The count watch continues

Amanda continues to carry a trace of the Methatrexate. At yesterday's appointment the Dr. decided to remove her from the backpack/fluid pump she has been wearing for the past week. Amanda is doing an excellent job taking her oral meds and in drinking tons(!)of fluids. We will continue to go in each day and have a lab drawn to watch the count. Today's count found us at .12 so we are getting closer.

In celebration of being "bag less"...the girls and I decided to make a day of it. We headed south of Houston to find Brazos Bend State Park. Megan & her mother Jodie (who became dear to us when we met them in Denver & then again in Houston while Megan battled Osteo)gave their recommendation for this park, along with a picture we see in Dr. Anderson's office which shows a man with his grandchildren around him all looking at a large alligator blocking their pathway. Brazos, we learned, is the home of the American Alligator and they have created a state park where the alligators live free and people have to be careful and courteous to them. That sounded like just what we needed and we were off.

Along the way we took a unplanned stop. Signs pointed the way to the George Ranch Historical Park. It was awesome. The George family owned a large area of land and kept it in their family for generations. They saved and protected the old homes throughout the generations and today it is a protected historical site and you can tour the homes that the families lived in throughout the years. It was awesome. Abby, Amanda and I had such a wonderful time and I took lots of photos. They are precious.

From there...it was off to find alligators. Larry was a little nervous when I sent the first text that said, Don't worry. It was an alligator but the girls are fine. :-) Yep, we found them. Actually I almost stepped on the first one, it was small and we didn't see it at the side of the path. But after that, we watched closely and loved watching them sunning along the pathway or slowly swimming in the marsh along the path.

After a long day of new sights and discoveries, we ended the day at Amanda's favorite place - The Cheesecake Factory. It was delicious, we had fun and they even sang Abby "Happy Birthday" and brought her a piece of cheesecake with a candle in it.

The girls crawled into bed, thanking me for the wonderful day. They didn't understand that that I owed all the thanks to them - for every moment I spend with them, watching them make memories, listening to them laugh...there is no greater gift.