I Never Knew

I never knew the County Fair could be so much fun!!  I grew up going to the South Florida Fair.  It is a HUGE event!!!  I used to walk through the exhibits always wondering how people "entered" things into the fair to be judged.  Prizes won.   Well now I know.  Anyone can go to the 4H office and fill out the proper forms to enter something.  Our daughter Jessica who is 14 entered in Peppermint Candy,  Canned green beans,  and a vest and hat that she made in the Sewing Club.  She received 3 first place ribbons and 3rd over all for her hat and vest combo!!!  It was such a surprise to walk into the exhibit hall and view all the entries!!!  Everything looked so delicious and bright and beautiful!  You could tell everyone had put so much hard work into their projects.

Another thing that was new this year was showing goats.  We have 4 goats.  Three males named Petey, Paul, and Two Socks.  One female named Patty.  Patty, was pregnant, so we thought, so we didn't enter her.  But Jessica showed Petey, and two friends showed Two Socks and Paul.  Paul gave his handler the hardest time.  We thought it would be awful once they got into the ring.  But once the competition started, he did just fine, not perfect but just fine.  Jessica actually won a 2nd place ribbon and trophy for showmanship-which is where the handler is judged on how they handle the goat and how well they pay attention to the judge.  Our friend's daughter showed Two Socks who wasn't the easiest to handle, and she received a first place ribbon and trophy for Grand Champion.  Another friend handling Paul did receive a 2nd place ribbon in Market Goat.  So everyone did well and had so much fun being in the barn for hours with all the animals!!!

Caroline, our three year old, had so much fun just playing in the dirt and mud!!!  She was so tired but didn't let that stop her from having a good time.  She even showed Petey, along with another 4 year old, with the help of Jessica, and received a trophy and blue ribbon too!  Our son Dillon decided to help this year and did a dynamite job cleaning up the goats and getting them show ready!!!  On a sad note a cow got loose.  It all seemed like fun with kids chasing him/her around the barn.  Then the cow headed straight for the crowd, down a narrow aisle.  The owner jumped in front of it to stop it, but she got pushed up against the side of the barn trying to stop the cow, got caught under the cow and shattered her knee.  I pray she is well and recovering quickly. 

All in all it was a wonderful experience and we all can't wait til next year to do it all over again!!!