Tybee Time!

Last Friday, we all drove down to Tybee Island to visit the Fulkerson's for the weekend. Riley woke up Friday morning and before she was even out from under the covers she yelled, "Whooohoooo!" Gee, think she was excited?

Friday night we all walked over to the YMCA to decorate pumpkins, eat snacks and watch "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!" We all had so much fun.

Riley the Pirate.

Riley decorating her pumpkin.

Zoe as a goth girl and Emma as a mime.

Ellen found an interesting pumpkin...

Saturday morning, we all watched the girls play in their soccer games while Riley and her friend James played on the playground at the soccer fields.

Zoe during her game.

Emma taking on the big boys.

Marissa and Riley during a break in the game.

Saturday afternoon, we all drove to downtown Savannah for Wag-O-Ween: people were encouraged to dress up their dogs in costumes and stroll the streets of the city--stopping to pick up "treats" for the dogs at participating businesses. All the dogs were adorable!







Saturday night I took some time for myself on the beach--it was so peaceful! I know some of the pics are dark, but I was trying to capture the light as I was seeing it on the water--it looked almost pink in the fading light of the sun...





Sunday we all went down to the beach to hunt for shells and we came home with quite a haul! When it was time to leave on Sunday, Riley was not happy at all. She started crying and on the way home she made a wish on the first star she saw. I kid you not, she said, "Star light, star bright, the first star I see tonight, I wish I had a house on the beach!"

Hmmmm, I think I would have made the same wish!!

Mystery Illness = Very Sad Girl

It's been a rough few days for Riley. The first signs of a problem happened Saturday when she was running a fever and complaining of neck pain. We gave her OTC medicine and thought nothing more of it. This past Sunday she seemed fine and even went with Charles to visit his parents in Jonesboro. They had a busy day, but, again, she seemed fine. That night she actually came to us just before 8:00 p.m. and told us she was ready for bed (very unusual). She was running a slight fever, so we sent her off to bed.

Monday she woke up in bad shape--she still had the fever, but now she was refusing to eat and could not even keep liquids down. Two to three minutes after taking a sip, she was vomiting all over the floor. This happened about three times before I called the doctor. Her temperature read 103.7 on my digital thermometer!

At the doctor's office, they did a CBC test and tested for strep throat. The strep test was negative, but her white blood count was extremely high (over 21,000). The doctor was worried it could be her appendix, so he told us to go directly to Scottish Rite emergency room. Once we got there, things got crazy. Riley got an IV in her arm (soooo not a fun process); they drew blood; did x-rays, gave her saline solution to re-hydrate her; and even gave her a CT scan. Finally, after discovering she had a blockage in her bowels, they gave her an enema (another horrible procedure for her to endure). The enema worked, which is a good thing. The x-rays and CT proved that the problem was not her kidneys or appendix.

Here she is--closer to the end of our ordeal.

Doesn't she just look pitiful?

Basically, we spent 9 hours in the ER to find out that they really aren't sure what the problem is. It's some sort of viral or bacterial infection. They sent us home since Riley was finally able to take in fluid and keep it down and told us to just watch her and call our doctor for a follow-up appointment.

Today was a bit better--no vomiting--but Riley still had a fever of 101.8. She got up and crawled in the recliner and did not move for hours. She actually slept in the chair for a couple of those hours. All she had eaten was a piece of toast and a granola bar. I called the doctor and told them the situation and they called the hospital to get her records sent over. They called me back and told me to bring her in this afternoon.

More tests today--flu (even though she had a flu shot weeks ago), strep, CBC--and things were all negative. By the time the doctor took her temp, it was up to 102.6. Her white blood cell count had dropped (just over 17,000). Again, they sent us home with no real explanation of what could be causing this.

I guess tomorrow will be another "wait and see" day. At least she started to perk up this evening and seems to have returned to normal in the temperature department. I just hope this is all over soon and she returns to her old self.

An Overnight to Callaway Gardens

Yesterday the three of us took off to Callaway Gardens for an overnight trip. I think this is the third time we've been there, but each time we find new things to do and always have a wonderful time. We went mainly for the Fall Festival they have every year--Riley loves the arts and crafts for children (and kids at heart) and her favorite activity of all is pumpkin painting.

Our little artist.

Not bad!

It's the Great Pumpkin Tree!

A smile on a windy day.

She also got to make images on muslin with flowers picked fresh from the gardens all around us. She thought this was fun because you get to pound the muslin and flowers with a hammer...

This was just too fun!

She needed just a little help.

Callaway also hosted an antique tractor show this weekend--usually not my "thing," but it was neat to see them...

I preferred this rusty old tractor over the
freshly painted and restored models on display.

A cool photo by Charles.

I love this shot...

Okay, we took like 150 photos this weekend so I don't really need to say anything else. I just want to share some of the amazing photos we got during our trip...

An inside view of the corn maze...

Sweetwater (The Park, Not the Beer)

After Riley's karate class this morning (and a little retail therapy at Kohl's) we all decided to take a trip out to Sweetwater State Park. It's just a few miles down the road and is a really fun place to spend the afternoon.

Here's a bit of the history:

Today the park houses the remnants of the New Manchester Manufacturing Company, which was destroyed by George Stoneman's cavalry on July 9, 1864. Although there was no fighting at Sweetwater a brief skirmish occurred at Alexander's Mill, also in the park. A third mill, just outside the park boundary, was also destroyed. The New Manchester Mill and Roswell Mill were major targets of William Tecumseh Sherman's forces because the products from these mills were used to outfit and house the Confederate Army. While Sweetwater Mill produced cloth for tents and sheets, Roswell Mill produced the famous "Roswell Gray" used in the uniforms. Other mills in the area handled grist.

Now for a few photos of the park and the mill ruins. I was very disappointed when we reached the ruins today--the last time I hiked here, you could walk through the old mill and explore every inch. Now there's a fence around it to keep hikers and visitors out. When will people learn to quit ruining things for the rest of us? Enough of my whining; back to the pictures...

Part of the frame-work of the old mill.

Another shot of a portion of the ruins.

We hiked the trail that took us by the river.

Riley taking a break on the rocks.

Part of "The Falls" area.

This was quite a random site...

Riley posing at a river overlook.

A peaceful spot.

Now I'm off to take massive doses of Aleve for my aching feet, ankles and legs!!