It was that time of year again, Atlantic City Pool and Spa Show, YAY!!  #sarcasm

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy getting to travel once or twice a year for work, and enjoy even more that my wife and daughter get to join, and even MORE that we get to see the "Philly family" while we're out there.  It's just usually some boring classes and a bunch of the same stuff at the show, with lots to do and not much "down time."

This year was awesome.  Went out a day early and Alexi got to see lots of her cousins out there (we were missing you Charlotte and Hanna!!)  As always she had a blast watching the boys play, and even started to join in this time!  They brought her lots of fun toys and hardly rough housed with her at all.  She also got some awesome quality girl time with her cousin, Rylan, and got to show everyone her new crawling skills!

We kept pretty busy and got lots accomplished at the show this year and Alexi had a blast doing it!  She was up all day "walking" around the show, meeting people.  Immediately following the show, we had a happy hour party put on by our favorite liner company, and Alexi got to go!  Turns out she loves cocktails parties already!!  After that we went out to dinner with one of our distributors and she just refused to miss a beat!  We tried napping so many times, but she wanted nothing to do with it, she knew there was a party going on and just had to be a part of it.  That was a long day to say the least!  I guess that's why she passed out so easily back at the room, no matter how uncomfortable she looked.

We went back in to the show the following day to talk to a few more people and walked passed a massage station.  Kerith asked if I was interested in the free massage, I declined, as I really wanted to get done and get on the road.  She tapped me on the shoulder and asked, "Are you sure?" while pointing over to the booth.

There was a beautiful young girl working the booth who had a little "something extra" about her!  It's amazing how quickly my opinion of that booth's significance changed.  We walked over with Alexi and introduced ourselves, and immediately the girl's step mother came walking up to us with a big smile on her face (looking at Alexi of course.)  Yet another example of the instant bond we share with some of the families we meet, on a journey like ours.  We talked for a while and it was awesome to meet them.  She is 17, loves school, and was not afraid to tell me all about it.  She was a social butterfly, just like Alexi is becoming.  After talking to her for a while, I couldn't help but notice how articulate she was.  Her dad, who was in the middle of giving a free massage, said they started oral motor exercises at 2 months old and they really paid off!  We haven't been in contact with the family yet, so for now I'm not sure if they want their names shared, but it was great meeting them!  All in all this was by far our best AC pool show yet, and I can't help but notice this is a trend, everything we do with Alexi, is the best it's ever been.