Discount Tire Ball

Not a bouncy ball, a formal affair. Every year Alan's company puts on a ball. It's pretty dang impressive. They get all of the employees hotel rooms at the Grand Hyatt in Seattle. We've gotten so big now that they can't just rent out one of the conference rooms and dress it up all fancy. They have to rent the entire wing. The largest room is the one we eat dinner in, another is the night club, another for pictures and the hall is lined with open bars and and tables. This was our 10th ball, Alan has been with the company 12 years now. They tend to be the same every year but they're still lots of fun. We have to wear tuxes and ball gowns and the catered dinner is usually pretty impressive. We get pretty bored around 11 or 12 pm because everyone is soooo drunk that there's no one left to talk to that's coherent. People start to stagger up to their rooms between 1 and 2 am. We always end up sleeping in and going to breakfast at lunch time, it's great! It's so nice to have a night away once a year paid for by someone else. My sister and her husband we so great and drove down from Lake Stevens to watch Tallula in Seattle for us. They went out and tooled around Seattle for a few hours and then hung out in our room until we got back. Alan's Mom and Dad took the other 3 for a sleep over. It was really nice to know all my kids were cared for and I didn't have to worry at all. Thank goodness for family! On that note, Alan's going on a "mancation" for 3 1/2 days this weekend and I was not looking forward to having my kids all to myself for that long. So my Mom comes to the rescue again! She's coming down from Marysville to stay overnight and then she's taking 2 kids back up with her so I can have a bit of a break. She's so awesome! Here's a few pictures from the hotel. I didn't get any of the ball itself, I was embarrassed to bring my big old camera down. You can't walk around in a gown with a camera slung over your shoulder. Ok, so I tried to bring it down but Alan voted NO and he won.