County Fair - Day Two and a Great One at That!

This morning opened the second day of our county fair.

After feeding the horses next door and gathering up more loads of things to take down to the fairgrounds...boy, those reusable fabric grocery bags from the story come in mighty handy...it was time to see what the day had in store for us.

Wednesday is a fairly important day in the life of a 4H dairy goat showman. This is the day that the junior, intermediate, and senior showmanship classes are held.



Showmanship classes demonstrate how well you fitted out your 4-H animal and yourself, how much knowledge you have learned about your species, how well you have trained your animal to be calm and responsive in the show ring, and as well, is the time to put on your "show" face and be confident in your communication with the judge.



It really is a lot for these kids to work on throughout the year. I have always told my kids not to put all their eggs in the same basket and use their showmanship class as the end-all pinnacle of their yearly 4-H experience. If you're not thoroughly enjoying your day-to-day responsibilities of raising your animal, then you're missing the whole point of being a 4-Her. One hour of the entire year should not make or break you. You can be mightily disappointed.



But sometimes, it all comes together for them. It did today. Goat Princess took home the title of Champion Intermediate 4-H Dairy Goat Showman of the 2011 Clackamas County Fair and earned herself a spot in the coveted Master Showman round robin contest. She now has the shiny belt buckle to prove it. It's quite an accomplishment, and we are pretty proud of her.



The rest of the day consisted of last night's dinner leftovers at camp for lunch, a most fabulous Starbucks Via iced coffee...make it up with milk versus water and you won't be disappointed, more time in the butterfly exhibit,



an extended time in the pioneer village and Indian encampment,





and H-Bob's purchase of an ermine skin with her saved birthday money. Of course we wandered over to see the llamas,



pigs,



three of the cutest little dairy bull calves that must have been only a few days old,



more trips through the goat barn to visit with the littlest goat kids that were on exhibit,



of course visiting with our own miniature dairy goats,





visits to make the turkey 'gobble' back,



trips through the campers on display...enough to make Hubby quite envious of them, took a gander at some of the vendor displays,



and made a visit to the Kitchen Pantry where they had the most marvelous looking baked goods on display. You can tell I've been supportive of H-Bob's gluten free diet and have been refraining from baked goods that she can't have. They looked mighty good today. We even watched the dog agility show one more time.





I'm pretty sure I developed several blisters and know for sure that my feet were aching after the day standing and walking, so it felt good to head back to camp and sit for awhile watching the rodeo contestants get ready for the night's event while waiting for the noodles to boil. Tonight's camping entree...spaghetti with Alfredo sauce and pesto along with bagged salad. Not too shabby.



Now that I'm back home and Hubby is there with Goat Princes and H-Bob, I'm tending to the dishes at home, washing show clothes for tomorrow...dairy whites do not stay clean for long, and wishing I had time to water and see what's growing in the garden before dark. Perhaps in the morning.

Congrats again to our great little showman! A job fantastically well done.