Got a bit of a brain fuzz today, but I promised myself I would write, so 'ere I am!
What to write though?
Well, I'm pleased to announce the scooter was a huge success on holiday.
It was the first holiday I've had for long while where I have returned home feeling just as good, if not better, than when I left. Normally I come back exhausted! Holiday's are never easy because it always throws everyone out of sync, but the kids were both chilled out and great, and having the scooter to conserve my energy was fantastic. After my little 'epiphany' moment (see my last post) I didn't feel self-conscious or depressed about using it, and actually just got smiles from people because most of the time Lib was sat on my knee and, what can I say, she's adorable. I heard a muttered moan behind me in Asda because I kept stopping and starting (because people kept walking in front of me) which of course was a huge inconvenience to the couple behind me (*rolls eyes*) but it just made me laugh. I mean, come on! Walk around me people! I was going at a snails pace!
We did learn a lot though....
1. If I'm on my scooter, and someone advises me to only go down a path "at my discretion".....play it safe! My scooter is only a little thing, and bless, going up the steep hill on the way back up literally made it drain the battery and give up, meaning Si had to push it all the way back to the car! The incident happened at the Combe Martin Wildlife and Dinosaur Park, which was nice, but not very friendly for people with mobility issues. Probably not the best choice on our holiday, but hey, we wanted to try something different...and there were dinosaurs! :D The park readily admit that it's not ideal for wheelchairs/scooters, so I didn't have to pay, which was good I guess. I reckon if I had been feeling up to it I could have seen about 60% of the park, but there were definitely issues with a lack of disabled toilets if you were a visitor unable to get out of your wheelchair/scooter. I did manage to see a cute sea lion show, and the wallabies (the area which I took the risk....it was worth it though to get a video of Lib talking to her wallaby friend), before we gave up because the scooter battery had gone and it was too hot for me to push any walking. As for the sea lions, I'm not one for forced animal 'shows', but I was happy when I learnt the reasoning behind getting Morgan and Aero to 'perform'. They really do get a lot out of it, which is good, and they're quick to let you know if they don't want to do something. At one point, Aero threw a strop because he wanted to do something different! They are very smart.
Lib feeding the wallaby
Down in front!
Morgan and Aero.....or Aero and Morgan. I'm not sure!
2. Don't take a two month old to the beach on a hot day. Not much to say here. Just don't. Especially if you also don't like the heat, and you end up going at low tide. I couldn't even have paddle because I couldn't walk that far! Me and Ed were over-heated and bit miserable, so we all escaped the throng of tourists 'sunning it up' pretty sharpish and went to get an ice cream instead. It sounds like a bit of an idiotic move, all things considered, but in our defence it wasn't actually that hot when we set out. It was a cloudy, muggy day but when the sun came out. Wham! Too much.
I got bored.
3. When your daughter says she just wants to play in the play-barn on the farm where we are staying, and not go anywhere.....for pity's sake, go with it! We had a bit of the 'We're on holiday, we should get out and do stuff!' syndrome mainly because the scooter opened up more places where we could go this time...it was too tempting. But the silly thing is that we pay a bit more money to stay in a lovely cottage, on a lovely child friendly farm, with a lovely play-barn and outdoor playground, and lovely walks and places to explore around us. Why did we make life harder for ourselves and insist on going to battle it out with stressed out tourists?! Also, whenever we asked what Lib enjoyed the most, it was always "having tea outside" or "feeding the animals on the farm"; always small quiet things we had done together as a family. At the Wildlife park for example, we ended up being separated half the time because me and Ed couldn't take part, which kind of defeats the object of a fun family day out.
Dinner al fresco with Ed
Feeding time
Health wise though, I still felt pretty beaten up and had a bit of a limp until the Thursday, then BING. Something clicked and all of a sudden I felt much more normal. The steroids had obviously done their job and helped to finally reduce the inflammation in my knee. Since then, I've been on the up...slowly but surely. The stiffness and other symptoms come back when I'm tired obviously, but over all I feel good. I'm being extra careful though and really listening to my body, because I don't want to deteriorate again, which would be all too easy while it's warm! Little Miss Sensible, eh? ;)
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