What have we been up to?

     We are nearing two months post surgery. Eleanor is doing great! Our days are busy, which is not much different than home, but the weather sure is! Eleanor does therapy and school work in the mornings and then goes to physical therapy in the afternoon. Most evenings we swim in the pool, which is also good therapy. Some nights we have evening therapy as well. All the hard work is paying off as Eleanor continues to have great function and strength with lengthening.
     We have also been passing the time with fun activities when we can. Eleanor and Margaret take golf lessons every Thursday afternoon with "Mr. Dave" and other friends with fixators. We try to go to the beach every week. Eleanor is able to swim in the ocean as salt water is good for her pin sites and can actually prevent or reduce pin site infections, which we do not want!
     We were able to visit Clearwater Marine Aquarium where Winter the star of the movie "Dolphin Tale" lives. You can see her prosthetic tail in the picture. She does not wear the tail all the time, but uses it to strengthen her muscles so that she does not damage her spinal cord when she is not wearing the tail. Using the prosthetic tail is like physical therapy for Winter...Winter does therapy too!
     Other fun trips have included a day in the Everglades or tropical wetlands of Florida, which is home to manatees, alligators, crocodiles, snakes, many birds and even panthers! We took an air boat ride, spotting many alligators and birds. Later we saw an alligator show and were able to hold a baby alligator. It was much smaller than the one Margaret is holding in the picture, but it still had a lot of sharp teeth!
     We had another hands-on wildlife experience at Safari Edventure in Miami. Many of the over 50 species they have there are rescued exotic species. What a fun day! We were able to pet wolves and a kangaroo. They also had a great presentation where we were able to hold all of the species they discussed including a sloth, armadillo, anteater, chinchilla, tarantula and a Burmese python that was 14 feet long and 110 pounds.You can see how big it was in the picture of Eleanor and Margaret holding it with their cousins! Phytons can get up to seven feet longer than the one pictured and are an invasive species in the Everglades, meaning that people (pet owners) introduced them to the area. It is a huge problem as they have no natural predators and prey on the mammals and birds of the Everglades. There are an estimated 150,000 invasive pythons and anacondas in the Everglades...a fact that might make you feel good about living in Wisconsin, despite our winters!
     We have also been bowling with the Paley kids, miniature golfing and out to fun Florida outdoor restaurants. As you can see, nothing stops Eleanor for long. She is walking without crutches now and is even able to play on the monkey bars!