one flew over the cuckoo's nest... and then went kayaking

i traveled to lovely Yankton, SD for a week of clinical experience at the mental heath facility. for the entire month of may, i have been studying psychiatric nursing. we've been learning about depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, bipolar, personality disorders, autism, adhd, domestic abuse, substance abuse and all the meds that go along with those disorders. i have to say that i have enjoyed studying this aspect of nursing immensely!! having struggled with a mental illness, myself, for more than half my life has given me an inside view of how challenging times can be... therefore, i was excited to study about mental health. The experience at the mental health facility taught me an incredible amount about how severe some patient's conditions can be and how a nurse can help them cope and adapt. it was an intense week filled with a lot of work and little play time. yet, my friend natasha (who was awesome enough to let me stay with her) promised me a chance to go kayaking, provided we got all our schoolwork done AND the weather held out! well, we got lucky :) so we enjoyed a relaxing break during a "crazy" week.

these are natasha's babies :) it was little tallie's first time in a kayak.

i went out on a kayak by myself at first so i could snap some pics

arent they a cute bunch? :)

ahh.. serenity

my turn with the kiddos!

my pants got soaked. wet white pants... um, yeah not the best decision. but hey, my braincells were on vacation for the moment. teehee