Snapshots: Summer's End

I go back to work tomorrow for the in-service week at school, and then the kids start back the week after that. So this is pretty much it for our summer break.

We took advantage of our last week off to go fishing at the lake near Cubby's friend's house.

And a little wading, too, of course.

Adventure Van waited patiently at the top of the hill.

Calvin caught the only fish, but it was too small to keep. (His hand is in a sling because he landed on it when he jumped off the pony. He's fine now.)

The county fair is the real culmination of the summer. It's a big deal in our county. A large percentage of the kids raise animals to show and sell at the livestock auction. My children don't do that, but they do all enter something for the indoor exhibits. 

This year we had a flower collage from Poppy; a diorama of a pig farm from Jack; a wood carving from Calvin; a forged pony bit and a wooden plane from Cubby; and canned pickled beets, sourdough bread, and calabacitas from me.

The family crafts (that's the pony bit on top of the diorama box.)

Every single thing up there got a first place ribbon. Poppy's collage got Reserve Champion (not sure of the category for that), Cubby got Reserve Champion for the pony bit and Grand Champion for the plane, and I got Grand Champion for my pickled beets. 

Cue Queen's "We Are the Champions."

The first day of the fair is the day all the exhibit items are turned in, and is also when all the animals are brought in and weighed. That was the day of the horse show, as well.

I believe this is the gelding class, but don't quote me on that.

The second day is the rest of the livestock showing, including sheep, goats, bottle calves, and steers. All of my children had friends who were showing--even Poppy's friend, who is only five and showed a bottle calf way bigger than she is--and their friends all placed, so that was nice.

The last day is the parade, the horse racing events--barrel, pole, and flag--activities for the little kids, and the kids' rodeo.

The parade on Main Street, at which insane amounts of candy are tossed.

And Poppy's much-anticipated first try at goat dressing. That's her in the blue shirt on the left. All they have to do is get the t-shirt over the goat's head, and the little kids always get some help from the older ones. The little ones also all get a dollar for participating, which is very exciting.

The boys' highlight of the fair is calf riding, and this was Jack's first year trying it. He did well, and didn't get hurt at all.

As it happened, he was the only one of the boys who got to do it, as a big storm broke just after he had his turn. So the bigger boys didn't get to ride, and they were very disappointed. 

There's always next year.

There you have it! My life, snapshotted.