I always win

Because Corbin went to school wearing this:

He came home with this:

(Yes, it's lots of yummy chocolate. He won a contest for best dress up from another country. He also got a $5 gift cert to the book fair.)

Which prompted this the next night at dinner:

Mom: Corbin, do you want to tell Grandma how you got all those chocolates?

Corbin: Well, because I pretty much win everything.

(laughs)

Corbin: Remember I won that trip to California. Now I won this. I pretty much always win.

At the book fair about half hour later:

Corbin's name is drawn for bringing a grandparent to family night and he wins another $5 to the book fair and a poster of his choice. Like he says, "I always win."

Real people win radio station contests . .

So most of you have heard by now of our glorious news yesterday, and even though I had emailed nearly my entire contact list and then some, everyone asked "Did you post it on your blog yet?" So here it is with a little background to make the whole thing more exciting (as if winning a trip needs any more excitement!)

Back in February, there was this "Safe Kids Fair" in Salt Lake and it was free, so I thought that would be a fun activity for the fam and since Russ had the day off, we had to go because if it was just me, I probably would have skipped it. (Managing three little kids in crowded places is not always a rewarding experience.) Anyway, since it was free, I thought what the heck, if it stinks then we just get in the car and go home - no big loss.

It turned out to be quite fun, there were ALL kinds of vendors with all kinds of handouts, treats, games, prizes, etc. They even gave you a little bag as you entered to collect all of your goodies. Russ said he actually thought it was cool. It was at this big convention center and they had a firetruck inside and everything. I was actually going to do a whole post about this, because it was really fun, but obviously I haven't posted in awhile. So here's a few pics from our fun little outing:

Corbin riding in the bike rodeo and learning bike safety

Corbin and Cody trying out the Police bikes

Fighting with a storm trooper (not quite sure what this had to do with safety)

Cody hanging with the talking ambulance (this was really cool, because it was run by a lady that talked through a head-set like 10yards away, but the kids really thought the little robot ambulance was talking to them because it would say their name and stuff)

Trying on firefighter gear is always fun (this one seemed way too clean to have been actually used by a firefighter, but it was still cool)

So on to the real story, one of the booths was this radio station and they had this big table of legos where kids could play and build things. My boys LOVE legos, so of course we had to stop and play for a minute (or twenty). Then we saw that there was a contest to win a trip to Legoland and since Corbin has been wanting to go there forever, he got totally excited. So the deal was you build a lego creation, they take your picture, they posted it on the website and then people could vote for the winner.

The plane in progress (Corbin was very proud that it included a bathroom as well, no details were forgotten):

In the mind of a five year old, he thought "I built my lego creation, now when do I get my trip to Legoland". So when we got home, I spent several days explaining to him the nature of the contest (and basically preparing him to lose, because who really ever wins these things anyway). It took them a few days to post the pictures online and by that point we were preparing for a trip to Seattle (that post will come soon) and just busy, busy, busy. So we got back from Seattle, spent a day recovering and then it hit me! And I was like crap, I think we missed it! So I got online and realized people could still vote and there were only like 231 entries. I thought I better try - for Corbin, because he wanted it so badly and by the time we can afford a trip out to California, he will probably have outgrown the desire to go. Plus, I figured about 10-20% of the people took their pictures at the fair and then totally forgot about it, then there were probably 10-20% who voted and told grandma to vote, but that's it. So somehow I convinced myself that we had do-able odds. Long story short, I sent an email to almost all my contacts - friends, family, high school buddies, colleagues, etc, etc. And apparently a few people passed the word on and people actually voted - because it worked!! In two days we blew everyone else out of the water. Thank you, btw, to all of you who voted and got others to vote - obviously we wouldn't have won without each and every vote. It is nice to know that I have so much support from friends and family when I really need it!

So here's what we won (or you can click here to see Corbin's pic and more details):

Airfare for four to San Diego, California.

Two night stay at Grand Pacific Palisades Resort & Hotel.

Four tickets to LEGOLAND® California.

Delicious dinner for four at Sammy’s Woodfired Pizza

Four passes for the hop on and hop off Old Town Trolley Tour of San Diego.

Wahoo!! We are so excited! Russ and I both had perma-grin yesterday. And when we looked it all up online with the boys, we got even more excited. We can't wait! We pick up the package from the radio station this week and I think we just work with the travel agency to pick when we want to go. So has anyone been? Any suggestions on when we should go? And yes, I think we are going to see if we can add a day or two to spend more time there and do some of the other fun things in San Diego. Ahhh! I'm so excited!

So Corbin's uncle, who was an avid supporter and campaigned tirelessly, requested us to video tape when we told Corbin, so stay tuned for the posting of that. :)