Camp Week

Last week, IC went to man camp (church camp).  He left with his friend, Jared, on Monday and I picked up the boys on Friday.  Boy, did I miss him.  It seemed harder this time without him than it did last year.  And he and Jared both said the same, that they'd missed their moms more this year.

While he was gone, the girls fought, and fought, and FOUGHT with each other.  Constantly.  I know Miss A broke down once at the dinner table, saying she missed Isaac to annoy.  So, I don't know if not having him to annoy them, play with, lead them, pushed the girls to fight with each other, but it was a miserable 5 days!

On top of that, my BIL accidently hit the dog on Wednesday evening with the grinder.  Apparently, she ran behind it and he didn't know it.  Luckily, it doesn't appear she broke her leg, just bruised it.  We ended up giving her some dexasone and banamine orally to combat the pain and swelling.  She is almost back to normal, now.

On Monday and Tuesday afternoon, it was so humid and hot I actually took the girls to the swimming pool in town.  One of my least favorite things to do to waste an afternoon.

On Thursday, the girls had gymnastics and fitting for dance shoes and Miss A had piano lessons.  We decided to take a few weeks off of piano, so she will restart after school gets started again, which is only a few short weeks away.

Thursday afternoon, after we were back from York, I took the girls to my mom's to stay overnight, since I had to get an earlier start on Friday morning to go pick up the boys.  It's over 2 hours one way to get to camp, so I was pretty tired by the time we got home.  The boys had a great time and were exhausted.  They got to do some archery, climb trees, sleep in the tree boats for 1 night, have a night swim, jump on the jumping pillow, play lazer tag in the corn maze,  play GaGa ball in the mud and go on a mud slide (instead of a slip and slide), go on the zip line, and make a couple of crafts.  The boys were led by the men camp councelors and I think it was great that those guys taught about God.  The boys learn better from young college men than a pastor preaching to them. They were pretty glad to come home, though.

The girls came home soon after IC did and they all spent Saturday recovering.  Sunday afternoon we spent some time getting ready to take a short vacation to Omaha to get away from the farm. After we get back from that, it will be time to go school shopping!

Auction Day

The final day of the fair is always the hardest.  We let the kids sleep in while JJ and I went to town at 6:30 to get Alex, the chickens, ducks, and rabbits.  We even had a lot of things cleaned up before 7:30.  It took me awhile to get everything settled at home and then I got the kids up.  We were back at the fair at 10 am to help with clean up before heading over to the Ag Hall to eat dinner.  After that, it was time to get ready for the auction.

We said good bye to Joe-IC took it harder this year than last year.  He'd gotten pretty attached to Joe.  Joe brought the highest bid per pound in the beef animals sold.

Afterward, it was the annual water fight.

Lots of fun!  Now, comes lots of work-getting things cleaned up and put away.  Unfortunately, I was unable to start that yesterday, as E bunny came down with a fever, tummy ache and headache virus.  So, hopefully, I can get fair stuff cleaned and put away early next week while IC is at church Man Camp.

Beef Show

Wednesday was the Beef show.  IC got a blue in showmanship and a red with his steer, Joe.  We were all disappointed, but turns out the judge doesn't think anyone in our county knows how to pick show cattle, either!  IC still got Grand Champion in Market Steer Rate of Gain, so it wasn't a total wash.

Miss A also showed her bucket calf, Alex, in open class and got a blue ribbon.  E bunny showed Alex in pee wee showmanship and got a Clover Kids Ribbon.

Everyone helped get Joe ready for the show, even E bunny!

The beef show got done in a good amount of time, but then we had to deal with the fact that the fair was nearly over, we were exhausted, and so on.  JJ and IC took some of the stuff home and did chores, while the girls and I stayed to get the static exhibits and change our clothes to ready for the bull riding event.

Last year, the boys didn't come to the bull riding, but they decided to this year.  It was nice to sit together as a family.  The girls loved the bull riding.

Jr. Superintendent and Carnival Rides

IC and his friend, Dakota, were Jr. Superintendents for the hog show on Tuesday morning.  They handed out ribbons during the first half of the show and then went to the snack shack for the last 1/2 of our shift there.  The boys were a little bored during the show, but had fun in the snack shack!

In the evening after chores, we took the kids to the carnival rides, which were a little pathetic this year.  This was Miss A's first year to ride the bigger kid rides, she had a blast on them!

Poultry and Rabbit Show

Monday afternoon was the Rabbit and Poultry Show (after the sheep show).  IC showed 4 rabbits-all got purple ribbons and Thumper got Reserve Fancy Breed Champion.  IC got a blue in showmanship, which he was disappointed in, as we had worked hard on showmanship.

The girls each showed their rabbits in open class and received blues (the highest ribbon in open class).

After that, it was time for the chickens and ducks.

The judge really liked IC's animals, and it helped that they weren't just from Orschelin's, either!  IC received Champion and Reserve Champion for his chickens and Champion and Reserve Champion for his ducks!

After that, the girls showed their open class poultry.  Miss A showed her duck, Nellie, and E bunny showed her chicken, Mr. Pickles.  They both received blue ribbons.