A Little Fair for You...

The last 9 days have seemed like a blur.

We've literally spent every day, all day long, at the fair.

It was the Elkhart County 4-H Fair...the 2nd largest in the US.  Oh yeah, it's big!

We spent the week watching animal shows, cleaning out our pig pens, showing our pigs (3 different times,) washing the pigs, hanging out with friends, eating ALOT, and feeding the pigs. 

This year, we made it easier, and the kids only had one pig each.  They both had Durocs and named them Bullwinkle and BoJangles.  (Don't ask me to explain the naming process...each year they are quite original.)

The pigs were like big sappy dogs, and they LOVED jelly beans.  Get out the beans, and they are like putty in your hands.

The kids showed well, but the judge wasn't diggin' on our pigs this year.  Bummer, but still a good experience.

Brent's goal at this year's fair...to each the ice cream flavor of the day every day.  He made it each day except the last.

It was a good year, and the weather was pretty decent, but we're all exhausted.

It takes a year to recover from the 9 fair days, but it IS a blast...like a high school reunion, but BETTER!

What time is it for the love of pete?

Is it really July 26?

Where, oh, where has the time gone for the last 8 days.

That's when the fair began for us...8 days ago, and with the lack of sleep, it's all run together into one big blob.

We have two children slightly upset about two different things.

Evan will miss his pigs (the one who won for him slightly more than the other...)

Grace will miss the socializing...

They each showed well...gaining more experience each year.

Rides were ridden on wristband day

fair food was eaten, and Brent worked extremely hard all week as a first year advisory member of the club.

We had a good run.  

Today is the auction, and the animals at the fair all leave the fair tonight.

We come back tomorrow to work at the pork producer's booth, and get a free meal.  We do it with friends, so it's alot of fun!

So, two more days...then we'll have a breather till next year.  

It is the fun fair after all, right.

right?

Just a normal day right?

We're gearing up for the fair, and by gearing up, I mean getting ready for the 9 most intense days we'll have all summer.

We'll get up early, and go to bed late.  I'll wash loads of clothes everyday that smell like pig, because we've been at the fair all day.

I'll pack lunches every night at 11:30 so that we're not spending a fortune on food each day of the fair.

We will scurry to find clothes for the next day, and show clothes for the day after that.

The kids are PUMPED to hang out with their friends, ride rides, and just be kids.  Oh, and maybe take care of their pigs, and show them since that's why we go to the fair in the first place!

So, yesterday, we took care of some business.  We had to.  The fair allows for no time doing anything else.

I picked up my apples from the amish neighbor

in anticipation of doing applesauce in the afternoon.  My "appliances, boxes, sugar, cinnamon, etc. were already set up waiting for the chore.

I went to the bank, got gas, headed to pick up Grace from a sleepover, and came home for lunch and for her to get ready for her orthodontist appointment.

Once she was ready, we headed to town, had the appointment, dropped off things at the library, and got some new ones...

Then we took a donation to Goodwill, shopped a little, stopped for cokes at McDonalds, headed to Walmart for some last minute fair supplies, and apparently some goofing off...

Once done there, we went to visit my Grandpa in the nursing home, and then went home to make supper,

and start the applesauce.  The kids and I worked on the sauce for 4 1/2 hours, minus Brent taking Evan to help get our load of hay for the sheep.

Grace and I worked like crazy, laughed out loud many times, listened to music at full blast, and waited for the boys to get home, and the pile of apples to shrink.

At 11pm, I called it a night.  We had put all the applesauce in the freezer, I had cleaned up, and I went to sit down on the couch.

Whew.

Getting ready, or not since it's in the high 90's today, to set up our showbox, fans, and feeders at the fair tonight.  We take the pigs in at 7:30 am tomorrow.

Wish us luck!  We're gonna need it!

Back to Life...Back to Reality

Pretty sure those are song lyrics from some 90's song I remember hearing.  Couldn't tell you the title or artist, but they pretty much sum up this last week.

I know you're tired of hearing about the fair...heck I'm tired of hearing about the fair...but

when I walked out to the mailbox to get the paper this morning, and walked back up the sidewalk to the front door, noticing all the weeds in my flowerbeds, the suddenly luscious green grass that wasn't there a week ago (due to much rain in the last week...Praise the Lord...my brown grass is suddenly green again...),  and the drooping flowers on the porch...I thought, Oh yeah, back to reality.  Back to the real life.

It's like we've been in a bubble, a fog if you will...this last week.  Trying to survive the endless laundry, endless packing of lunches and drinks, and endless fatigue that goes with fair week.

The kids would say it is the best week of the whole summer!

Sure, they are with their friends, riding rides, eating junky fair food, but I guess we are too.  The parents of the friends they made, we hang out with too.  This IS the biggest social fest of the year for our County.

Even though the kids work with their 4-H pigs from April through July on a daily basis, feeding, washing, walking them...I think each year it gets easier to let go.

But maybe not.

Probably because of the money they get at the auction on Friday, which goes directly into their savings to pay for their pig the next year, and to save for college, car, etc.

They did well this year, netting more than they have in previous years.  We felt blessed.

To end fair week, yesterday we had to work in our club's food booth.  We enjoy this part every year.  We sign up to work with friends for a 4 hour shift, and at the end of the time, you even get a free meal.  That's Brent and Evan's FAVORITE part of the whole deal.

After working, Grace rode rides with friends, and the rest of us sat in the grandstands...get this.....4 hours BEFORE the start of the demolition derby.  It's THAT big of deal.  It's a little bit hillbillyish.  Who doesn't like to watch cars and trucks slam into each other for fun, huh?  However, our butts revealed to us that after the event was over, sitting in the stands for 7 hours was a little much!

Today is all about relaxation.  Today is about recharging.  Yes, we skipped church this morning.  I feel bad, but we are all EXHAUSTED.  The kids had to get up this morning and feed the 3 pigs we brought home to be butchered tomorrow.  They thought their pig chores were over.  Ha!

Tomorrow...it's all about weeding flower beds, mowing, and grocery shopping for my totally empty fridge, and putting away sweet corn in the freezer from my budding sweet corn patch.

Ah, back to reality.

Fair...continued

We've been living it up at the fair all week.

Sometimes I think our time there will NEVER end.  It's been hot, and hard on the pigs and us.

However, Brent is LOVING all the food...especially the ginormous haystacks we split for lunch the other day.

We've seen Evan's DREAM car...a bright yellow Chevy Camaro...

the kids have been in several shows, with one more tomorrow...(Evan placed 5th in his class today...a BIG achievement, considering the Grand Champion of the entire day came from the same class.)

and they have both taken advantage of wristband day and ridden the rides... (Grace was with her friends...so no pics of her.)

Three more days to go, then back to reality I guess...

At least we won't smell like the pig barn anymore, and there won't be endless piles of stinky laundry every night, and the kids will have a nice little paycheck in their pockets.

So,what have you been doing with your week?

Spotty at best

So, needless to say, we've been a little busy.

I'm posting this to say it'll be spotty posting this week...

I'll highlight with a few photos of the fair when I'm not feeling like I've been hung out to dry.  (These early days and late nights, and all the laundry each night because we all smell like we've been living in a pig barn...are quickly getting to me.)

Like this for one.

How's this for tight quarters...nothing like feet in your face!

These two were pen mates here at home, and can't seem to be without each other this week.  (Snickers on the left, and Elmo on the right.)  If one leaves the pen for a show, and the other is left alone...they act like they don't know what to do.

Of course, the fair is all new for them too.  There are hundreds of strollers and thousands of people going past their pens everyday.  There are new smells, hard floors, and they just don't know what to make of it.  They got used to running down our lane for their nightly walks.

Evan seems to be making a go of it, though.  He's a great helper and loves his pigs, even when they get a little annoying. (I think he still loves them...)

He and Grace have done great getting their pigs ready for the week.  They have fed them 3 times a day for months and walked them, washed them, and loved on them to get them used to us.  But then I see this...

If I were to name this it would go something like this:  "Texting IN a pig pen, while trying to look busy" by Grace Yoder.

I'm trying to remember back before cell phones, when I was in pig club and we sat around with friends playing cards all day, acting like we were taking care of our pigs.  It seems like such a long time ago.

So... sorry for the short post.  I'm trying.

Until later.

Saturday...it's what they are for...

I started the morning with 3 cups of coffee.

I DO NOT have a problem.  It's just that some days, I desire more coffee than others.

After my 3rd cup, I headed outside to water my flowers around the house.  (Yes, we are STILL experiencing a drought.  We are officially 8 inches of rain behind where we should be at this time...or so I  heard.)

I had to water with a watering can instead of the hose because the hose was attached to the sprinkler watering the sweet corn.

I made about 10 trips inside to fill up the can and go back out.

That's ok.  It's good exercise.

After that, I headed out to the garden.

To my patch.

They say daisies are the "friendliest flower," so what does that make zinnias?  The "best friends" of the bunch?  The "tried and true, never let you down flower"?  I think so.  They hang around till the very end of the season, and they just keep on bloomin.

I LOVE THEM.

After I cut some and brought them inside, I did some laundry, washed some dishes, and went to town making 9 more things for my etsy shop.

If I didn't have a certain child asking if I would take her and her brother swimming, (like 20 times), I could've maybe cranked out a 10th item.  Just kidding.

Now, it's supper time, then time to weigh the pigs one more time before we take them into our County Fair next Friday.

Later, a magazine, or book, or maybe my decorating binder will call my name as I aimlessly flip through TV channels.

This is what Saturdays are for, right?