More Camping Adventures: White Horse Campground

After missing out on the Playing in Payson trip, my parents requested a different weekend to camp with the kids. We picked Labor Day weekend and I booked a site at White Horse Campground up by Williams, AZ. My parents really wanted to go up north and I liked that this campground had a lake for the kids to play in.

Saturday morning we woke up and packed the Mazda....yes that's right the Mazda. All our camping gear went up in my Dad's truck....more on that later. About 20 minutes out of town I realized I forgot the homemade cupcakes I made for the kid's birthday.

We decided cupcakes weren't worth a 40 minute delay so we drove on.

Anytime we took long road trips in my childhood, one thing my sister and I looked forward to were the random presents my mom would give us while on the road. They were anything from puzzles, mini games, coloring books, toys, legos....anything that might entertain us for another 30 minutes on a long trip. I've always wanted to continue this tradition with my kids but somehow I failed to remember to buy anything before this trip. Luckily Grandma to the rescue! The day before we left, she dropped off a bag of gifts for us to give the kids on the drive.

First present: Snakes! Baby boy loved his snake and played with it. Baby girl loved and hated it. She would play with it and then get freaked out and throw it on the ground.

Second present: Slinkies! Both loved this one - open, close, open, close. Adorable to watch them play with these

After the second present, we were already in Flag. My husband had a good idea, let's stop for cupcakes at a cupcake specialty shop. We picked Sugar Mama's.

Once at the campsite, we quickly ate lunch and set up camp. Luckily we got our new awesome tent set up just in time for a downpour of rain! So for a couple hours we sat in my parents trailer listening to the rain and catching up. For dinner we made the most delicious jerk foil chicken and cheesy, bacon potatoes. Delicious - this was a keeper for the next trip!

For dessert we ate the cupcakes and sang happy birthday to the kids. They loved it!

The next day we spent the morning playing in the lake. We fished, threw rocks, and just got dirty. In fact, baby girl didn't think sitting next to the water was good enough so she moved and sat right in the water!

In the afternoon we took a very short hike and by short I mean 1/8th of a mile. Turns out 2 year old's can't walk far. We hiked to a small canyon and watched some rock climbers.

That evening we cooked hot dogs on their new hot dog fishing cooking rod's. They loved it! After that we made s'mores which they also loved!

Dad using the fishing rod cooking sticks

Jon didn't have Monday off work so he drove home that afternoon so that night I tried to have the kids sleep on their cots but when I climbed into the tent they were both on the air mattress. They were literally sleeping on top of each other. I had to move baby girl off of baby boy in order to snuggle in with them.

The next morning my mom made 3 types of cinnamon roles. Dutch oven, orange peel, and swirly. Not many survived but we found enough to eat. After breakfast we packed up - the kids are fun at this age and really enjoyed helping carry things and give things to everyone. Because Jon left early we all packed into my parents truck - it was squishy.

I am really happy I didn't use many gifts on the way there because I needed every....last.....one on the way home. It took us over 5 hours to drive a normal 3 hour drive. We ended up with a flat tire about 15 minutes from our lunch spot, luckily my dad is Mr. Cautious and pulled off at the rest area when he had a "low tire" sensor instead of driving on like I would have done. Had he drove on, we would have had to change a tire on the side of the freeway and with twin toddlers that would have been awful. 

At the rest area we were able to have an impromptu picnic and it worked out great.

All in all a fantastic trip - some toddler bumps along the way but we survived. The best picture from the trip is when we got home and baby boy helped unload the trailer. My mom gave him a pillow to carry inside and he set it on the grass and laid down......I guess we exhausted him.

We live court hearing to court hearing

Another court hearing has come and gone. This one was strictly for review of the best interest assessment to determine if the kids should move to Texas with their biological Uncle. The state had a month and a half to get the best interest assessment completed and they failed, they failed bad. The assessment is currently scheduled for June 24....scheduled as in not even completed by the court date but not even planned to complete until over a month after court.

Thursday two weeks prior to court I receive an e-mail from the state stating the uncle is in town for the weekend and will be having a visit all day Saturday and Sunday morning. We already had approval to go to Tucson that weekend for a friend's baby shower, I had requested approval 2 weeks prior. His visits get canceled that weekend.

Thursday prior to court I receive an e-mail from the state stating the uncle is in town for the weekend and will be having a visit all day Saturday and if all goes well, an overnight visit on Sunday. On Friday the kid's lawyer calls me for an update prior to court and I let her know about these visits, she is irritated and suggests I talk to our lawyer. I do. Visits are changed to 4 hours on Saturday, 4 hours on Sunday, and 4 hours on Monday.

Monday is court and by now Jon and I have determined that the uncle is going to request to take the kids home TODAY. We are 70% sure the judge is not going to approve this as she asked for the best interest assessment for a reason but that 30% chance that my kids will be leaving today is devastating and hard to comprehend. In court it is brought up that the uncle tried to visit two weeks ago but the foster parents suddenly had to go to Tucson so he didn't get his visits....do you know how hard it is to hear things turned around on you especially when you try so hard to follow the rules and not step on toes, and by nature plan in advance. What's the point in not stepping on toes if I am going to get thrown under a bus no matter what? On top of that they state the uncle's visits went phenomenal and they have videos to prove how much fun the kids had. I'm sorry but it's 4 hours, the kids are not going to freak out in 4 hours. They are used to visits, they know they are going home so why would they freak out? We talk to them about visits before they go, we tell them we are going to pick them up in a couple hours. They are as prepared as 1 1/2 year old's can be. On top of that I want to throw my phone at the birth mom's lawyer and say look at the videos that prove how much fun the kids have with us too....oh wait it'll take you 2 weeks to get through all the pictures and videos because we've been having that much fun since they were 4 days old....should I remind you they are happy, healthy toddlers because we provided a stable environment for them to learn and grow in? But I don't throw my phone because that would be petty and immature, instead I fight tears as people that have never met my kids argue about their future. 

The outcome of court was our lawyer offered to have us cover the best interest assessment in order to get it completed more timely. The next court date is July 7th to discuss the outcome of the best interest assessment. After that birth mom's severance trial on July 9th. So for now we breath, we play, and we run and we chase our little toddlers all over our house and we enjoy their love of life and cherish every single minute we get the honor of having them in our lives.