A Walk in the Park

A walk in the park is what I decided I was going to take the kids on for my first day of independence from cancer treatment (which most folks would say was not necessarily "a walk in the park").  I just had all of my restrictions lifted on Monday at noon.  So, I was so excited to plan out all of the fun stuff I was going to do with the kids during the days over the coming weeks.  Drew really wanted me to take it easy, but that is something that is so difficult for me to do.  The doctor said I could do anything, so taking the kids on a couple of field trips outside the home seemed appropriate and within guidelines.

Tuesday morning turned out to be a pretty morning, with a fog that rolled in over the city.  I thought it might make for some nice photos, so I decided to take the kids for a walk in a beautiful Austin park.  At this park (Mayfield Park), many peacocks roam freely.  I decided to make our trip a school lesson on peacocks, which also made the little road trip multi-functional.

By the time we got to the park (hello early morning Austin traffic), the fog had moved on.  But, the cloud cover still remained, so it was a perfect photo opportunity.  However, one thing I didn't think about was the potential difficulty of watching two excited children around many little ponds of water, while attempting to take photographs.  So, I didn't get a ton of pictures.  I was happy to get a few though to remember our little experience this morning.  We'll plan our next visit to this beautiful mark on a weekend, when Drew will come along.  

Hello Mr. Peacock!

 

Come on down and visit with us, Mr. Peacock!

Reflecting at one of the ponds.

Looking at the fish.

We did a lot of exploring at the park, which the children LOVED!   They found a cute little building (it looked like a tower), but it was locked up.  My little hooligans were trying to break in.  Luke gave up pretty quickly though and moved on to other fun stuff.

Abbey didn't want to give up on getting inside though.  Here, she is looking for me to help her out and saying, "uh-oh!"

Luke found a peacock feather and didn't want to put it down.  I used to love finding feathers as a child.  Now, they are so gross to me!  Here, he is showing me how big he is (so big that he can touch both sides of the walkway wall)!

Looking over a ledge.  Don't worry, once I snapped this photo of Abbey attempting to climb up it, the camera went down and we left the area.  

I love how Abbey is squatting so lady-like in this photo.  

Bye-bye Mr. Peacock!

Luke was very disappointed that we didn't see any of the peacocks display their beautiful feathers.  Part of our lesson included heading back home and looking up when and why the peacocks spread their feathers.  Apparently, they do so as part of their mating ritual and when they feel threatened.  I guess they felt pretty comfortable around us, because we got VERY close to them (as evidenced by the photos--I didn't use a zoom lens).

I thought that I would be in the clear since my doctor removed my restrictions and said everything looked awesome.  However, I guess the healing process may still not be a "walk in the park".  Last night, I noticed blood on my bra where I had the emergency surgery a couple of weeks ago (and where the stitches were removed on Monday).  The incision is covered mostly by steri-strip tape, but there is a tiny area that is not currently covered.  I can tell that the bleeding is seeping along the entire incision though.  Apparently, the incision wasn't completely sealed together when the surgeon removed my stitches.  So, I guess I am back to trying to take it easy.  I plan on contacting my doctor to see if there is anything else I need to do, or if he recommends I visit a wound car clinic once again.  It's the silly radiation that is keeping my skin on the left breast area from healing.  That skin may just need a little extra assistance in healing.