A lady named Ranae is actually the one who started the whole thing. This was the third year, but she did it all on her own the first two. I really cannot believe she put this event together on her own! She is an amazing person.
Last year, Ranae arranged a trade with Dave. We got a booth and Dave did a video for the website. That's how we met Ranae. But Dave, being the amazing person that he is (see previous post) made a huge impression on Ranae and she asked us to partner up for this year's expo. So, for all of this year and part of last, we've been planning and preparing for this huge event to be held in the middle of October.
It was a TON of work! We ended up with almost 80 vendors (up from 53 last year), which is a huge amount of coordinating. Plus, all of the stage presentations, the advertising, the graphic design work, etc, etc, etc. October has been the busiest time, of course. It felt like we were eating, sleeping, and breathing the expo.
When it finally came, it was a huge relief. We had a very successful year. We had very few complaints and I think overall everyone that came or presented were quite pleased. It was so fun to be there meeting new people and talking to the vendors. I'm sure I spent too much money (I bought the most incredible curling wand for Bria).
Dave and I got to stay at the hotel where the Expo was for 3 nights. Dave's sister Andrea was SO generous and watched our kids. What a lifesaver she was! I don't think we could have pulled it off without her! We brought the kids and let them stay with us the last night. They had a blast in the swimming pool and getting treats from some of the expo vendors.
I didn't take very many pictures, but here are a few:
The tooth fairy was there with one of the dentist booths. AS soon as Bria heard about the tooth fairy being there, she was DETERMINED to go. I'm so glad she still gets excited about these things.
Dave and I were in charge of the Minute to Win It games for the Education Foundations. It was so fun putting it together and Dave was such a funny MC. We also helped put together the spelling bee. We had kids in 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th grades competing. The kids that won got to take money back for their school. It was obviously not planned this way, but three of the winners were kids from Dave's school.
It was really a very fun and rewarding experience. Not long before the Expo, we had a huge company in our area offer to buy it. They own quite a few of the big radio stations in the area. As much fun as it was, we knew selling it was the right thing to do. I'm so glad we were part of the expo, but I am also so relieved it's over with. Now we can get back to normal life!
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