Weekend with Gavin

Gavin spent the weekend with us this past weekend.  I picked him up Saturday early afternoon and then took him home Sunday evening.  Saturday Gavin and I went to Scales Lake for a picnic, played on the playground and then went to the petting zoo there.  Saturday evening we went to our church's Lighthouse meeting for a weenie roast.  Sunday we went to church and then out to lunch at a new Chinese restaurant and then headed to Rockport to take him home.  Below are all pictures I found on my camera earlier this week when I was looking through them.

Gavin loves playing with Clifford.  Clifford tolerates it for a little bit, but I'm always afraid Clifford is going to nip at Gavin.

Playing with my tablet.  We were probably playing the dinosaur talking thing - he loves it!

Eating peanut butter crackers for breakfast...

...the remnants of the peanut butter crackers.  I think he only at the peanut butter!

Sporting Aunt Stace's cool shades on the way to church.

Playing on the floor under the pews during church.

 

Me and my little heart melter :)

Below are all pictures from my camera.  On our way to Scales Lake, we drove through Richland and then Midway to get to Boonville.  I had heard about this barn in Midway that was covered in old license plates.  I had been wanting to find it for a while, but was never in the area until last Saturday.  I found it, but didn't have the correct lens on for taking pictures

These next pictures were taken at the playground at Scales Lake and then at the petting zoo.  All Gavin really wanted to do was play in the sand; he could of cared less about actually playing on the playground.  I can't wait till he's a little older and we can take him to the ocean with us on vacation.  He's gonna LOVE that sandy beach!

These two pictures below of the ducks....well let me just say "They were not fighting", which is what I thought they were doing!  LOL!!

These next pictures are from the church's Lighthouse Meeting. 

And a few pictures from Gavin's camera...




 







The Dreamland Motel

The Dreamland Motel.

I am planning on making a trip back "home" later this fall and was so excited to get a chance to stay in the Dreamland Motel again.  When I called last week to see if they had any rooms available and to inquire about the price, I was told that they were selling the motel and weren't taking reservations.  My heart sank!  It's been years since I had stayed there and was so looking forward to it.

I found the pictures below from a website on the Internet.  When we were kids, every summer for as long as I can remember, we would vacation in Columbia, Kentucky and stay at the Dreamland Motel.  It was a little 20-unit mom and pop motel.  It was just a simple little motel - a bed, dresser/desk, nightstand, and bathroom, nothing fancy, no swimming pool.  Just a nice, clean place to lay your head down at night.  

My dad's family was from here so we would always visit with his brothers and sisters and all of our cousins.  We would always stay at the Dreamland Motel.  I only remember once not staying here - we stayed at the new Best Western cause they had a swimming pool.  Even after my dad died, I made one trip back to Columbia and stayed at the Dreamland Motel. 

I have lots of fond memories of staying here.  I remember checking in and always having to run outside and get the license plate number for dad when he would fill out the little registration card.  I remember always running to the little room with the ice and vending machines - putting our money in to get the little glass bottle of coke.  I remember one day playing around with the payphone and sticking my fingers in to see if there was any money.  Gasp!  To my surprise, I pulled out a handful of change!  I remember the room in the corner, I believe it was #9, it was the only two-room room they had and it had 3 beds in it!  I remember the time we came over for a funeral and mom realized she left her suitcase at home on the bed.  She was so upset and I remember her going out and sitting out in the chairs out front.  I remember rolling down the hill out front and laying on blankets underneath the shade tree.  I remember sitting outside on the concrete patio table while dad smoked and we visited with family.  I remember walking up the hill from the entrance of the motel to the gas station on the corner to get snacks that they vending machine didn't have.  I remember those tiny bathrooms with no tubs, and mom using lids of some sort to plug the drain so we could take a bath instead of a shower.

I'm looking forward to my trip back home later this fall.  I plan on driving around and revisiting all of the old places that we used to as kids and taking lots of pictures.  I'll definitely be calling again closer to time to see if the new owners are taking reservations!

Church Yard Sale

A couple weekends ago, we had a church yard sale at my house.  The purpose of the sale was to raise money so we could buy the stuff we needed to have a booth at the Newburgh Fiddler Fest so we could raise funds for our church.  The sale was Friday and Saturday and me and Alex and Allesha manned the entire sale both days.  We couldn't of asked for more better weather!  It was sunny and in the low 80's both days!  This comes as a blessing as the weekend before it was in the 100's.  It was also predicted to rain Friday monring and it didn't!  We raised over $400!  Below are a couple pictures I took of the girls at the sale.

Sporting Ron Hicks work gear!  ;)

Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome

A few years ago I was mowing the yard and stepped in a little whole and twisted my leg/knee a little. Every since then, I’ve felt like my right knee cap area is kind of indented and when standing or walking on it for long periods of time it kind of sweats and feels mushy.


I used to squat a lot – when getting things out of the bottom cabinets, when playing with my nephew, when doing a photography session, when gardening and pulling weeds. And I’ve had my knee pop before in these positions, but usually when standing up, it pops right back into place.

Well a few weeks ago I was squatted out by our storage shed pulling weeds and turned while squatted and felt my knee pop. I thought no big deal and when I went to stand up it wouldn’t pop back and I thought I was going to die. I tried squatting down again and had a lot of pain trying to stand up. I couldn’t walk on it and it hurt really bad. I gimped my way through the yard and garage and up the stairs into the house to call my husband to come and take me either to the Mec center or the ER. As I was sitting in the chair trying to move my leg and knee around I just felt this relief and stood up and started walking on it and it was fine. It was fine for a day or two, but every since then it’s been bothering me and it feels like it’s getting worse. When I walk, I’m kind of limping and it’s causing my right ankle and hip to hurt now. And when I walk, I’m cracking more then ever. I’ve iced it, used a heating pad, used a stop pain spray, tried Tylenol and a pain pill and nothing really seems to bring relief.

So I ventured to the doctor last Tuesday afternoon and he told me I had Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome and told me more about it, but said I could look it up on www.webmd.com for more info.  I was also told to use Tylenol for pain (I'm allergic to NSAIDs which would probably help better) and then to do these leg stretches a few times a day.

Here is what WebMD has to say about it:

What is patellofemoral pain syndrome?


Patellofemoral pain syndrome is pain in the front of the knee. It frequently occurs in teenagers, manual laborers, and athletes. It sometimes is caused by wearing down, roughening, or softening of the cartilage under the kneecap.

What causes patellofemoral pain syndrome?

Patellofemoral pain syndrome may be caused by overuse, injury, excess weight, a kneecap that is not properly aligned (patellar tracking disorder), or changes under the kneecap.

What are the symptoms?

The main symptom of patellofemoral pain syndrome is knee pain, especially when sitting with bent knees, squatting, jumping, or using the stairs (especially going down stairs). You may also experience occasional knee buckling, in which the knee suddenly and unexpectedly gives way and does not support your body weight. A catching, popping, or grinding sensation when walking or with knee movement is also common.

How is patellofemoral pain syndrome diagnosed?

Your health professional will conduct a medical history and physical exam to determine the cause of your pain. In some cases, imaging tests including X-rays or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) may be done. These tests allow a doctor to view the tissues inside your knee to rule out damage to the structure of the knee and the tissues connected to it.

How is it treated?

Patellofemoral pain syndrome can be relieved by avoiding activities that make symptoms worse.

Avoid sitting or kneeling in the bent-knee position for long periods of time.

Adjust a bicycle or exercise bike so that the resistance is not too great and the seat is at an appropriate height. The rider should be able to spin the pedals of an exercise bike without shifting weight from side to side, and the legs should not be fully extended at the lowest part of the pedal stroke.

Avoid bent-knee exercises, such as squats, deep knee bends, or 90-degree leg extensions.

Other methods to relieve pain include:

Taking nonprescription anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as ibuprofen or naproxen sodium, to decrease swelling, stiffness, and pain.

Ice and rest.

Physical therapy exercises. Exercises may include stretching to increase flexibility and decrease tightness around the knee, and straight-leg raises and other exercises to strengthen the quadriceps muscle.

Taping or using a brace to stabilize the kneecap.

Surgery.

Gavin & his ♥Girlfriends♥

Last weekend we had the church yard sale at my house.  The girls were spending the night to help me so they were already there.  Near the end of the sale Saturday, my Aunt Dobie came over with my mom, Beth and Gavin.  When they all were ready to leave and go to more yard sales, Gavin wanted to stay and play.  Gavin and the girls took turns riding his little Hot Wheels bike, and then the girls got out my pink bike to ride for a few minutes.

  

I love this picture of Gavin cause it looks like he is holding his hand up over his mouth laughing, but I know that he's actually wiping a kiss from Alexandra off his lips.  ♥Instead of throwing the kiss on the ground, he put it in his pocket for later.♥  I love that sweet little boy!

After we closed up shop to the yard sale, I got the idea to take everyone to Sonic for slushes and then to head to the park down at the river. Right as we were getting ready to leave, my sister pulled up to pick up Gavin. Because the weather was nice outside I had the windows to the house open and when I saw them pull up, I said there is Beth. Gavin yells out the window to her and says "we are getting ready to go to the park, you need to go back yard saling". LOL!! It was the funniest thing ever! He repeated it two or three times! I told Beth I would bring him home later that evening so we all could go to the park.

Our first stop was Sonic for slushes, and then we stopped at the Overlook park and then we went to the playground at the old Newburgh Lock & Dam park.  We all had a great time playing at the park!