The big moment so many wait for after every Baby Fair is finally here!
Here are the winners of the 2010 Nanaimo Photo Contest…

0-24 month old category: Aislynn.  2-6 year old category: Solace

Both Aislynn and Solace’s families win a $300 prize package including a portrait session, 11×14 enlargement & 10 5×7 digital negatives from SeaSide Studios.

We are often asked how we pick the winners, and we always try to emphasize that it is not a “cutest baby” contest. We look for interesting photographs where the photographer has captured a special look or expression of the child. Check out some of the past faces of the Vancouver Island Baby Fair.

Thank you to all the families who entered their little ones into the photo contest! All families who entered receive a free 5×7 print which is available for pickup now at Huckleberry Baby Shop in Nanaimo.

Through the Photo Contest, face painting and stroller parking we have raised more than $1350 for Haven Society. Thank You also to London Drugs at Nanaimo North Town Centre for providing the 5×7 prints. We are donating that cost savings back to Haven Society.

Advance tickets are now available for the upcoming Vancouver Island Baby Fair in Nanaimo on June 5 & 6, 2010. Stop by any of the following locations to get a full weekend pass for just $5 (at the door entry is $7/day or $8/weekend).

• Bellies In Bloom Maternity (#104-4489 Viewmont Ave., Victoria)
• Dream With Me Custom Bedding (115 Chapel St., Nanaimo)
• Hard Candy Baby Boutique (#12-221 Second Ave., Qualicum Beach)
• Huckleberry Baby Shop (#12A-4376 Boban Dr., Nanaimo)
• Podlings (#104-2270 Cliffe Ave., Courtenay)

Originally posted by an exhibitor of the Vancouver Island Baby Fair, Cristi Lundman of HuckleBerry Baby Shop

Car Conversations: Courtship Camp

Tonight, I am definitely posting something different.  I recently shared this with friends on Facebook.  Everyone seemed to enjoy it to such an extent, that I am going to share it on this blog as well.  What follows was a conversation I had with my seven-year-old as we drove from the post office to Huckleberry Baby Shop yesterday.  Often vehicular discourses with our children can be the most revealing and entertaining of any conversations we have with them in a day.  What follows is a prime example:

Olivia: Mommy was there anything in the mailbox for me?

Me: No, just some bills for me.

Olivia: What about for Daddy?

Me: No, but he can share the bills with me. That’s what married people do.

Olivia: They share a bed too right?

Me: That’s right.

Olivia: That would not be good if the man was a really loud snorer. A woman should get to sneak in and listen to a man sleeping before she marries him. Hmmm. They should make a marriage camp that ladies can go to to pick out a husband. The men would have to go to stations and wear name tags so that the women could remember who the men were when they moved to the next station.

Me: That’s an interesting idea. What would take place at each station?

Olivia: The first station would be a sleeping station so that the woman could find out if the man snored loudly. It would be really hard to sleep and share a bed if he was a really loud snorer.
The next station would be an eating station. You would not want to marry a really sloppy eater.
After that, they would go to the bathroom station to check and see if they were very very stinky in the bathroom.
After that would be the waiting station. The man would have to sit for a very long time and the woman could watch him to see if he was patient.
The last station would be the love station. It would take place in a room decorated with pink hearts. The men would lay around on pink couches and the woman could look at them to see if she loved them.

Me: What about the men? Would they get to choose which women they loved?

Olivia: Yep. They could raise their arm on the couch and wave and yell, “Hey woman. I love you!”
The last part would be the pick-up area where the woman would get to pick up the man she chose. They would leave together to go plan their wedding.

Ideal courtship, according to Olivia, age seven!