This past week/end was our county fair. It's something that we all look forward to each year. The girls do projects and work with their animals, us adults help them and get things like decorations for the barn ready This year our house was command central for new barn decorations for 4 nights before we were finished with the new decs--red lattice cut and framed with white boards and a wooden 4-leaf clover on each panel. They were a lot of work but looked great! And I neglected to get a picture. :-( Anyway, it's a lot of work for everyone, but we all love the fair and it's so worth it.
ALAYNA took a lot of projects this year. She didn't get her photography done, but she made a pillow, bulletin board, jewelry (bracelet and matching earrings) knit a scarf, made chocolate chip cookies. She also showed 3 calves and her horse. Alayna was a busy girl, but she did a great job and we're so proud of her!
Judging her blue ribbon cookies
her blue ribbon jewelry
Alayna and Chloe--they got 1st blue and a trophy in Showmanship, 1 red and 1 white
Judging her pillow (red), bulletin board (blue) and knitting (white)
Alayna showing her beef cross bred steer calf, Doof (blue in fitting and grooming, red in finishing, and first blue and trophy in showmanship--my camera died so I don't have pics of this but others took lots of pics for me!) ((I don't know why this is on it's side and not rotating...grrr))
Showing Ferb, her jersey steer calf (1st red)
Showing her cross bred heifer calf, Isabella (against another in our club--she got 2nd blue)
LILLY is a Cloverbud, which means that she's a junior 4H member. (The youngest 4H kids are Cloverbuds from K-2 grade. They have a set catalog of projects they can do for their age but cannot show animals. They get participation ribbons but aren't actually judged and don't get premiums. The summer after 3 grade they are an Explorer, which means they can bring a few more projects and 1 animal exhibit. Explorers are judged, but not as strictly as older ages, and they can get premiums, though they have a set project catalog as well. After 4 grade, they are a full 4H member and can bring up to 23 projects total.) She brought a plate of 3 cookies, 2 key chains she made in the arts and crafts division, and a drawing of an International tractor in a corn field. She did so well with her little interview from the "judge" asking her about her projects. We all had to laugh when the judge asked how she knew when the cookies were done and Lilly responded, "When it dings." She also showed Alayna's calf, Doof, for Little Britches. Little Britches is for kids too young to show an animal, so they can show an animal by leading them in the arena and answering questions about the animal to a judge. They ask things like how old the animal is, what it eats, etc. The kids all get a participation ribbon and a free root beer float at a stand on the fairgrounds.
MIKAYLA isn't in school yet, so she's not able to bring projects to the fair. However, she is able to show in Little Britches, so she showed Alayna's heifer, Isabella. She was so excited to show and did a great job. She had all her information down perfectly and was very confident in answering her questions and leading the calf. Even when Isabella got a little stubborn, Mikayla threw her entire 37 lbs into it and got her going again.
It was a great fair. We are all exhausted, but it was a very busy week. We were at the fair from Wednesday afternoon to Sunday evening, with each day in the 80/90s and high humidity. We had some storms on Saturday, including a particularly fast forming one in the morning that took us all by surprise and was horrible for Mikayla, but we all survived. It was her worst reaction yet and since we were in the barn, almost our entire beef/dairy crew from our club witnessed it. Needless to say, few people adult and kid alike had dry eyes. It broke my heart and we're praying that this stormy summer is soon over and the time winter affords us helps her to forget and get over her fears. But besides that moment, it was a very fun and successful fair for the whole family! Oh, and we bought a new camper last Friday and it was GREAT!
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