That is the most important announcement. We all seem to have stuffy noses, but no worse for the week we spent at the fair.
So here is a review of the week in pictures......
We will start with a picture of Suzanna at the poultry show. Poultry, if you don't do the showmanship class, is about as simple as it can be. We purchased 8 chicks at the end of July. They are fed, and fed, and fed.
The birds Suzanna took to the fair weighed about 5 pounds each. The kids bring them into the fair, put them in a cage and at judging time, stand by their cages and wait for the judge to come look at their birds. The birds are graded and the kids receive either A, B or C ribbons. Suzanna's received an A ribbon.
Sunday was the rabbit show, and I forgot to take the camera along, so there will be no pictures of that day. Thomas showed Daisy in PeeWee showmanship, then Suzanna showed her in showmanship and in the breeder doe class. The heifers came in on Sunday as well.
Monday was one of two kitchen days for our club. Each club is asked to work at least one shift in the 4-H dining hall. Although many people complain about it, I find it a lot of fun. Might be the "Martha Stewart" in me.....as I got to stand in front of the 10 burner stove in the kitchen and help make food. It is a great chance to stand in one spot and see a lot of people you haven't seen since last year as well.
Moving on to Tuesday.....Dairy Show Day. That is a early morning wake-up call. We were at the barn by 5:30 to get the heifers washed. Not easy when you are half asleep and the lighting isn't great.....(talked to the electrician about that). Then it is stay close to the stalls so that the heifers stay clean!! This is Suzanna in her showmanship class, where she placed third.
On to Suzanna and Rhoda in their class. They placed 4th.
This is a favorite picture of mine from the whole week. The smile on Suzanna's face shows how much fun the day was. This is what it should be all about!
Suzanna played her violin at the Women's Congress program in the afternoon. The Women's Congress was founded over 100 years ago and the program is an hour or so long each afternoon. Originally it was for ladies to go to while the men were at the harness races. They get a wide variety of talent in for each day. While we were there there were piano solos, a ballet dancer, singers and a skit. Very neat experience, and something that I had never gone to before.
Wednesday was our second day at the 4-H kitchen. This is the major fund raising arm for the 4-H Council and with those funds, they supply scholarships to attend camps, the Washington, DC trip and other awards. They also provide car/driver and walk-in passes for the 4-Her's to use to get into the fair all week.
That evening was the "Five Dollar Show" as the kids have called it for years. This is the PeeWee Dairy Show and each kid that leads a dairy animal in the "show" gets a ribbon and $5 when they are done. Believe me, my kids have that money spent three different ways before the fair even starts. They also hold the always hilarious "Barnyard Olympics". Nothing like having to dig up pints of milk from the dirt in the arena and see who can chug them the fastest, or how about running a hose through one leg of each teammates jeans? The team that won all had shorts on, by the way. Then there is the traditional wheelbarrow race, when the team members are the wheelbarrows. We also have our dairy products sale, which is our Dairy Leaders fund raiser in order to provide funds for the kids involved in the dairy program.
Thursday was Kathryn's day. She showed Emma in obedience class. Anyone who knows Kathryn, know she would rather not be the center of attention. And if you know our dog, she is a typical Springer Spaniel, who loves to be "springy". Put the two of them together and this is what you get.... an adorable team who came in second in their class.
The part of the show Kathryn loves the most is the costume class. She decided they would be Tinkerbell and Peter Pan. Momma got the sewing machine going and this was the result. The dog even kept the hat on and in the end, they were named Best in Class!!!!
Friday was our fun day. In the afternoon, we were off to the midway to ride rides with friends. They had a great time and wore the dads out long before they were done with the rides. An evening of junk food capped off the fun. Thomas and Daddy took in some of the tractor pulls, while the girls and I checked out the displays in the buildings.
Saturday brought the dairy judging contest for Suzanna and lots of down time, which you need by that point in the week. We ate pizza with the dairy group, found out the judging scores and that our club won the Herdsmanship Award for the week. That means our kids kept their area in the barn the neatest. We cruised the fairgrounds one more time Saturday night to make sure we saw everything we needed to see. The cattle were loaded up by the neighbors at 10pm and we called it a night.
Sunday came and it is a depressing sight to see the changes that come to the fairgrounds overnight. All the rides are taken down and packed up, many all ready are heading for a different event. Many displays are packed up and long gone too. Daddy had to take down all the temporary lights and unhook stuff too. We packed up the camper, picked up our exhibits and were home by noon.
I have nearly caught the laundry up, got to Wal-Mart to restock the cupboards and we made it to church last night. Bedtime felt good when we got there.
And that sums up a week in our lives. You work hard to get there and it is over too quickly...and you are looking forward to next year.
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