This is a bit late, but I thought I’d post about it anyway. As you might remember, we were in a trade show a couple months ago for babies and kids up to around age 5. The Baby Bonanza. It was a bit different this year — in April rather than March, a bigger venue, two days long, and more events.

This is how our booth looked like this year. I think it came together really well. Since people loved it so much last year, we once again had a lollipop game where we gave out gift certificates. What’s not to like about free candy? We also had a rest area where people could sit their kids down and have them play with coloring sheets and crayons (washable, of course). And, of course, the photography on the walls, in books, on easels, and on tables to show off our work.

The highlights are the diaper derby races, so I have a few images from those.

There was a stage where vendors could demonstrate what they do — like how to exercise with your baby:

Here’s a winner of one of the races.

Another highlight of the event is the fashion show.

The fashion show is for the parents, too!

Here’s another vendor — this time singing with kids.

And the winner of the final Diaper Derby!
All in all, we had a lot of fun. We hope to do it again next year.

Friday March 26th is National Epilepsy Awareness Day, also known as Purple Day. Lavender is the color for Epilepsy Awareness! In honor of Purple Day, on March 26th and 27th we will be offering a limited number of special 1/2 hour sessions for $50 (regularly $75). Also, place your order from this session within 2 weeks and you will receive 10% off your order. The entire $50 session fee will be given to The Epilepsy Foundation of Central Ohio (EFCO).

To schedule a portrait session with Squier Photography on either Friday March 26th or Saturday March 27th, please call 614-798-0189. The number of sessions we can do per day is limited, so please call soon for the best choice of times. Sessions may include up to 5 people. The session fee of $50, plus $3.38 sales tax ($53.38 total) must be pre-paid in order to save your time slot. We accept cash, check (made payable to Squier Photography) and all major credit cards.
Why do we care about epilepsy?
Our family began our journey with epilepsy in December 2007 when our oldest son was diagnosed with epilepsy. Robbie is part of the 30% or so of people with epilepsy who do not gain good control of seizures through medication. Robbie’s seizures are non-convulsive and are not what most people think of as seizures. They often cause him to have memory loss and confusion which can cause problems in school. He shows very few outward signs that he is having a seizure. Robbie is an amazing kid who keeps a great attitude in spite of the struggles that seizures have brought into his life!
The EFCO provides families in the central Ohio region with many resources including support groups (for teens, parents, and adults with epilepsy), a summer camp for kids and teens with Epilepsy, an annual conference for both medical professionals and people living with epilepsy, and advocacy and training in the community, schools and workplace.
A few tidbits about Epilepsy:

• Epilepsy is a neurological condition caused by sudden brief changes in the brain’s electrical balance. This disturbance affects the brain’s normal functions and produces changes in a person’s movement, behavior or consciousness
• There are at least 30 types of seizures
• Approximately 1-2% of the population has epilepsy. This is about the same number of people who have cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease combined

Here is our favorite Tae Kwon Do child model. We used a few backdrops to see which one we liked best for when we do more of these where he takes his lessons. The first one is a little “edgier” than most of our others.
Just looking at that kick makes me say “ouch!” He sure can kick high. Here’s a different blue backdrop — the one we’ll probably end up using.
And here’s a solid gray background. I like the simplicity of this one.
Let me know if you have a favorite.

Our event printer has been getting a workout lately.

We volunteer at our kid’s middle school for their canteens (get-together, social gathering, dance) with a photo booth. The kids get together with a group of friends (or just a couple) have their photo taken. There are hats, glasses, scarves, and other crazy things they can wear if they want to.

The last one we did was really crazy. We ended up printing 278 prints in just under 2 hours! That includes arranging the people, taking the photos, picking the best one, and then sending them to the printer. That’s definitely the most we’ve ever done in that amount of time.

Then, a week later, we photographed a Father/Daughter dance for the Creature Canyon Council (formerly knows as Indian Princesses). That time we had all the photos printed and put into frames by the time the girls and dads were leaving. We didn’t print as many, but we also spent a little more time on each one. We had two stations going to get everyone’s photo taken within a half-hour of the dance starting.

Sorry, no pictures this time — we don’t have releases for them.

If you’ve followed this blog, you know that the Baby Bonanza was held this past Saturday. As usual, it was a lot of fun and we had a blast. Also, as usual, we were completely beat at 4:00 when it ended. Having a complicated booth, we were the last ones out of there. We had a lot of framed portraits in our double booth. Here’s what our booth looked like (with our wonderful helpers):

And from the other side.

We passed out over 200 gift certificates ranging from $10 to $75 and they were pretty evenly distributed. Our “lollipop” game was a hit with both the kids and their parents.

There were some games for the dads. The object was to strap the baby (doll — not a real baby!) into the stroller:

Then race through traffic cones to the other side, where they had to change the baby’s diaper:

This one was a close race:

And then race back to the starting line.

There were also three “diaper derby” races. The lines on the racetrack are just for show. The babies didn’t stay in their lanes very well.

Here’s one winner:

And here’s another. Each winner received a trophy!

Some of the babies got a slow start — even after the winner had been announced:

Then there was a fashion show:

Even some of the dads walked the “runway” with their model kids and babies.

Another diaper derby later in the day:

The heat is on!

And another race for the dads:

A princess stopped by to give a tea party for whoever was interested. I was bummed that I had to work — it looked like a lot of fun.

And, finally, some gymnastics on stage.
There were even more events than this.

Thank you to all the folks who came out to see us — and the other booths, too, I suppose We’ll see you at next year’s show.