Labor Day Fishing

Doug's uncle hosted a cookout at his house this afternoon.  Thankfully, Doug didn't have to work, so we made the trip north yesterday.  One of the reasons for the get-together was that Doug's uncle and aunt were "home" from Florida.  We were all quite surprised when Julianne allowed Uncle Danny (the one that lives in FL) to hold her hand as they walked across the yard, and she even let him carry her down the stairs to the basement!

After lunch, Doug and Pa, as well as Dallas and Reba headed out to Uncle Junior's pond to see if they could have any luck fishing.

It wasn't but 5 minutes before Reba got the first bite on her line...

Then, Pa got a nibble...

Dallas "had to help" Pa reel it in!

Everyone was so proud of their catches!

Reba even finally decided to hold the fish

It wasn't long after they each released their catches, Reba re-baited, cast her line, and reeled in a blue gill!

After each of the kiddos caught 3 or 4 fish each, Doug was finally able to cast his own line and enjoy a little fishing.  (He had been running back and forth between the two kiddos re-baiting and taking fish off their lines)

What were Julianne and I doing during this time?  Relaxing under the shade trees (and napping)

My favorite picture of the day!

followed closely by this one (Dallas was so willing to help Reba with her catch)

After Julianne woke from her nap, I even got the chance to cast a line.  I ended up catching one bass and this blue gill.

Until next time...

Kentucky State Fair

We spent this weekend in Louisville at the Kentucky State Fair.  Doug, the kiddos and I headed over after school on Friday afternoon.  We met up with Pa-paw, Ma-maw, Aunt Lisa and Kylie for supper.  We then headed back to the hotel to get a good nights rest before the show early Saturday morning.  Overall, Doug and I were very pleased with how our lambs did.  Thanks once again to Ma-maw for taking pictures and sharing them with me - so I can share them with you!

Friday afternoon, a few different individuals came to give Pa-paw some pointers on what to do with Crackerjack (how to fit him for show).  See we had not cut off much of his fleece because we were under the impression the longer, the better.  Apparently, that is not the case...so those individuals, helped trim him down and get him ready.

Pa-paw even tried hand-clipping, but I think he quickly remembered why he doesn't do it (or someone took the shears away)

I also finally added to our farm sign this year (you know the one I did in 2013)!

OK...Saturday morning, the kiddos were once again willing to help get the lambs ready

The Natural Color show and the Polled Dorset show both started at 8 a.m.  Crackerjack's class came up first, and he won it!  We kept waiting for the ram champion drive, hoping that it would come before our Dorset rams started showing, but it did.  Doug and I were in the ring when our class was called for Ice Cube and Clark.

Thankfully, Pa-paw and Aunt Lisa's ram was in a different class, so they were able to take the boys in the ring for us.  Kylie met us at the edge of the ring to take Crackerjack (whom did not win), and we then jetted to the Dorset ring.  I started out helping Dallas with Ice Cube, and Pa-paw and Doug had Clark.  Only Clark was not being very cooperative, so I thought I would try and switch places with Doug.

Clark actually made it into the premium (front line) in his class!  I think if he would not have been so onry, he would have placed a bit higher.

It was then quite a wait before the ewes showed.  Reba and Julianne passed the time by watching Daniel Tiger on YouTube!

Finally, Aunt Lisa and Kylie entered the ring with their fall ewe, and they placed 3rd in the class!

Ma-maw came in for some close ups before our spring ewe class.

This is the lovely smile Julianne gives when Ma-maw points the camera at her!

Reba then had to go to the bathroom right before they called our class, so Sugar stepped in to help!  This was her first time going into the ring, and I'm proud to report she did great.

She held onto the end of the halter the entire time, and kept up with me as we walked around the ring.

Dallas (and Daddy) showed Elizabeth, and he did great once again.  Doug and I are so proud of the confidence Dallas gained in the show ring this summer.  I hope that he continues to enjoy showing sheep, and that he continues to be fearless in the ring.

A great family photo at the end of the show

Today, we returned to the fair for the overall grand drive.  We didn't have anything in the drive, but Aunt Lisa was asked to be a judge for the grand drive.  She said, no; so apparently, they wanted me to judge.  I wasn't confident in doing it, so that left Pa-paw.  He didn't want to do it either, so he pleaded with a friend of ours, Will, do take his place.  Since Aunt Lisa and I both said no to being a judge for the grand drive, we were then asked to judge the Wool on Parade class.  It is a class where individuals wear clothing made of American wool as they lead a lamb (wearing a coordinating piece).   They are judged on the construction of their garment, the presentation of their garment (modeling in the ring), control of their lamb, as well as the appearance of their lamb.  It was a fun time, and I'm glad I was able to help with it.

Until next time...

Rushville Tractor Show - Day 2

We headed back to the tractor show today, and we weren't there long when we ran into our friend Michael and his son.  Declan asked to go for a ride on the lawn mower, and Doug just couldn't deny his request.  Of course, my littles wanted to go along too.

In the afternoon, there were old fashioned games including a tug of war, and (Reba's favorite) the coin search.  That's where they toss in hand fulls of coins into a pile of straw and the let the kiddos search.  What they find, they keep.

Reba ended up finding 4 quarters this year.  Not quite as many as last year, but she still had fun.

Julianne started out in the stroller to watch, but after a few minutes, that wasn't good enough for her...

Sugar didn't find any coins, but she sure had fun tossing the straw around!

Until next time...

Morgan County Fair

If you have been keeping count, this is our third sheep show in 10 days!  Tonight we showed at Morgan County (Martinsville).  Pa-paw, Ma-maw, and Aunt Lisa had taken our sheep (and kiddos) back to their house after the Jackson County show.  Doug and I met them today at the fairgrounds.  After a quick lunch, we got to work on the sheep.

Like before, I had some great help!

Dallas has done so well this summer of handling the sheep on his own.  Typically, he will do it without a halter, but tonight we had him use one on the way to the ring.

Someone else thought she needed to help get the lambs to the ring!

We had quite the help tonight!  Our show hands before making our way to the show ring.  Thanks again to Levi, Mary, and Kylie for coming to help.

Our first class, ram lambs

Little Miss always smiling for the camera (and judge)

If I haven't said it before, I'll say it now, I really like this little ewe!  I really hope she continues to grow well through the winter.

 She ended up 4th in her class.  The judge even commented on how excellently she is put together; she just got out-sized in her class.  She was up against lambs close to 6 months older than her!

Sugar was having a lot of fun cheering from the stands!

After the Dorsets were done, we had quite a wait before showing Crackerjack in the Natural Colored class.  These little girls got a little hungry...

Crackerjack finally got his turn, and won his class!  We then had to wait a while longer for the grand drive.  Unfortunately, he didn't win though.  Next up is the Kentucky State Fair at the end of the month!

Until next time...