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 :-)
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.
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