Monday morning we headed up to the fair and took our chickens and rabbits. We also put up our club's fair booth and Nick and Alex helped put up the Teen Leader's fair booth.
Lily and Alex were supposed to have music lessons Monday afternoon but the teacher was under the weather and they were cancelled.
Tuesday morning we took our goats and the children's exhibits. Market goats have to be at least 45 pounds. When we put Alex's goat on the scale, it only read 44 pounds! But then the goat shifted her weight so all of her feet were completely flat and the scale went up to 45. Whew! It took me a little over an hour to enter all of the children's exhibits. I let them enter 5 things not counting livestock or baked goods. Our fair is wonderful. If something doesn't fit in to a typical category there is an other category that you can put it in. They add categories every year based on things that have been entered. So a few years ago when the boys started entering LEGO sets there was no category to put them in. They added one the next year. They also added a robotics category. We were taking care of things at the fair until lunchtime, then we picked up Liam so we could babysit while Chelsea went to school and headed home for a few hours.
Tuesday evening Nick had youth. We dropped him off and went back to the fair to wash and feed goats and feed chickens. We also had an opportunity to watch the lamb and sheep show before we had to pick Nick up.
Wednesday was a long fair day. We were there for about 10 hours. Wednesday morning we entered a few baked goods and fed the animals. There were 9 different classes from a local school coming through the fair that day. They set up several stations for the children to visit so they could learn about what is being shown at that station. Alex and Christian were in charge of the chicken station. Nick was helping with the rabbit station. They all did a great job!
We also stopped by the Grandview station so they could hold the alligator.
Judging is also done on Wednesday. We wanted to stay and watch the chicken and rabbit judging but they were running late and the girls were starving. We left for a couple of hours, grabbed some pizza and went to church so I could work on Kid's Club stuff. By the time we got back everything had already been judged (except the goats) and we got to go investigate ribbons.
Emmie entered chickens and got 2nd place. She also entered a rabbit who got third place. Her little red riding hood doll set and sand art won 1st, butterfly painting , picture frame, and piggy bank all won 2nd.
Lily entered chickens and they won 1st. Her rabbit won 3rd. She baked chocolate chip cookies that won 2nd. Her other entries were: Little Red Riding Hood Set, sand art, and butterfly painting 1st place, Handmade doll , puzzle, piggy bank, and turtle painting, 2nd place.
Christian baked banana chocolate chip muffins and won 1st place. His LEGO Millenium Falcon won Best of Show (he was very proud of that!) His LEGO truck, piggy bank, bridge, and sand art won 2nd.
Anthony entered chickens that won 2nd. He also entered a variety of Tinker Crate projects. His wooden crane, 3d view finder, planetarium, constellation all won 1st. He also had a LEGO set that won 1st.
Alex entered a bracelet that won 1st. He also entered a model car, LEGO truck, deer puzzle, and piggy bank that all won 2nd.
Nick had a rabbit that won 3rd (lots of rabbit competition this year!) He baked brownies that won 1st. He also entered a LEGO set and puzzle that won first. Another puzzle and tin can robot won 2nd.
The Nature Seekers Fair Booth won 1st.
Christian and Alex practiced in the show ring and touched up the goats to get them ready to show. We grabbed some quick supper and then it was time for them to get changed and ready.
They showed their goats three times. First was for showmanship. The second time was in the market class and the third time was for commercial does. The boys and the goats did a great job for their first time showing. They both earned 2nd place ribbons in their classes for market and commercial.
Thursday and Friday we just had to feed and water animals twice a day. Thursday we also had to run the dog to the vet. She has been limping and we don't know why. Nothing is broken but she is on an anti-inflammatory medicine for the next ten days. Christian and Alex also had soccer practice on Thursday night.
Saturday was the Premium Auction. In the auction you do not actually sell the animal. You do take them into the ring and they auction it, but you keep the animal. It is just a way for the local businesses to donate money to the livestock kids and help them be able to work on their projects. It is not cheap to raise livestock! And the bigger the animal the more it costs especially when you are getting started. Any little bit of money helps, and I so appreciate that they do this for the kids. This year was the first year rabbits were allowed in the auction. Originally they said only grand and reserve champion rabbits would participate so I did not have Nick dress to show. When we got there he was on the sale list. They decided they would also allow kids whose only livestock project was rabbits so he showed in shorts and a t-shirt, but oh well. They also auctioned all the 4 H kids to add some money to the 4 H scholarship fund.
After the sale we ate lunch and went by the car show.
Sunday church had a spaghetti lunch fundraiser for the youth. We stayed to eat and clean up and then went back to the fair to pick up all of our exhibits and clean up the booths. The fair is over! The goats and possibly a rabbit will go to the state fair in October. We need to put 5 pounds on Alex's goat in 4 weeks and also need to exercise them more so they gain more muscle.
I hope you had a great week!
Happy Homeschooling!
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