Fair Week. August 7-12

Monday was set up day.  We got our place in the barn, and were excited that is was right in the middle and close to the show ring.  

Tuesday was a free day before the fair started, so Sammy and I canned 12 more quarts of pickles, and then I canned about 10 pints of green beans.  

 And the kids took the time to trim their bunnies' toenails.

Loading the steers up was a bit of a challenge...... and yes, LL did get pooped on.  Wednesday morning, they took them in, got them weighed and waited for the afternoon.  All the kids' steers were placed in different classes, which is what we hoped would happen.  Luke's weighed 1205 lbs (exactly 100 more than last year), Sammy's was 1263 lbs,  and LL's was 1402 lbs.

Spencer waited all morning at the creek until the show began. 

Playing in the creek makes a kid tired. 

  That afternoon, they got ready for Showmanship. The kids are getting better at washing their own steers and doing things on their own.  Rich said it is slowly getting easier (I wouldn't know because I am not much use except to fetch things and try to calm kids down.)  Things got a bit crazy, when I realized just minutes before Luke was to go on, that all their clothes were in the car, and I had locked the keys in.  I left about a two and a half inch crack in the window to keep the car cooler-- which is what saved us.  I grabbed Luke and a curry comb and ran out the barn to the car.  Luke stuck his skinny little arm through the crack holding the curry comb, while I tried to hold him up and pull the window down just a bit more so that it wouldn't pinch as much.  He hooked the end of the curry comb over the lock and pulled it up-- phew!! It worked.  We grabbed the clothes, they changed quickly and the show was on.  

Spencer was more interested in the Army trucks than the steers' bath time. 

The older kids showed first, which ended up being a huge pain for the little kids who had to wait until the end-- and then had to wrestle very tired steers.  Here is LL with her steer in the ring.  It was a new judge this year, and he looked like he was only a year or two older than the oldest 4-H kids showing.  LL took 4th in her age group for showmanship.   Sam and Luke took 6th.  One of the guys who has done this for a long time told us Sammy got robbed-- she should have won it hands down.  She smiled the whole time and her steer set up very nicely.  That's okay-- she knew she did great and that is all that matters.  I wish sometimes people didn't say things like that, we don't need to create victims of our kids!  :) I'm sort of kidding- they know they did well and that is all that matters. This year, they handled defeat a little better.  The judge wasn't AS biased as last year's judge when it came to Black Angus.  (He was still biased though!)  We think he had a crush on the girl who won the grand champion steer.  Her pig won grand champion reserve, and he was also the judge....hmmmmmm.

 The comb holders worked great!! The judge said nothing about not having plastic combs, of course.  He wasn't trying to pedal his wares like last year's judge.

Luke did such a great job showing.  At one point, the microphone let out a loud squeal of feedback noise and all the steers in the ring jumped and scattered.  Luke handled it well.  He was frustrated because he couldn't hold on when Little Penny jumped.  I told him, "I'm glad you couldn't hold on! I didn't want you being dragged all over the ring!"  I would like it to be noted that I handled all of it well this year, too.  I didn't freak out as much when there were jumping steers in the ring with my children.  

 During the division before Luke, one little boy's steer just went wild.  It was all over the place.  They have a fence in between the audience and the show ring this year-- which helps tremendously, but we all know that those animals can jump a fence if they really want to.  As soon as that steer went crazy, every able bodied man instinctively and silently stepped up to the fence around the ring.  They were oddly synchronized and it was almost imperceptible. They just stood there like silent guards until things were under control. The audience felt so tense when the steer was jumping around, but as soon as those men came up to guard the fence, you could almost feel the audience relax.  When the steer noticed all of them, it cowered a bit, and calmed down.  It knew it wasn't going anywhere with an army of cowboys standing guard.  For some reason it just struck me, and Sammy noticed, too.  She commented, "That was cool-- did that seem cool to you, too!?"

Anyway, it was a long but good day.  

Thursday was market day.  The kids had to show their steers to be judged this time.  Our friends, The Vances, came to see the whole show.  They have been very kind to the kids.  It was fun to visit with them.  They all got blue ribbons for their steers, but didn't win their divisions.  

The four kids resting for a while in the straw.....oh, oops! I thought it was them.

 Spencer loves the fair because he can run into some of his buddies from school.  Unfortunately, he won't go to school this year with his friend, Jesse.  He is a sweet little guy that has an identical twin brother.

 The exhaustion is setting in.

 And the tears.

We bought two of our steers this year from Billy Jensen-- a not too distant cousin of Rich's.  Rich's Grandpa Ernest Olsen is nephew to Billy's Grandpa (but they were only 6 years apart-- so they were like cousins).  Anyway, Billy and his family came to the fair this year and brought their own Herefords to show.  Billy told Spencer he could show a bull calf in the open show on Friday morning.  So, instead of sleeping in a little we all dragged ourselves back to the early morning "Pee Wee Show" at the fair.  Spencer was so excited to show something it was hard to be upset over a few lost minutes of sleep.

The tall guy in the hat is Billy Jensen.  He is about 4 or 5 inches taller than Rich.  When he saw Sammy he said, "Well that one got the Jensen genes!"  So Sammy has some of the long lanky Danish genes.  (She is now officially taller than me. We measured the other night.)

Here is Spencer walking the calf out.

He was SO pleased.  He even got a blue ribbon.

While I was taking pictures of him, this old guy in a cowboy hat (of course) sidled up next to me when I was looking through the camera.  When I put the camera down, I jumped because I didn't see him come up, and he was staring right at me.  He said, "I remember watching your husband show a steer when he was just that age."  Some of those people helping out at the 4-H barn have been doing that for YEARS.   

Sammy got to show one of Billy's heifer calves. 

Even Rich got to help show some of Billy's Herefords.  We agreed with the Jensen's that there needs to be an all Hereford show next year.  

And while at the fair, every little boy must spend their premium money on a cap gun, as well as three glasses of pricey old fashioned soda (how could anyone ever drink milk or water again?!?), and several hamburgers.  

 Sammy exclaimed, "Look Mom! I'm like the Holsteins! Longer legs and boney!"

 We decided that LL is more like the Herefords-- more muscle and a little shorter.


 Except, she really doesn't look like them from behind.  She was very determined to have her steer drink from the creek nearby.

Sammy and Rudy.

Luke and Little Penny.

 The "oh-so-hard" moment when child realizes the steer is sold and ready to move to greener pastures in the sky.

 And Dad tries to convince him it will be okay.  It just feels so deceitful, the steers are happily chewing their cud not aware of what is to come!

On the last night, Luke sat by Little Penny while people walked by. He drew a good crowd sitting there-- if you can see his little head between the steers.  People stopped and talked to him asking questions.  He perked up as the night went on.  Because they are the minority, people walking though the exhibits actually stop and take pictures of the Herefords. Really. The kids enjoy every minute of showing off with their steer. 

And we made it to church not smelling like the show barn, steers, and fair food.  Trust me, that smell has permeated everything we brought to the fair.  I did laundry most of the night and on into today.  We are heading off on a family trip tomorrow!