Saturday Fun/Celebration Day!

Sara couldn't get enough of the kids since getting home from the trade show so bright and early they headed to the park for some fun time!  Was nice to give Daddy a break too since we're sure he was exhausted after 4 and a half days working and being a single parent!  They all did great though (thanks babes!!)

Saturday night we headed out with the Yangs to celebrate the trade show success!

We went to Elements at Sanctuary on Camelback Mountain.  Everything was amazing!!!  The view, the drinks, the food, the company...

...and they sent over a congratulatory dessert!

After that we checked out the new Top Golf hot spot and yes, it was packed.  The wait was 2-3 hours so we headed closer to home to check out a dive bar.

Julie and Sara played Jenga.

Play at your own risk...and watch your toes!

Of course, Sara won LOL

The boys set up shop at Golden Tee!

We played pool, danced a bit, had some drinks and then it was time to get home!  Grandma Pauline and Papa John were babysitting and we didn't want to be too late!

Brian swore he was here before with his good friend Frank...Aunt Nancy you'll have to ask him? 

Thanks again to everyone who made the trade show a success!  Julie for being a great boss, Brian for being a supportive husband and wonderful Daddy, and all the babysitters that allowed Sara to work to prep and attend the show.  Big things ahead for Cool Carats!

Goodbye VV

Our run with our good ole Valhalla Voyager (that we almost skipped our honeymoon to buy) has come to an end.  It hasn't been used all that much from any of the partners...so it was time to put it up for sale.  Luckily it sold pretty quickly.  Can't promise the new owner will take it to every game but it will live on!   Thanks for 10 years of memories VV!

ABC Kids Expo

On Saturday we attended our neighbor Maci's 3rd birthday party.  It's so nice having kids Trevor's age nearby.  They are all such good friends!

 

About an hour into the party Sara headed to the airport.  It was finally trade show time!  After a quick flight we checked into our hotel and made our way to the trade show floor (a big thank you to the guy who took pity on us and let us ride in his golf cart thing!).  We set up the car seat that we brought with and a few other touches but felt very lucky that we hired out the rest.  A lot of other booths were still being assembled.  We are pretty happy with how it turned out!

Elvis was in the hotel lobby so of course he called for a selfie!  We should have loaded him up with car seat coolers.

That night we were feeling like Mexican food and found a highly rated one.  As it turns out it was right next to a strip club.  LOL! 

 The food and drinks were so yummy though!

 

We were smart though and got back to the hotel around 8pm to make sure we were rested for the first day of the show!  Looking good!

In order to attract potential buyers we held a drawing for diamond earrings! 

Day one was pretty slow, but it was a Sunday and the first week of football but it was great practice meeting with other exhibitors and Buyers!  The show was 9-6 every day and on Sunday night they had a reception for everyone.  Free food and drinks...of course we were going but kept it low key.  Day two:

Ali Landry was there promoting her new app so with a little nudging Julie tracked her down and asked if we could have a pic with her.  Sara quickly followed with our car seat cooler.  She loved the product and wanted to take one!

Monday night called for football!  The Cardinals were playing so we headed to the new SLS hotel and watched part of the game.  Julie tried out a frozen beer...not so good!

While watching football back at the room we did facial masks....our skin never felt better afterward!

We continued having a great show on Tuesday so we decided to try out a local Foot Lounge place...Sara was skeptical but trusts Julie so we went.

At least they know a lot about feet!

The wait was long so we went next door to a billard hall.  And to quote Julie 'if you see knives, run....'  What? 

It might have looked a bit sketch on the outside but inside was just fine.  So we had a few drinks before going back for our massage...

You are fully clothed and you sit on a plush recliner with your feet in warm water.  Best massage ever.  Seriously!!  And $38!!!

After that we planned to do sushi but neither of us felt like that so we went back to the yummy Mexican place.  Cheers!

We had kind of a late night that night but we were in Vegas.  Wednesday was the last day of the trade show and it was pretty slow except for talking to Buy Buy Baby!!!  Fingers and toes crossed that we can partner with them to get the only Car Seat Cooler with COOLTECH into their stores!

Doggie is home!

So Toby (yes, the name is final) came home while Sara was away at the trade show (more to come on that).  Yay!!  Although poor Daddy probably had his hands full with two kids and a puppy but nothing he couldn't handle!

First though are some pictures that his foster Mommy sent of his time away.  You could tell he started feeling better with the eye cream and breathing treatments.

 As well from the love he got from the little girl where he was staying.

 And then Daddy to the rescue!

 Bet it felt good to be home!  (Trevor is so helpful, he puts his fingers out to get the attention of whomever isn't looking at the camera...in this case Toby)

And things fell right into place like he never left...

Daddy had a cuddle buddy back!

Ashley is all about the doggie.  Seriously.  She follows him everywhere, gives hugs and just has the biggest smile.  She insists on hand feeding him every morsel of food!

Toby even goes to work with Daddy most every day.  Where's Toby?

Sacked out on his bed on top of Brian's desk.  Brian says Toby needs to be right by him.  LOL

And it's becoming funny how Daddy falls asleep on the couch with Toby nearby that Mommy is sure to snap photos to remember :)

Toby is so little compared to other doggies at Brian's work!

After leaving him at home a few times and him getting loose from his area and having an accident we started familiarizing Toby with Randle's old kennel.  And it worked!  He goes in his kennel without issue!  And when we get home he is just laying there looking at us. 

Not sure he could be a better dog...doesn't bark (even at the doorbell), shed, is good with the kids, is house trained, kennel trained and sleeps all night.  We are lucky!

First day of Pre-K Round 2!

Trevor missed his first day of pre-k because we were in Minnesota (that's what happens when you book your trip months before looking at the following year's school calendar).  This kid though knows what to do because he is in pre-k for what feels like his umpteenth year!  He was very excited to see his friends at La Casa!

 Ashley is very into saying 'cheese' and getting her photo taken so she had to be in big brother's pictures!

 Cars were parked where we normally take our beginning of year and end of year pics but that's okay.  This worked too!

 And Mommy tried to get one more of her big 4.75 year old.  Of course Ashley had to be in it and of course Trevor was like 'come on Mom...you are embarrassing me!'

Toby

Robbie, Tatum, Toby...not really sure we know what his name is yet.  As our friend Erin said he'll probably have to go to a psychologist because of multiple personality disorder LOL.  He's fitting in with our family just fine though.  He went to work with Brian Wednesday through Friday and fit right in...

He settled in at home too.  Favorite spot is anywhere where we are!  Funny story about his first morning home was that Brian got up at 5am to use the restroom because of the time difference and Toby lifted his head off of his bed and was like 'you aren't serious...it is not time to get up.'  Guess he can sleep like his Daddy!

Case in point...lazy bum sleeping in Daddy's office.

He is like Randle....loves the couch and just being by people.  Trevor is glad to have a doggie around too!

Ashley pretty much just likes to antagonize Toby but he puts up with it.  She lights up just looking at him.

Before we forget, we named him Tatum because we live off of Tatum and if we ever move it would be a nice reminder of AZ.  But when Brian brought him into work his co-workers said he didn't look like a Tatum and that Tatum wasn't masculine enough so the name hunt continued.  Way too many to name.  Some that Sara is remembering right now are Homer, Chip, Chewie, Wookie, Brewster, and RJ and probably 100 more that went back and forth while Brian was in AZ and Sara was in MN.  Currently it stands as Toby because we like going to Toby Keith's bar and grill and one is going to open soon a mile down the road. 

 However, it became apparent that Toby wasn't doing too well.  He stopped eating and drinking so we took him into the vet on Labor Day and he was there all day getting fluids through an IV, two shots of antibiotics and blood work done (his white blood cells were a little low). 

 They wanted him to come back Tuesday for more fluids and to check how he was doing (they threw out that he may have distemper...whatever you do, don't read about it!!).   But we brought him home and it was good to have our family of five together.

He still didn't seem right though so we called his foster Mom Sherry though who was very concerned about him.  She came to see him Monday night and after talking with the Rescue Group owner, they wanted to take him back to get well.  They were pretty sure it wasn't distemper but more like pneumonia because he was sick (kennel cough) then got better then got sick.  They have a breathing treatment machine that they can use that they felt would work.

So we will miss him until he can come home...they thought in about a week!  XOXO Toby/Tatum/Robbie/Chip  feel better soon!