Whewwww! I think we have made it through this week - our week at the county fair is almost over...
Monday: We entertain my mom - as she decided to come and visit, and we try to keep calm & collected, knowing all we needed to get done in the next 24 hours. Monday night we baked cakes and start preparing our entries for 4H exhibit. Goes to show we need to not wait until the last minute on everything.
Tuesday: What a busy day - our 4H Judging Day! Bookworm sews her pillow (she had worked on the embrodiery earlier this year and now - at the last minute, it was time to put it all together. We found the perfect backing at home (more on that probably tomorrow, when I can take a photo) and she sewed it in no time flat (we had no time flat to finish). lol Then the girls decorate their cakes, all goes well, but with the muggy 97 degree tempature, we just prayed they wouldn't melt before the judges saw them. We got everything tagged, got cleaned up, watered the farm animals, and it was off to the fair grounds in the afternoon for judging. All went fairly well, except for the sweat dripping from their mom.
Wednesday: We didn't go to the fair grounds, but ran errands instead. Had some van problems while at JC Penny, but made it home and dh came to the rescue to fix the sliding door that wouldn't close all the way (yikes - we drove almost 1 hour with the van door not closed all the way). Now qualifying as van-problem-a-week club members, Jane is eager to get a different van - NOW!!!
Thursday: Our turn to work at the 4H Clover Cafe at the fair from 8a.m -12:30. It was very fun! Bookworm took orders, Mom worked the till, and Ladybug "called" orders out to the cooks and got ice cream. We always enjoy working in the cafateria, even on HOT days. We were with a few from our homeschool co-op and also saw many more friends. Also, we popped in to check on our 4H entries and was presantly surprised to see that Bookworm got a Reserve Champion Pink Ribbon for her pillow! If they only knew how fast she whipped that out. It gave us more incentive to actually try next year and go for a purple ribbon.
Friday: Our day to enjoy the fair. Another hot one, but the best (coolest) day of the week - we still got sunburnt. We enjoyed rides, fair food, being inspried by other entries, horses, and mom's favorite - being a social butterfly with the many friends we ran into.
 The girls have always loved the Scrambler, but for some reason it wasn't there this year (they were missing quite a few rides), which made me wonder if we were going to get our money's worth out of the wrist bands, but Bookworm wanted to try this, the Kamakaze. Yes, she is up there, up-side-down, and yes, this is her new favorite ride. She must have went on it 4 times. Ladybug & Mom prefer good ole' terrafirma, thank you very much. Have the rest of you ladies found that since having your first child, you can't take rides much anymore? I don't do rides anymore! The girls went on the Tilt-a-Wirl quite a bit too and much milder rides. There are a few we will not let the girls go on - there have been just too many carnival accidents in recent years.
Watching the 4H Drill Team (38 riders) was one of Ladybug's favorites. She wants to do that with her horse now. We have our work cut out for us to get her horse able to do all they did - but I think it's possible. Makes me wonder if I should be shopping for a good pick-up truck & horse trailer instead of a van. :) (We do have a pick-up - an old klunker that is only good for snow plowing our driveway & can't go on the road). lol (We got it for $200).
The rest of my week has been a matter of changed plans. I was going to attend a "Selling Smart Seminar" to get tips on selling my unused curriculum, but that was cancelled (of course, I didn't know that until I got there - over an hour drive away). We were also going to look at and test drive a van we are interested in, but the dealer is out of town for over a week yet and his dad took the van to Bayfield, WI - at least that tells me it must be a good van if the dealer recommends it to his dad. So I have to be patient and wait over a week to perhaps "get" "my" van.
Otherwise all is well on the home front. We pick up the our fair projects tomorrow. Next week - NOTHING! - Until Saturday when Bookworm goes to a birthday party. The girls are done with violin lessons now until after school starts again, so more relaxed practice too. Yippie!
If you would like to join in Show & Tell Friday, see Mary! | 
