight to see and experience. We left about 10:30 AM.
This is the first place we have been to that offers rappelling and rock climbing. They already have the anchors sunk into the rock, so one needs only provide the rope, harnesses, etc. With X only being 5 (although he is about to turn 6) and A being 3, there are no harnesses for them to wear for this kind of fun. The rock climbing areas at "Penitentiary Hollow" were accessible via the most treacherous natural stairs we have been on at a State Park.
It was very windy and constantly on the verge of raining (although it never rained), but also a great temperature - so not too hot or cold.
We went through small caves, climbed lots of big rocks and watched several troops of Boy Scouts climbing and repelling for their badges.
After the rocky section of the park, we went on a much more gentle slope trailway (that we will explore more next time). We saw plenty of butterflies and lizards.
Finally, we to the small beach and played for about a half hour before heading back around 4:30 PM.
In the words of X, "This place is wicked!" That is a good thing, I guess :-)
Still Waiting....
Here is an update on the adoption process (by Melinda):
It took 3 months for the DA to get all the various lawyers to sign off on the executed agreement. We were excited when we learned it was signed and anxious to move forward and finalize everything. When reviewing the executed order we found an error and pointed it out to our attorney. He agreed that we would need a corrected/revised agreement before final proceedings could take place. So we wait...
Although Jack and I don't need a piece of paper to feel like we are forever family, we would like to have a big celebration with all of those that have walked this journey with us - therapists, doctors, caseworkers, teachers, family and friends. They have helped so much and made the journey a little bit easier.
Each day is a true blessing that X and A are in our lives. Most people say how fortunate they are to have us but we are more fortunate to have them. Our lives have changed for the better. Who knew that I would love staying at home with them (I was the working professional and loved my job). Who knew that watching Toy Story, Cars and Dinosaur Train over and over would bring such joy. Who knew that dinosaurs, trains, matchbox cars and artwork would take over the house.
Thank you all for your prayers, thoughts and well wishes.
It took 3 months for the DA to get all the various lawyers to sign off on the executed agreement. We were excited when we learned it was signed and anxious to move forward and finalize everything. When reviewing the executed order we found an error and pointed it out to our attorney. He agreed that we would need a corrected/revised agreement before final proceedings could take place. So we wait...
Although Jack and I don't need a piece of paper to feel like we are forever family, we would like to have a big celebration with all of those that have walked this journey with us - therapists, doctors, caseworkers, teachers, family and friends. They have helped so much and made the journey a little bit easier.
Each day is a true blessing that X and A are in our lives. Most people say how fortunate they are to have us but we are more fortunate to have them. Our lives have changed for the better. Who knew that I would love staying at home with them (I was the working professional and loved my job). Who knew that watching Toy Story, Cars and Dinosaur Train over and over would bring such joy. Who knew that dinosaurs, trains, matchbox cars and artwork would take over the house.
Thank you all for your prayers, thoughts and well wishes.
Easter Visits to The Farm and Nanny's House
Easter Visits to The Farm and Nanny's House
April 6 - Visit to The Farm where we all had a picnic in their woods while exploring and hiking for a few hours. X and A also played other games while Jack and his dad chased down a new swan that Jack's dad had bought (trying to keep in on the farm, but away from the "mean" swan). It was a multi-hour ordeal!
April 7 - After spending the night at The Farm, the kids head off to see Nanny while Jack stays at the farm to spend more time with his parents
April 8 - Jack joins Melinda and the kids at Nanny's, puts together a second "Lightning McQueen" "Hot Wheels" electric car (that the boys can ride in). Last time at Nanny's she had got them one Lightning McQueen car and one Jeep. The Jeep was much slower, so the boys kept battling for the faster car. Nanny decided to even it up and got another fast one. Just like last time, the kids spent hours driving around in Nanny's huge driveway!
X and A also found and hid plastic Easter eggs all over the yard, switching who was the finder each time.
April 6 - Visit to The Farm where we all had a picnic in their woods while exploring and hiking for a few hours. X and A also played other games while Jack and his dad chased down a new swan that Jack's dad had bought (trying to keep in on the farm, but away from the "mean" swan). It was a multi-hour ordeal!
April 7 - After spending the night at The Farm, the kids head off to see Nanny while Jack stays at the farm to spend more time with his parents
April 8 - Jack joins Melinda and the kids at Nanny's, puts together a second "Lightning McQueen" "Hot Wheels" electric car (that the boys can ride in). Last time at Nanny's she had got them one Lightning McQueen car and one Jeep. The Jeep was much slower, so the boys kept battling for the faster car. Nanny decided to even it up and got another fast one. Just like last time, the kids spent hours driving around in Nanny's huge driveway!
X and A also found and hid plastic Easter eggs all over the yard, switching who was the finder each time.
Return to Eisenhower State Park
Return to Eisenhower State Park
April 1 - Learning from our last visit to Eisenhower State Park, this time the kids were in bathing suits and shirts plus we brought towels. There was a another family on the beach with 7 kids. X and A played great with thim (like they usually do with new "friends") and we shared our beach toys with them while they shared their dump trucks and toys they brought. We also got some advise from their mother on camping at State Parks (which will never happen if Melinda has anything to say about it) as well as other nice State Parks in the area.
Today was the first day everyone had their own CamelBak hydrating backpack. That means A has 1 liter of ice water on his back (that is drank from a long tube with a "bite valve"), X has 2 liters of ice water and Melinda and Jack can hold up to 3 liters each in theirs. We also pack in and carry out lunch and plenty of snacks for energy.
We tried a new trail (that has now become our favorite) that winded up and down the hills and had lots of interesting terrain. We were so exhausted from this hike and our beach visit and we decided to skip the geocache this time. We had a blast from all this and will definitely be back soon!
April 1 - Learning from our last visit to Eisenhower State Park, this time the kids were in bathing suits and shirts plus we brought towels. There was a another family on the beach with 7 kids. X and A played great with thim (like they usually do with new "friends") and we shared our beach toys with them while they shared their dump trucks and toys they brought. We also got some advise from their mother on camping at State Parks (which will never happen if Melinda has anything to say about it) as well as other nice State Parks in the area.
Today was the first day everyone had their own CamelBak hydrating backpack. That means A has 1 liter of ice water on his back (that is drank from a long tube with a "bite valve"), X has 2 liters of ice water and Melinda and Jack can hold up to 3 liters each in theirs. We also pack in and carry out lunch and plenty of snacks for energy.
We tried a new trail (that has now become our favorite) that winded up and down the hills and had lots of interesting terrain. We were so exhausted from this hike and our beach visit and we decided to skip the geocache this time. We had a blast from all this and will definitely be back soon!
Getting Caught Up: March 2012 Happenings
Park Visits / Nanny Visit / Met "Buddy" from "Dinosaur Train" at the Museum / Visit with A's Biological Father / Eisenhower State Park Fun / Epilepsy Stroll at the Dallas Zoo
March 3 - We all went out to the park today. The kids enjoyed the playground and we brought some bread and crackers to feed the ducks. We see these ducks all the time, but until today, we always forgot to bring something for them.
March 12 - We had a visit with Nanny. Always a fun time. We were going to visit the farm and Jack's parents, but Jack's father was sick with the flu. We will catch them on the next run down south.
March 16 - X and A had a blast at the Dallas Museum of Nature and Science (where we are members). As part of our membership, we got invited to a member-only event with "Buddy" from the PBS kids, 3-D animated show, "Dinosaur Train." You might have read way back in October that Anthony was dressed at Buddy and Xavier as Dawn for Halloween. We are all big Dinosaur Train fans in our house, so it was awesome to get to take pictures with Buddy. Both kids even dressed up in their old Halloween costumes. Interestingly enough we saw another pair of kids in the exact same costumes. Of course we did all the museum things that we love to do and then had a nice picnic out on the grounds at Fair Park.
March 17 - Today was the first day that the kids visited with A's biological father since seeing him in December. Via the open adoption mediated settlement agreed upon in November of last year when he terminated his parental rights, we now have regular visits 4 times a year for two hours each visit. This is also the first visit with the kids outside of the CPS office in 2 1/2 years for him.
We met, per his suggestion, at Chucky Cheese restaurant. The kids had a great time playing games and eating pizza while Melinda and Jack slowly ate their pizza at a nearby table. The visit went almost three hours (which was just too long in that one place), but the kids had fun. X and A were asleep almost as soon as our car left the parking lot.
March 24 - Another fun play ground visit followed by our first swim in our backyard pool since October of last year. It was a little bit cool, but the kids enjoyed it for over an hour and had a blast.
March 25 - Back to hiking. Due to our busy schedule (and a little bit of illness), we have not hiked at a State Park since late February. We were all anxious to get going again. This time we visited Eisenhower State Park just north of us about an hour. In preparation, we bought one CamelBak hydrating backpack to see if we liked it. It was a huge hit and we decided to order one for each of us for our future hikes. Still learning from our experiences, we determined that we need to be prepared to get into the water at any State Park. We hiked down to the tiny beachfront area and there were people in the water there having fun. X and A had on jeans and tennis shoes and hiking boots. We had them take off their shoes/boots and let them wade in. We already knew what was going to happen. Needless to say, they ended up soaking wet from top to bottom and we did not have a change of clothes. They had so much fun that they did not care. We rang out their shirts and put on their dry socks and shoes and continued to hike. It was warm enough that their pants dried pretty quickly. We also found our very first geocache in a State Park. It took awhile (since Jack is still learning the ropes on the GPS on his iPhone), but at least we found it. We signed the log, took pictures and even exchanged some small treasure (which is the protocol for geocaching). The kids love to do this "treasure hunting" and it gives them the extra motivation to go a little further. The two boys slept hard on the way back after an awesome day of geocaching, hiking, picnicking and beach play.
Also at this park visit, we bought an annual Texas State Park pass, some very cool floppy hats and two geocache medallions to attach to our brand new custom-made, customized (with each person's initials and a dinosaur track wood-burned in), hickory walking sticks. We had just got the sticks in the day before and were anxious to try them out. They worked great once A figured out how to really use it.
March 31 - If this month was not already packed with enough fun, we made it to our annual "Stroll of Epilepsy at the Dallas Zoo" like last year. We spent a lot of time in the children's playground area this visit to the zoo and even found one of the geocaches there (it was a tough one and we almost gave up). We picnicked at the zoo using dry ice (a trick Jack read about for keeping food cold all day). It worked great. We got to try out two more CamelBak hydrating backpacks (A's is due to come in a few days later). Of course we saw lots of animals and fed the koi, ducks and giraffes (for that we brought in some very cool romaine lettuce instead of buying it there).
March 3 - We all went out to the park today. The kids enjoyed the playground and we brought some bread and crackers to feed the ducks. We see these ducks all the time, but until today, we always forgot to bring something for them.
March 12 - We had a visit with Nanny. Always a fun time. We were going to visit the farm and Jack's parents, but Jack's father was sick with the flu. We will catch them on the next run down south.
March 16 - X and A had a blast at the Dallas Museum of Nature and Science (where we are members). As part of our membership, we got invited to a member-only event with "Buddy" from the PBS kids, 3-D animated show, "Dinosaur Train." You might have read way back in October that Anthony was dressed at Buddy and Xavier as Dawn for Halloween. We are all big Dinosaur Train fans in our house, so it was awesome to get to take pictures with Buddy. Both kids even dressed up in their old Halloween costumes. Interestingly enough we saw another pair of kids in the exact same costumes. Of course we did all the museum things that we love to do and then had a nice picnic out on the grounds at Fair Park.
March 17 - Today was the first day that the kids visited with A's biological father since seeing him in December. Via the open adoption mediated settlement agreed upon in November of last year when he terminated his parental rights, we now have regular visits 4 times a year for two hours each visit. This is also the first visit with the kids outside of the CPS office in 2 1/2 years for him.
We met, per his suggestion, at Chucky Cheese restaurant. The kids had a great time playing games and eating pizza while Melinda and Jack slowly ate their pizza at a nearby table. The visit went almost three hours (which was just too long in that one place), but the kids had fun. X and A were asleep almost as soon as our car left the parking lot.
March 24 - Another fun play ground visit followed by our first swim in our backyard pool since October of last year. It was a little bit cool, but the kids enjoyed it for over an hour and had a blast.
March 25 - Back to hiking. Due to our busy schedule (and a little bit of illness), we have not hiked at a State Park since late February. We were all anxious to get going again. This time we visited Eisenhower State Park just north of us about an hour. In preparation, we bought one CamelBak hydrating backpack to see if we liked it. It was a huge hit and we decided to order one for each of us for our future hikes. Still learning from our experiences, we determined that we need to be prepared to get into the water at any State Park. We hiked down to the tiny beachfront area and there were people in the water there having fun. X and A had on jeans and tennis shoes and hiking boots. We had them take off their shoes/boots and let them wade in. We already knew what was going to happen. Needless to say, they ended up soaking wet from top to bottom and we did not have a change of clothes. They had so much fun that they did not care. We rang out their shirts and put on their dry socks and shoes and continued to hike. It was warm enough that their pants dried pretty quickly. We also found our very first geocache in a State Park. It took awhile (since Jack is still learning the ropes on the GPS on his iPhone), but at least we found it. We signed the log, took pictures and even exchanged some small treasure (which is the protocol for geocaching). The kids love to do this "treasure hunting" and it gives them the extra motivation to go a little further. The two boys slept hard on the way back after an awesome day of geocaching, hiking, picnicking and beach play.
Also at this park visit, we bought an annual Texas State Park pass, some very cool floppy hats and two geocache medallions to attach to our brand new custom-made, customized (with each person's initials and a dinosaur track wood-burned in), hickory walking sticks. We had just got the sticks in the day before and were anxious to try them out. They worked great once A figured out how to really use it.
March 31 - If this month was not already packed with enough fun, we made it to our annual "Stroll of Epilepsy at the Dallas Zoo" like last year. We spent a lot of time in the children's playground area this visit to the zoo and even found one of the geocaches there (it was a tough one and we almost gave up). We picnicked at the zoo using dry ice (a trick Jack read about for keeping food cold all day). It worked great. We got to try out two more CamelBak hydrating backpacks (A's is due to come in a few days later). Of course we saw lots of animals and fed the koi, ducks and giraffes (for that we brought in some very cool romaine lettuce instead of buying it there).
Getting Caught Up: February 2012 Happenings
Valentines Day Parties / Bio-Mom and Maternal Grandmother Visit / Conducting the Trains / Out-Of-Town Visit with Friends / Building a Mars Rover
February 4 - X and A attended the “Wednesday's Child Valentine's Day Party.” They met lots of new people, made lots of crafts and ate some cookies that they decorated.
February 13 - As a special treat, we all went to a multi-cultural event at Jack's school. Everyone got to sample different types of foods and music from around the world.
February 14 - X and A had Valentine's Day parties including making special crafts and exchanging cards.
February 22 - It was a big day for the family. It was the first time that X and A saw their biological mother and grandmother in 2 months. This was also the first time they had seen them outside of the CPS office in 20 months (since the mother's rights were terminated and we are working under the agreed Open Adoption mediated settlement from November). We all met at a local park, played for a little over an hour and them went to a nearby McDonald's restaurant with an indoor playground.At the three-hour visitation, were the bio-mom and her 3-month-old baby boy (X and A's half-brother), the bio-mom's new boyfriend, the maternal grandmother and two of X and A's cousins. The kids had fun running all around and I know that the biological mother and grandmother were very happy to get to see them!
February 23 - Following a doctor's visit at Children's Medical Center, we stopped off at the train exhibit there. This is always a favorite with both kids. While there, the Train Engineer talked to X and A and let them stop and start the trains. He took him back behind the trains so he could see the trains "in the mountain" which is the work area for the trains. Both kids have repeatedly talked proudly about they were that they were engineers for a train.
February 25 - We had a big out-of-town play date with his 6 different friends. X and A enjoyed playing with their "best friends" and meeting some new ones.
February 26 - X is studying space and the planets at school. Part of the process is a family project to make a space rocket, rover, satellite, space station or any other type of space vehicle. After looking at several different space vehicles, he decided he want to make the vehicle “with 6 wheels” that we had seen in a documentary on space (the Mars Rover, “Spirit.”). The whole family pitched in. Jack built the base from some parts he uses at school for his robotics classes. They were very lightweight, structurally very sound and looked super cool. Don't worry, there was plenty that X and even A got to do including making and painting the body, antenna and more.X was very proud when he took it to school and got lots and lots of great comments.
Getting Caught Up: January 2012 Happenings
January 2012 - Getting Ready for Camp / Dinosaur Valley State Park / Lake Tawokoni State Park / Geocaching
Getting Ready for Camp - Team Nelson has a goal. This summer the four of us are going to a special family camp in Colorado for an entire week. We have already put down the deposit and locked in our reservation. One of the big things at this camp is hiking, so Team Nelson now has a goal to get in shape to handle the hikes. We need endurance, especially since the Colorado mountain will be around 13,000 feet and thinner air.
Dinosaur Valley State Park - We chose DVSP as our very first foray into hiking because we figured that we needed something that X and A liked to entice them to explore. We saw dinosaur tracks and (which were not the most exciting since they were partially washed away and mostly underwater) and had a blast playing along the riverbed in the canyon. The kids enjoyed it immensely as did we. We returned home that night exhausted, realizing that we need to do this MUCH more and starting to think what we need for a more successful outing experience.
Lake Tawokoni State Park - For our next hiking adventure, we chose some place a little closer to home. We hiked the trails deep into the woods and peered at the lake shoreline from a distance. A loved to take a stick and make odd markings in the sand (like some sort of tracking symbols). At one point we actually used these symbols to retrace our steps. He thought it was great that we would find his marks.X loves to lead the way, but A also would run up occasionally. This was a pretty even pace for Melinda and I, but we did do a lot of "1-2-3, Stop!" to slow the kids down and started "follow the leader." Both kids enjoyed the extra little game of it.
Geocaching - Without going into all the details of what it is, we started geocaching as a family. See http://www.geocaching.com/ for a complete explanation. One of the sideline bonuses of going to the State Parks is that they all have geocaches located somewhere in them. Basically, geocaching is treasure hunting for known prizes (or usually sometimes just the mystery of it) all over the world. There are about 1.6 million registered geocaches around the world and anyone with a GPS-enabled device (like an iPhone or any GPS) can play. We have found three caches locally, signed the logs, took pictures and exchanged prizes on one. From now on, we are going to start looking for them at every State Park.
Getting Ready for Camp - Team Nelson has a goal. This summer the four of us are going to a special family camp in Colorado for an entire week. We have already put down the deposit and locked in our reservation. One of the big things at this camp is hiking, so Team Nelson now has a goal to get in shape to handle the hikes. We need endurance, especially since the Colorado mountain will be around 13,000 feet and thinner air.
Dinosaur Valley State Park - We chose DVSP as our very first foray into hiking because we figured that we needed something that X and A liked to entice them to explore. We saw dinosaur tracks and (which were not the most exciting since they were partially washed away and mostly underwater) and had a blast playing along the riverbed in the canyon. The kids enjoyed it immensely as did we. We returned home that night exhausted, realizing that we need to do this MUCH more and starting to think what we need for a more successful outing experience.
Lake Tawokoni State Park - For our next hiking adventure, we chose some place a little closer to home. We hiked the trails deep into the woods and peered at the lake shoreline from a distance. A loved to take a stick and make odd markings in the sand (like some sort of tracking symbols). At one point we actually used these symbols to retrace our steps. He thought it was great that we would find his marks.X loves to lead the way, but A also would run up occasionally. This was a pretty even pace for Melinda and I, but we did do a lot of "1-2-3, Stop!" to slow the kids down and started "follow the leader." Both kids enjoyed the extra little game of it.
Geocaching - Without going into all the details of what it is, we started geocaching as a family. See http://www.geocaching.com/ for a complete explanation. One of the sideline bonuses of going to the State Parks is that they all have geocaches located somewhere in them. Basically, geocaching is treasure hunting for known prizes (or usually sometimes just the mystery of it) all over the world. There are about 1.6 million registered geocaches around the world and anyone with a GPS-enabled device (like an iPhone or any GPS) can play. We have found three caches locally, signed the logs, took pictures and exchanged prizes on one. From now on, we are going to start looking for them at every State Park.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)