Hop Around the Clock!

Here is our booth Saturday.  We got moved in and set up.  Here I am, ready to start selling tons of coloring books…I look fresh and eager, huh?  Good thing we didn’t have the camera with us at the end.

Shortly after we got setup, the sweetest people I know showed up to help and lend some support…that’s right!!  My Niece and Nephews!!

They are just the cutest kids in the world!

Each of them has a different personality.  Sometimes it isn’t easy capturing that with just one photo, fortunately, I don’t mind expending a few hundred photos on my favorite people…

My newest niece came by for a visit, too!  Her personality involves gnawing on her own feet at this time, though I did not get that in a picture.

Here is my lovely sister!  We enjoyed having her come by and help!  (She sold two boxes of crayons!!)  She watched the booth while we did a few things in the morning.  Her husband had to work, otherwise, he would have been there too!  She made the 60 mile trek alone with three kids to give us some moral support!  And, did I mention she is pregnant?  That’s an awesome sister!!  Thanks Sis!

My sister-in-law ran the fun-run.  We left the booth to see her finish.  Here is a photo of her nearing the finish line…I think My Precious camera did a fair job of capturing her mid-stride!

When I went to return to the booth, I saw this:

My niece and oldest nephew peddling our wares!!  If there had been more people there I think they would have sold the lot!!  I can’t say enough good things about my niece and nephews!  Such personality!!  I love them!

Now that Uncle Jim has his camera, he likes to take huge quantities of photos!!  A few turn out!

Ahh, BROTHERS!!

 

Speaking of brothers, our brother-in-law, Ryan, spent most of the day supporting us!!  He was in the booth with us almost the whole time.  It was great being able to leave for a minute or two knowing someone was watching the booth.  He and I sneaked off for a beer in the beer garden a couple times.  Honestly, I got lucky.  My sister-in-law made a good choice with this guy!

While my sister watched the booth, we took her kids and watched the parade…of course, here, they still throw candy out to the kids.  My niece was a natural!  Check out the stance, she’s ready to throw her body in whatever direction the candy goes.  I think other kids could learn a thing or two from her.

Everybody loves a parade!  And these awesome kids were no different!

Of course, they observed the time-honored protocol of waving at the princesses.

And Moxee had at least two wonderful examples this year.  In my opinion these two should have won hands down.  These two are going to go places!!  Alas, I was not on the committee.

I have many pictures of this lovely lady.  Each of them show her in a slightly different light.  I think she’s beautiful.  She did a wonderful job of keeping everything straight, which allowed me to be the salesman.

The rest of the day the camera was put away, as we were trying to sell coloring books and crayon rolls.  We had our hopes dashed, in that we did not sell nearly as many as we wanted.  We did have many friends and acquaintances stop in and buy, though!  These are the people who really made it come together and happen!  It’s to them we owe our gratitude.  A few people even left donations and their help is greatly appreciated!  Much of the trouble, though, was due to our site placement and the way the place was arranged this year.

We were right next to two venders selling outrageously loud, bright, shiny, inflated, and useless toys.  Of course, next to them, the idea of a quiet time with a hand drawn coloring book and a few crayons was completely ridiculous.  What kid in their sugar-crazed right mind would consider spending the few dollars they were given on a coloring book instead of something that whizzed, banged, and lighted up? 

It doesn’t help that the lane that brought people by us was almost as wide as a football field, so a parent with any sense would avoid the throw-away-novelty peddlers by walking just a little further away, but in so doing they reduced our chance of catching their eye.  We did our best to go out and lure them in with free color sheets, and I added a dash of my overwhelming charm, but even that was not enough.  Almost every sale was a chore and considerable work.  Cora and Ryan pulled their weight, but we could not MAKE people buy!   

It was great getting out to see and meet people.  But the weather was not with us, and at some point the sun went away and, although not as windy as the previous night, the breeze came up.  We had spent an hour without a sale, things were looking dim.  The music from several different directions and bands was rattling our brains.  It was at that point that the skies opened up and it began to rain.  We decided to cut our losses and get our precious coloring books out of the weather.  We went home at about 1030pm.  Again, with the tireless help of Ryan, we were able to do what we needed fairly quickly.

I fell asleep with my glasses on and my light on…Cora woke me this morning so I could take my glasses off!  I don’t know if I was awake when my head hit the pillow.  Obviously, Cora was out, too.  Who knew it would be so much effort?

This morning, recovery is long and slow.  I have sore muscles from I know not what.  I have a sore throat from yelling, talking, and barking.  I am tired.  We have a huge inventory of coloring books now, so maybe we will try a bazaar this fall.  In the mean time, it was great to have family members who supported us come out and lend a hand!  Thanks Charissa and Ryan!