The catch-up post

Well ya'll, I have to say that it is about time for me to fill you in on all that I have been doing in the last few weeks.

After county fair was done, I took a little break. Then, on the 14th of this month, I had a dance performance. It was a lot of fun and went very well. After the performance, Olivia came home with Rachel and I and we spent the afternoon hanging out. We decided that we wanted to go swimming but that we didn't want to go to the beach. So Rachel asked Mom if we could walk down to the creek behind our house. Mom said that that was fine, but we had to walk, no tractors because the ground was so rough and full of holes. We headed out, thinking, oh, this won't be so bad. Well, we were sort of wrong. The field behind our house had be burnt off last year and planted with new seed, supposedly some kind of prairie grass. What was actually there was 4 to 6 foot tall thistles. Not so fun to walk through. Thankfully, they weren't real close together, so we were able to avoid most of them. We made it down to the creek, and Rachel jumped in, thinking it was going to be deep (because it used to be). But, most likely because of the flooding last year, the creek is only about 2 feet deep in the spot we had selected. Needless to say, she hit bottom. Olivia isn't great with what she calls "dark water" (actually, you could see the bottom), so it took some convincing to get her in. But we all got in and had a fun time wadding around and splashing each other. We moved down stream and got to where it was deep enough that we could swim a little. After some photos, it was time to head home. We found the trail that me, my Dad, and my brother had made with our old van, and followed that home. The trek home was much easier, to say the least. When we got home, Rachel and Olivia did make-up before dinner, because we wanted to take some pictures. Olivia and Rachel posed at different places here on our little farm and I took pictures. Then we had a wonderful supper of hamburgers and watermelon. After the dancing, hiking and swimming, we were all kind of tired. We decided to watch a movie. We plopped down in my grandparents bedroom and watched "The Count of Monte Cristo". Then it was time to take Olivia home. :( We had a great day. Here are some of the pictures I took. (Olivia might just kill me for this, since she didn't get to "approve" them first.)


Olivia and Rachel in the creek

Splashing each other (Olivia might not like this one)

Picture time

Walking

Olivia

Rachel

Next, it was state fair time. Rachel and I did our Irish Step Dance, "Battle of the Sisters", Sunday for the Share the Fun show. Our family wandered the fairgrounds, saw the big boar, the big bull, and the big horses! Dad, Rachel, Jonathan, and Grandpa went home, but my Mom and I stayed at my great aunts house because I was doing my presentation the next day. On Monday morning we wandered the fairgrounds, then at 1:00 I check in to do my presentation. That didn't get done until 4:30, so we stuck around so we could watch the draft horse show. They had cart, under saddle, and hitch classes. I loved watching all the big horses and the six horse hitch was amazing. The show didn't get done until nine, so we weren't home until eleven, but I say it was worth the late night. (Mother might not agree with me, as she had to drive home) Then on Friday and Saturday, it was time for the Stitch This challenge. This was a 16 hour sewing competition where teams of four took apart a wedding dress and made it into a new wearable outfit. I was the model for The Fab Four. We got a dress with beading on the bodice and really liked it, so we worked with that part of it. We added strips of cobalt blue to the front of the dress, and silver straps. We also made a hat and completed the outfit with cobalt blue jewelry. This competition was a lot of fun and a great learning experience. My Mom and I again stayed at my great aunt's house. On Sunday, we wandered around the fairgrounds because I could pick up my refinished secretary after 7:00 that night. The lady in the 4-h office said it would be better to wait, and that worked out perfect because there was a free concert that I wanted to see. Julianne Hough was the free Sunday night concert. I really like her music. She is a new country singer, but her music so far is clean and a lot of fun to listen to. I didn't get to stay for the entire concert because I had to get all the way across the fairgrounds to pick up my secretary. I got to listen to about 50 minutes of the concert and really enjoyed it. Then my mom and I speed-walked across the fairgrounds. While I went to check out my projects, Mom went to get the van. Getting my secretary out went a lot better than we had expected, and we were on the road by 8:20. We got home at 10:30 and Rachel was still up. She had waited up to show me the cake she had decorated to look as close to the dress I had made during Stitch This as she could without seeing it. She did a great job and it tasted great. Thanks Rachel!!! Then I fell into bed and woke up at 6:45 to a new day, including school. YAH!!! We have a week of school, then we leave on vacation. That will be a lot of fun.

"Battle of the Sisters"

Major face-off time!

Getting ready for my presentation

Doing my presentation

My great aunt's candy apple red trike - love it!!!

Horse show pictures

This horse was trying to "eat" his handlers hand

Stitch This! The Fab Four

The wedding dress we got

Sewing

All done!

After the fashion show


Julianne Hough!!! :)

I hope you enjoyed reading about what I have been doing! I will be putting up more pictures from the horse show, Stitch This, and some other state fair pictures that I have.

Until next time, God bless!

'becca

Southern Belle

STATE FAIR!!!!

Hey everyone!! I am back from the state fair. I hope to get a post in sometime this week before my family and I head off on vacation. But I just thought I would let you know that I was still around!! :)

God bless,

'becca

Fair week

Alrighty...fair week. Enjoy everyone!! :)

• Saturday, Judging Day

Saturday was the day to take all of my projects in to get judged. I had to babysit for an hour that morning, then I came home and started harvesting the vegetables. Once we had harvested everything, we had to sort them all out. Find so many, same length, stuff like that. Then we put everything on plates and attached the goal sheets and entry tags. Then it was time to load up all the projects. I had put all of my other projects, minus my secretary, in (or beside) a basket. Dad, Mom, and Rachel had loaded up those projects, so all that was left was the vegetables and the secretary. We put the vegetables in the van, but my secretary had to go in our cargo van, because it was too big to fit in with the other projects. My Dad and I loaded it up, I changed into my 4-H shirt and we were off! Judging went really well. I received 9 purples and 23 blues. I had 32 projects in total. Let me tell you, that is a lot of work and a lot to get judged!!! But I did really well and had a lot of fun. And fair had not even begun!! :) When we came home, ready to relax, we found out that Dad had picked beans, so we helped him snap them.

• Sunday, Animals to fair grounds and working the Pizza and Pop stand

Since we had beans to can, we stayed home from church. After the canning was done, I went out to the barn to gather all the animal supplies we would need for fair week. After I had packed up the food, rabbit dishes and brushes, and other supplies, I went inside and took a nap. Just kidding!! In actuality, I washed chickens!! That was a lot of fun! (not) I will have a post with pictures on this. When it was getting close to time to go, we went out and loaded up the 9 rabbits and 7 chickens that we were taking to fair. 8 of the rabbits and all of the chickens were mine. Once we arrived at the fair grounds, we unloaded the animals, checked them in, and then put them in their cages. After we fed and watered them, it was time to go volunteer at the Pizza and Pop stand. Mom, Rachel and I worked there for about an hour and a half. For the first part I was getting out the pizza, but then I switched jobs and handed out pop. That job is fun and you don't have to wear gloves! After we were done at the pizza and pop stand, we bought some pizza and then headed home.

• Monday, Dog Show, Fashion Show and Tractor Pull!!!

Monday was a long day. A very long day. We had to check in for the dog show by 8:15. Once we got there, Mom stayed with the dogs at the South Arena, while Rachel and I went to get our show numbers and feed our other animals. Then we went back to the South Arena and waited. The show got started late, sometime after 9:15. They had the rings set up so that more than one class could be going. Mine was the last class to run, so I had to wait until after 11:30 to show for obedience. Then, after that class was finished, we moved on to showmanship. Once all three showmanship classes were finished, we got our places for obedience and showmanship. I placed third in sub-novice obedience and third in senior showmanship. Then I, along with some of the other older members of the dog project, set up the agility course. Once that was ready, we got started on agility. That goes pretty fast! Once that was finished, members of the dog project took down the ring while the judges figured out who had won. Then they announced the winners. Fritzy and I won large dog agility!! We went through the course in 21 seconds!! We had a lot of fun. After the dog show was done, my aunt took the dogs home because Rachel and I had to get ready for the style show. When my turn came, I said my name into a much too short microphone and walked back and forth across the stage. After that was done, I went to find some food. Then I watched the queen contest with some friends. After that, my mom, brother and I went to watch the tractor pull. Rachel isn't interested in that so she hung out with a friend. We didn't watch the whole thing, but I got to see a few women pullers. Humm...maybe I should give that a try!! :) We headed home sometime after nine, the first day of fair over.

• Tuesday: Poultry Show, Rally Show, Pet Show, Share the Fun!!!

Tuesday was another busy day. I had to be in three places at once, which is, as far as I know, impossible. The poultry, rally, and pet show all started 10:00. Pen of three pullets was the first class in poultry, so that is where I started the day. Mom was in the South Arena holding the dogs, and Rachel was watching the rabbits that we had brought for the pet show. Now, I have a question for you. Who do you think won Champion Pen of Three Pullets??? I did!!! I was totally shocked. But good shocked! After that class, I had a break before I had to show poultry again, so I went over to the South Arena. I had enough time to take a short break before I had to show Fritzy in rally and My Flemish Giant, C.C., in the pet show. After I had showed both of them, I waited for the results of the Rally Class. I won Reserve Champion Senior Rally! Then it was time to run across the fairgrounds, back to the poultry barn to show my other pen of three and my individual. Theses both received blue ribbons, which was very good, because the judge didn't give out any purples. After the poultry show was done, I had the afternoon to relax. I wandered the fairgrounds and got a walking taco for lunch. I had some friends who came out, and I gave them the grand tour of the fairgrounds, showing them my animals and projects. Around 5, Rachel and I went and got ready for Share the Fun. Our dance this year was "Battle of the Sisters". We had ssooooooo much fun!!!!! We were toward the end of the show, then, once everyone had preformed, the judge made her decision. She called all the acts up on stage, then told which acts were her State Fair Alternates and which acts were to advance to State Fair. Watch out, State Fair, here comes "Battle of the Sisters"!!!!!!!!! We had a great time and we can't wait to dance at the State Fair. After we had changed out of our dance costumes, we showed some friends our animals. Then it was time to head home. Day two of the county fair had come to an end.

• Wednesday: Make Pie, Rabbit Showmanship, Rabbit Show!!!

On Wednesday, I got up early so that I could make my peach pie for the pie contest the next day. I made it in the morning so that I didn't have to come home right after the rabbit show. Once my pie was done, Rachel put hers in. Then we waited for a friend to come. Her sister was dropping her off and we were taking her to the rabbit show. Once she got here, we headed out. When we reached the fairgrounds, we did our animal chores, then I sat down to study the Standard of Perfection for the showmanship test. Then, when 10 o'clock had rolled around, I took the showmanship test. This test has two parts, a written part and a handling part. Once I had completed that, some friends and I went to wander the fair grounds. Then at 1:00 the rabbit show started. I did very well. I won Champion Heavy Weight Meat Pen and Best of Breed New Zealand. All of my other rabbits received blue ribbons. Once the show was done, the superintendent announced the winners of showmanship. When he came to the seniors, he said that we had a tie. The tie was between me and a friend of mine. Know, ya'll are like, huh, that's nice. But wait, there's more. This was the third year that we have tied!!! When there is a tie the judge asks a tie-breaker question. I won the first year, she won the second. I won Senior Rabbit Showmanship this year! Now I can't win again, so it's my friends to win next year! Our county fair rules are that you can only win showmanship once in your age group - I've won it as a junior, intermediate and then this year as a senior. After the show was done, I went and got ice cream with another friend. Then I hung around with a few other friends. I watched some of the horse show and the Bill Reilly Talent show. Then I headed home. Wednesday, the third day of the fair, had come to an end.

• Thursday: Presentation, Bring home rabbits and projects, Fireworks!!!

I had given my presentation "Step it Up: A History of Irish Music and Irish Step Dancing" for a judge earlier in July, and it was selected to go onto State Fair. Since I had received an excellence, I had the choice to give it at the county fair. It was a lot of fun. Then I went to check my pie in at the pie contest. After that, I wandered the fair grounds, bought a lemon shake-up, laughed as some of my friends tried to rig a "spider" to drop on people in the rabbit barn, and just had a heck of a lot of fun. Around 4:00, I went to listen to the results of the pie contest. My pie placed 1st in the youth peach pie division and won most visually appealing pie. I received a high heel pie server for that award! Then I went to get pictures taken with my State Fair projects. My secretary and my write-up on my Italian meal are both going to State Fair. After that, I went and helped my dad get our animals loaded up to go home. Then I went and got inducted in the Youth Council, then it was time for the awards show. After that I wandered the fairgrounds with another friend and we got some ice cream and just hung around. At 8:00 it was time to get our projects out of Montgomery Hall. Then we went and watched the fireworks. They were amazing. The fair was over for spectators, but not for 4-Her's.

• Friday: Animal Auction

Since my meat pen was champion, I had the option of selling those rabbits at the auction, which I did, sort of. I got there at quarter to nine and put my bunnies in a carrying case. Then I took them up to the auction ring and waited for my turn. My rabbits sold for $25 a piece, so I made a total of $75. Then the man who bought them told me to take them home. So I got $75 and my rabbits back. So now I am fattening them up to sell again!

All in all I had a great fair week. I received three trophies (Champion Large Dog Agility, Champion Pen of Three Pullets, and Champion Senior Rabbit Showmanship), 4 plaques, 9 purple ribbons, and 34 blue ribbons, along with 2 clothing event honorable mentions and clothing event participation, a participation for my bucket of flowers and 3 selected for State Fair ribbons, 1 Reserve Champion ribbon (senior rally), and 1 Champion ribbon (meat pen).

I will have a post with pictures soon. I hope you enjoyed my fair week post!! :)

'becca

Alrightly Everyone

Hey everybody,

Soon, very soon, I will have a post about fair. The last few days have been spent recharging, so I have been VERY busy! ;) But I will have pictures to make up for my absence. Sorry it has taken so long everyone. :)

'becca