On to August

Well, July was a busy month! What did I post, once or twice? Sorry!

We had a great time at the County Fair last month. Lots of ribbons were won, lots of food was eaten & some great bands were listened to. It was HOT - typical fair week, triple digits. But we had a fun time anyway! 

4H has been a truly wonderful experience. I love that my kids get involved with making projects, face the judges for some constructive criticism .... and do some fundraising. We always work the ice cream booth the first day of the fair as our club fundraiser. So fun! This year I dubbed myself photographer, so I didn't help with the ice cream, but rather took pictures of the kids working .... & took pictures of as many of our club's projects as I could find. We are hoping to put together a scrapbook of all the fun things we do over the course of a year. 

Here are just a few photos of my kids & their experience: 

Matthew facing the judge for his wood project (a planter)

Michael facing the same judge for his wood project (a bird house)

Both ended up with red ribbons - second place!

(since my husband helped with these projects, I told him to step up his game next year - we want BLUE ribbons. LOL!!!)

Michael entered 4 foods - he got 3 blue ribbons & a red. I love how proud he looks!

In all, Matthew got 2 red ribbons (the wood project & an electricity project) & Michael got 3 blue & 2 red. It's definitely a learning process. This was our 3rd year & we learned that Matthew was supposed to have sketched a diagram of how his electrical project worked. Michael's bird house was NOT to have a perch of any kind (2 years ago Matthew made a bird house, & he was told just that his perch was too long. So now I guess the rule is - NO PERCH for a bird house LOL). We definitely learn new things each year. 

I also entered 2 foods (both bread) & some photos. I ended up with 1 blue ribbon, 2 red & a pink (4th place). It was my first year so I'm happy with that!

These kids sure work hard serving ice cream & cream puffs! It's such a great experience, their "working with the public" initiation!

Michael was in heaven surrounded by all that ice cream goodness :)

Of course, there are benefits! 

If you are on the fence about joining 4H with your kids - DO IT! We have such a blast. I'm sure all clubs are different, but our meetings are only once a month during the school year, & we do such fun stuff. We've toured Miller Park, visited the Taste of Home test kitchen, we have a pot luck party every Christmas, we always go to an indoor water park 2 days before Thanksgiving ..... there's just so much to do & see & it's fun doing it all together :)

We went back to the fair a few days later to enjoy it as "civilians". We ate lots of food, ran into some old friends & got to see Slaughter & Great White perform. I absolutely LOVE the fair :)

Hope you have a super week! Tomorrow is  my baby boy's 11th birthday. It's also my big boy's first day of football practice. Yep, he decided, upon entering high school, that he is a football player. Please send {no injury} thoughts our way! It's going to be a loooong season!