Sweet as Honey: Mel's First Christmas

This Christmas is a special one. It is my sweet baby's first Christmas. Being only 10 months old Mel doesn't understand Christmas but that doesn't stop us from having fun.

December started with a Christmas 5K on Fort Gordon. The Holly Jolly Run was a family fun run that handed out jingle bells and encouraged us to wear ugly Christmas sweaters.

We don't own Christmas sweaters so Meric and I had some fun with snowman t-shirts and pajama pants. Mel on the other hand sported a onesie that read "this is my TACKY Christmas sweater" and fuzzy red socks.

The outfits won us a prize in the costume contest.

Later in the month Meric and I took Mel to look at Christmas lights. "Lights of the South" is a special light display that covers several acres. You can either take a hayride or walk the trail to view the lights.

When we got there it was crazy busy (it took about 30 minutes just to get into the parking lot) and the line to the hay ride was quite long.

Being us, Meric and I decided to walk (about 1-2 miles) to view the lights. Walking really was nice.

The evening wasn't too cold and walking allowed us to take our time and really let Mel enjoy looking at all the lights.

Speaking of lights, once again I decorated our back room by draping Christmas light all about the walls and ceiling. I hung all of the lights and then waited until Meric was home to plug them in. I wanted both of us to see the look on Mel's face when she saw them for the first time. Her face was well worth the wait. She was in awe of all the colors and lights.

This year I did have to make a minor adjustment to the way I decorate. Normally I hang the stockings by the fireplace and put our tiny tree on the floor in the corner. This year the stockings and tree are up and out of the reach of our very own curious little monkey.

For Mel's first Christmas I didn't want to go over board on presents. Meric and I got Mel stacking cups, monkey toys, a book and stuffed her stocking with treats.

On Christmas morning I let her open a present and play with it for a little while before moving on to the next thing.

One of the goodies in her stocking was a Hostess Cupcake, a.k.a breakfast. Mel loved it! Of course she didn't take a nap and was wired all day but she loved it.

We opened presents slowly throughout the day and enjoyed a nice relaxing day. We got to Skype a little with our families and they got to see Mel open her presents from them.

Between the lights, the presents, the toys and the treats Mel loved Christmas! I am looking forward to next year with my funny little monkey!

A Visit from Nana & Papa

This past week Mel met her Nana and Papa (Meric's parents). It was Mel's first time meeting any family from the Powell side. Living so far away it has been hard to find a time to go and visit family. I love traveling and knowing that Mel will get to experience a lot of new and interesting things but it is hard knowing that we won't get to see family very often. I was happy someone else got to met my sweet little monkey.

Nana and Papa flew into Augusta late Thursday night. On Friday we stayed home and they played with Mel most of the day. In the afternoon I drove them around the town of Wrens (where we live) and then down to Waynesboro to visit a Confederate cemetery. On the drive Nana was especially fascinated by the cotton fields all around us. Right now they are harvesting the cotton and it was interesting to see the crop go from balls on the plants to bales piled in the field.

Snowy cotton ready for harvest

Bales of cotton

Saturday we headed into Augusta to visit the street market and see the sights. James Brown, godfather of soul, lived in Augusta growing up and is very celebrated still in the city so we had to get a picture in front of the statue.

We wandered from sight to sight and stopped for lunch at Hildebrant's. Hildebrant's is a deli/grocery that has been owned and ran by the same family since 1879. The food was good and the atmosphere was very unique. There were many pictures of the family and store throughout the years. At the end of our visit as we were paying for lunch they let us draw a slip of paper from a fish bowl. On each paper was written a different prize that we won. Meric won a moon pie, Nana won a bag of chips and Papa won a pack of mints. I let Mel draw out my prize and she won me a Hildebrant's t-shirt. Mel is one lucky kid!

On Sunday we packed up the trailer and headed down to Savannah GA. Ever since we moved to the east Meric's mom has wanted to visit Savannah. We figured since Savannah is only 2 hours away from us we should take advantage of it and visit. Also it is nice that our house is mobile and we can go for a couple days.

We got to Savannah and immediately left to go to Hilton Head SC. We wanted to see the ocean and Hilton Head had several dog friendly beaches. Even though it was chilly and getting late we were still able to enjoy our time on the beach.

 

 

Monday we headed into Savannah to see the sights. We stayed in historic Savannah and along the river. All of us love history and enjoyed walking around the town. There are several squares throughout the city that were part of the city's original design.

The squares are like little parks. We enjoyed the unique architecture.

The trees draped with Spanish moss were also very unique and beautiful.

We were able to take a tour of the oldest extravagant mansions in the city.

(The tour was free to military members and their families thanks to a donation from Fifth Third Bank.) www.telfair.org/visit/owens-thomas

After the tour we hopped on a free shuttle and headed to The Pirate's House. The Pirate's House is the oldest continuous running pub/restaurant in Georgia. The food was good and the history of the place was very interesting. It is even referenced in the book Treasure Island. They had a pirate who walked around and gave tours of the place. Mel liked the pirate and thought he was funny. She also liked the Okra gumbo that Papa was feeding her. The Pirate's house comprised of many older buildings. The part we ate in was part of the original restaurant.

There were stairs that lead down to a rum cellar where the real pirates use to hang out. The restaurant also incorporated the house next to it which is the oldest house still standing in Georgia. www.thepirateshouse.com

After lunch we walked a short distance to River Street to check out the shops along the river. We really liked the candy shop.

It seemed like a kids dream with trains running along the ceilings, a conveyor belt of taffy, fresh made pralines (free YUMMY samples) and candies galore.

It was a good thing we were still full from lunch or we might have gotten lost in the shop. www.savannahcandy.com

It was amazing to see the historic buildings and boats along the river.

 

River street is down a level from the rest of the town and there were old stair cases dotted along the way to get from one level to the next. Some were narrow, some were wide. Some were short little stairs and all had signs that said "Historic Stairs: Use at Own Risk"

Savannah is a beautiful city full of history and things to see. It is easy to navigate and has a free shuttle that will take you around town and a free ferry that will take you along the river. There was a lot more we could have done and Meric and I are planning to go back for another visit.

Tuesday morning we headed back home. We were able to spend a little more time together before we had to take Meric's parents to the airport. It was a nice visit and Mel enjoyed having people come to see her.

Kentucky Vacation

Last week Meric, Mel, the dogs and I all went on a vacation to visit Glendale Campground. It has been 2 1/2 months since we moved away and we were very excited to see all of our friends and "family".

We decided to take 2 days to make the drive up. About halfway we stopped at a campground and camped. It was nice to be able to relax and take our time on the trip up.

Our campsite at night. Check out the alien next to the fire.

We were able to stop at the Lodge Factory Store in South Pittsburgh, TN on the way. Meric and I both are huge fans of Lodge cast iron products. I also wanted to grab a geocache located near the store.

Cast Iron Man (Spoiler: cache hidden in left shoulder)

 Sunday afternoon we were pulling into our old home, Glendale Campground. I don't think I realized exactly how much I missed it until we got there. It really did feel like going home. It was wonderful to see everyone and even the dogs seemed happy to be able to run around in their old field. To make things feel even more familiar we stayed in the same spot we use to live in. (Our friend had moved his trailer into the spot we were in after we left. He was actually out of town while we were there and offered to let us stay in his trailer during our stay. It was very generous of him and very nice to be in our familiar area.)

Another reason to visit Kentucky was so that I could visit my orthodontist. I was almost done with my braces when we moved and I had scheduled to have them removed during our visit. First thing Monday morning I was freed from my braces. My orthodontist fast tracked my retainer so I was able to have it by that afternoon. I felt so nice and weird to get my mouth back after 2 1/2 years of braces. I love it!

First pic without the braces!

Ever since we moved Meric and I have looked forward to this vacation. We had a list of people to see and things we wanted to do. Luckily the weather was nice and people's schedules worked out so that we could see and do just about everything we wanted to do. We went to dinner or lunch with different people just about everyday. One of those meals was at Louisville's new Brazilian restaurant with the Smiths and the Underwoods.

We also "forced" Emma to skip school one day so that we could spend the day together. We introduced her to geocaching and had a very successful day of caching.

The cache was hidden halfway down the long and dark tunnel.

 That Saturday we surprised her by taking her on The Color Run. We had a blast and I made sure everyone got very colorful. (Yes I did drag Emma to the ground and rolled her through PURPLE!) 

Emma, me and our friend Laurie getting ready to start

Emma and I are in the middle of all that COLOR

By the end Emma and I were definitely the most colorful

Our trip also coincided with the last Halloween weekend at Glendale.

Dave wore the mask and scared all the kids.Mel thought the mask was funny and just laughed.

Mel dressed up as a monkey and I took her and a friend's kids through the campground trick or treating. (No I didn't carry a bag for "Mel" to collect candy. After a week of eating out I knew I would regret having extra candy hanging around. I did let Mel have a watermelon sucker which she enjoyed very much and got everything very sticky.)

Runaway Monkey!

Mel really loved being back in Kentucky. She had all of our Glendale friends to entertain and play with her. The bugs are so bad in Georgia that we haven't spent a lot of time outside so Mel really loved being able to play outside. She got to play in her Johnny Jumper and we introduced her to the swing, which she LOVED! It made me sad that we left and couldn't stay.

Mel can make even this outfit look good!

Isn't that the happiest face you have ever seen?

Mel also did an amazing job of going with the flow of our busy days. We would be out and going all day long and she handled everything really well. She also was very good in all of the restaurants and everyone was impressed with what a good girl she is. I love my little monkey!

We left early Sunday morning and headed home. We had left the car in Kentucky when we moved so we towed it home. That worked out well so that one of us could keep Mel entertained on the long car ride. It was very hard to leave Glendale again. Everything is so comfortable and homey there for us. We just fit there. Maybe someday we will get to live there again, but this last visit was just wonderful. I couldn't have planned a better trip if I had tried.

Geocaching Georgia: The Explanation

Meric and I like to geocache. It is like a treasure hunt with a hand held GPS unit. Some are big and some are small. Some are in the woods and some are right next to your favorite store. Once you have a GPS unit, geocaching is fun and free.

Georgia State Parks have a geocaching challenge. At participating parks you can pick up a "Geo-tour Passport". This is a little pamphlet with a list of state parks and a place to put a stamp. 46 different state parks are participating in this challenge. Each park has a special geocache with a special stamp hidden inside. Once you find the cache you can mark your pamphlet with that park's stamp.

After you collect 15 stamps you earn a bronze coin specially designed for Georgia State parks. 30 stamps gets you the silver coin and 40 earns you the gold. (These coins have no monetary value, they are just a fun prize for your accomplishment.)

The state parks involved are spread all over the state which makes this challenge... well challenging. It also is a great excuse to travel and explore our new state. Meric and I are excited to complete this challenge. (Of course we will let Mel tag along.)

We will keep you updated on our progress!

Little Miss Mel: 8 Months Old

Mel is growing up so fast I can hardly keep up. She is funny and active.

She loves to ride in shopping carts and goes out of her way to make eye contact and smile at people walking by. Sometimes it is hard to shop because we are always stopping so that people can say hi to our happy baby.

Mel's bottom two teeth started coming in last month. She loves to flash them and will have a very toothy grin... once she gets more teeth. Her teeth also enhance what I call her "mean kid" face. I have a hard time getting a picture of that face though because she loves to smile for the camera. She is such an ornery kid.

She started crawling this past month and is keeping me on my toes. Mel is also sitting up on her own and pulling herself up to a stand. I really wasn't kidding when I said I couldn't keep up with her.

The dog food bin looks so much better without the sticker

Who needs toys when you can pull off the heat vent?

Mel is starting to enjoy different kinds of foods too. She loves yogurt, pear baby food, and strawberries. But her most favorite foods are whatever mommy and daddy are eating.

She loves the dogs too. She loves to climb on them, pull their tails and laughs when she sees them. When they are playing outside and running around, Mel loves to yell and squeal at them.

She has such a big and funny personality. Mel is a go with the flow type of kid. She is ready to follow us into any adventure. I love my funny little monkey face!