Hardly know where to start.....

I have been AWOL for so long, I don't quite know where to begin. Needless to say, getting everyone and everything to the county fair consumed me and left nothing creative in my brain to write here.

Fair is a tradition. I have always enjoyed the week, no matter how exhausting it may be and this year was no exception. Long days and short nights are a guarantee. But so is the fact that you will see many people that you only see once a year. One of my lifetime friends and I started our friendship at the fair and still reminisce each year about the fun we had.......GASP.....25 years ago. (It can't be that many years!!!!!) I chuckle at the number of "kids" I showed with that are now there doing it with their kids. It is also neat to think that my kids are fifth generation 4-Her's!

Sunday was spent at the rabbit show. Suzanna was thrilled to receive Best of Breed with a Holland Lop doe. She also showed a market rabbit, and had two rabbits in the open show that placed as well. Kathryn and Thomas did rabbit showmanship and each received a medal to prove they made it through. Thomas gets the award for honesty. He sat his bunny down on the table and it immediately scurried across the table. He looked at the judge with a big grin and said, "I haven't been practicing much". Give him credit for trying! How that judge kept a straight face, I have no idea.

Monday Suzanna had the chance to play her violin at the Women's Congress program. This is a unique program put on by an organization that has been around for over 100 years. It is believed to be the only Women's Congress in Michigan still doing a program. It originated back in the day when a proper Victorian lady would never been seen at the horse races. So while the men went to the races, the ladies were entertained by musicians and speakers during each afternoon.


Tuesday was the 4-H dairy show and Suzanna had a good day with some really good placings, especially in showmanship. She enjoyed showing Fancy one more time. That cow is a natural show cow, and really likes to be at the shows. Thomas and Kathryn were busy as well that day. They got to play tour guides for their class, which took a field trip to see the exhibits at the fair.

Thursday was another day of showing cows and was also Kathryn's day to shine. She and Emma went at it in the dog show and were a great team. Emma managed to stay for her long sit, which was the first time in three years at the show. She broke her long down, as she had a itch that had to be dealt with.....there is always next year!!!!


Friday was our fun day. The kids wait all week for the chance to ride the carnival rides. We met up with another family from church and divided up the kids based on the rides they wanted to take on. Three hours later, they had conquered them all. Then it was on to some junk food and the tractor pulls. Thomas watched them all with my brother and his wife, while the girls each had had enough before the end came.

Saturday came and I really began to recognize how tired I was. Words no longer came out right, and I was feeling pretty punchy. Still, I managed to make it through the day and on to the depressing part of the fair. The fact that it was over. It is amazing how quickly things begin to be taken apart. Rides were half way down by midnight and by the next morning, were it not for the trash, you would hardly know they had ever been there.

So, once again we survived the week. With great placings, lessons learned and pointers for next year, if we remember. And before we know it, fair time will be here again. But for now, I am still playing catch-up on those lost hours of sleep.

Thomas Adventure

Haven't shared a Thomasism in awhile. This is more an adventure, but a hoot just the same.

Suzanna has been going to the neighbors to work with Fancy. Now that Fancy is a cow, there are some changes in the way she needs to be shown and with only two weeks until the fair, she needs to get it mastered soon.

Thomas begged to go down with us. He claimed it was to see the new Jersey cows they just introduced to their herd. But we all know better than that. His buddy Jake lives there, and Thomas was hoping for a few minutes of "farming" with Jake. Farming with Jake involves toy tractors and a vast front yard that becomes acres of farm land.

Jake was in the barn working with his 4-H heifers, so Thomas provided support services for the project. As Jake finished up with one, Thomas asked if he could help Jake catch Lucy. Sure, go ahead was my reply. A few minutes later, I looked across the barnyard and spotted my son in the middle of a muddy mess holding one of his shoes high above his head. It seems that "catching Lucy" involved crossing the muckiest spot in the pasture, and while Jake made it safely across, Thomas lost a tennis shoe in the middle of the mess and by reaching in about up to his elbows was able to retrieve the lost shoe!!! The moment I spotted him was his victory dance.

I called him back to the barn and as he came in, coated with stinky muck, he explained to Mr. Hart and JW that he had lost his balance. Oh, I'll say he did. I sprayed him off outside the milk house and he took the opportunity to further explain his predicament. He claims that none of this would have happened if he had had tie up shoes on rather than the slip-on style. Jake had made it because his shoes tied on and didn't get pulled off by the gooey mess they were walking through. Once I got a couple layers of muck off, and stopped laughing long enough to talk, I sent him down the road. No way that mess was getting in my car. Just one more adventure down the road of life with Thomas.

Oh and by the way, he gave the Jersey's about 2 seconds of his time. Just proves that was all a ploy to see his buddy.

Aldi Embarrassment

I had to buy groceries yesterday. It seems my family likes to eat. I have driven by the Aldi store in Adrian a number of times and yesterday decided to give it a try. I put my quarter in the slot to get my shopping cart and off I went up and down the isles picking up bargains right and left. There were a number of things that were good deals and I was feeling really successful. That was until I got ready to pay for all my bargains. The clerk ran my purchases across the scanner and gave me the total. A little over $60 for a basket full of goodies.



Then.......embarrassment. As I began to fill out my check, the clerk spoke up with shock in her voice and said, "You aren't going to write a check are you???" I told her I was and she informed me that they don't take checks and that not taking checks is what keeps their prices down. I offered a credit card, pretty much knowing what her answer would be. And I was right, that wouldn't work either. The only thing they would take was cold, hard cash. Oh, NO!!!! I didn't have any cash! She offered to take a debit card, I don't have one of those either. She then offered to suspend the transaction so that I could go to my bank and get some cash. That wouldn't work either. I bank 20 miles from Adrian. My only option was to say, "sorry" and slink out of the store, hoping that nobody knew me.



So, if you ever want to shop at Aldi's, make sure you take cash.

The last days of summer

It may feel like summer, as far as the temperature goes, but according to our schedule it is over. We are spending our last morning camping at the KOA we spent some time at earlier this month. The weather couldn't have been nicer. We spent yesterday afternoon at Lake Michigan, enjoying the sun and the surf. Not much to the surf, as it was quiet enough you could see the bottom.

Last evening we went into St. Joseph and enjoyed two concerts by their city band. The first was traditional band music with marches and orchestra stuff. Then they switched up and did "Big Band" music. We have tried to expose our kids to different styles of music and big band has caught their fancy. The band did a great job and the music was followed up by fireworks.

So today we pack it all up and head back to the hill. Tomorrow it will be normal programming all the way. September will be a blur, with two horses heading to Futurity in a couple weeks and our county fair just a week later. Hang on for a fast ride.