Glow Run

This past weekend Fort Gordon hosted a Glow Run. A Glow Run is kind of like a Color Run where they have stations of color being thrown at you along the way but at night and the color glows under black lights at the end.

Meric, Mel and I got to the race about 30 minutes before it was to start. Usually that is plenty of time to get signed in and pick up or numbers and t-shirts. Unfortunately that was not the case with this run. Apparently there were several (500 is what I heard) walk up/same day registrants. That made for a very long line and a delayed start time. It also meant that all of the glow sticks and glow bracelets they were handing out were gone. I felt a little bad because I knew Mel would like to play with them.

Meric and I decided to do the shorter 3K instead of the 5K since the race didn't start until after 8:30 pm. We figured it was best since it was so close to Mel's bed time. Right before we started running a lady noticed that Mel didn't have anything that glowed. She gave her two bracelets. Along the course I would find and pick up bracelets and glow sitcks that people had dropped. Turns out I didn't need to feel bad because Mel had plenty of swag by the end of the race.

She loved the glowing swag!

Now you see the glow!

We had a blast running and this race marked a milestone. Just before the finish line we took Mel out of her stroller. This is the first race that Mel ran across the finish line. My baby is growing up fast.

Enjoying a victory cookie.

Little Miss Mel: 18 Months

It is crazy how quickly my little baby is growing. Mel now has several teeth and loves to give you a toothy grin.

I did NOT tell her to show me her food

She is also running all over the place and is hard to keep up with. Mel enjoys running around bare foot but also loves her shoes and runs to get them when it is time to go outside. She is starting to talk and has several words in her vocabulary including all of her dogs' names.

Mel loves to cuddle with her woof woofs

She can say daddy but prefers to call both Meric and I "Mom". She doesn't just say mom once though. She likes to say "mom, mom, mom" whenever she wants something or to be picked up.

On the weekends she love to wake up early with daddy and spend special time together while mom sleeps in. Mel definitely has a mind of her own and we have a special place for all of her snacks so she can pick out what she feels like eating.

Peanut butter crackers are one of her favorite treats. She pulls the crackers apart and eats all the peanut butter and occasionally will eat the crackers too.

Mel is super smart too and is not to be under estimated. She loves tools.

Not toy tools though, she wants the real thing. She loves to help daddy fix things and knows the proper way to use an allen wrench.

One of Mel's favorite things right now is her belly button. She loves to show it to you.

She is so much fun and I love her smiling face and the way she laughs. Mel has always had a fun personality and I love just hanging out with her.

She loves driving the cart and goes vroom, vroom!

This kid definitely knows how to make herself comfy

She loves to put on her own sunglasses

On the Move

Life is always changing in one way or another. Meric and I have moved 5 times in the 11 years we have been married. Our first house was the one we bought in Spokane. We loved that house and it was our home for 3 1/2 years. Then Meric joined the Army and we moved to Texas. For 18 months we rented a house and made it our home. When we moved to North Carolina we rented another house and lived there for 2 more years. Just before moving way from NC Meric and I decided to start trailering. We wanted a home that would move with us. Our trailer was home to us for almost 2 months in NC before moving to Kentucky.

For 3 1/2 years we called the trailer home and thoroughly enjoyed our campground home in Kentucky. Next we moved the trailer to Georgia and looked for another campground to call home. For 5 months we lived in the trailer at a campground that was too far away from everything to be the right fit. After 5 months we took a 2 1/2 month break while Meric was in Texas for training and I took Mel on a country wide road trip. Once we got back to Georgia we moved the trailer to yet another campground. For over 4 years the trailer has been our home. No matter how our surroundings changed the trailer was our constant home. The trailer is the home we have lived in the longest during our marriage. But like I said life is always changing. Meric and I bought a house!

We got a great deal on a nice house and are hoping to flip it. We have moved out of our trailer and it is now parked on the side of our house. We intend to still use the trailer for camping and will more than likely move back into it when it comes time to move away from Georgia. But for now we are enjoying our new adventure and all of the projects that come with it.