South Mountain Fair

DD12 worked desparately to finish two projects to be entered in our local fair. She did both projects through 4-H. There were other homeschoolers locally who entered the fair and it was fun seeing their projects there as well.

Due to a financial crunch in our family, we are being forced to really cut back on recreational spending. We had to pay an admission to the fair ($4 per adult and kids were free), but it was well worth it since we warned the children ahead of time that we would not be riding anything. We were there to see the exhibits. DS5 really wanted to ride something, but I think he is adjusting to our budget. He only asked once, we said "no" and miraculously, there was no whining.

We first saw a man with a monkey. I had a couple of quarters and gave them to the kids. The monkey came and took the money out of their hands and kissed them each on the nose. It was sweet.

Anyway, walking through and taking the time to really look at the exhibits was a lot like visiting a muesum. We really appreciated what went into each project and that made the day very enjoyable. We also visited the commercial exhibits which weren't quite as much fun, but we got some free post-it notes, pens and rulers. We were also able to talk politics with the political candidates who were there. After that, we visited the livestock. It was a little smelly, but fun seeing the various animals. By that time we had plastic bags with our freebies and I had to tell the children to keep the bags away from the goats because they would try to eat them. And they did.

The highlight of the whole event was seeing the second place ribbons on both of DD12's projects. This being her first year, having little guidance, and not knowing what the judges might be looking for, we were all surprised (and very proud) she did so well.

The bonus was that when we went to pick up her projects on Sunday, she recieved a check for $4! She won a money prize of $2 each for the 2nd place winnings. She was beaming.

As we left the grounds, all three of my kids were thinking of projects they could enter next year.

As a mom, this made my heart sing.