Fair Week - Part 1

I can remember the one and only time I ever got a blue ribbon, it was at the Utah County Fair and I was about 13.  I won for my mom's recipe of Root beer Syrup (still a favorite).  My kids were looking through a memory book I have and they saw the ribbon and wanted to know where I got it.  You know those "oh shoot" moments (well maybe I'm the only one who gets them) but  you know the moment when you realize that your kids have never experienced something that you have.  (seriously, I get these little moments all the time).  I have to admit - I have never taken my kids to a County Fair. (insert bad mom).  I decided it would be fun for them to experience the Fair.  So they each picked a project that they wanted to do and entered it into the fair.  They spent a weekend working on their projects and then Monday morning we took them down to the fair and entered them in the home arts exhibit.

Tuesday was the judging and then the fair actually started on Wednesday night.  We went to the fair opening night.  The first place we went was to the exhibit building to see the projects on display.  There were so many wonderful things.  It was nice to walk through and see the amazing talents on display.

We found MaKady's first - she painted a plate and a bowl to match.  She was super excited for her blue ribbon!

Paige's was next.  Her cute little flag painted on canvas.  She worked hard on it.  Trying to get her stars and stripes just the way she had imagined.  The colors were vibrant - and she was happy for her blue ribbon also.

We found Lucas' painting last.  He was so happy to see his painting on display, but he really wanted to take it home that night.  It was a little hard to convince him that he had to leave it out for other people to see - just a few more days.  All the kids in his age group got a participation ribbon.  He was so proud of his painting - he says its "like a forest", then he will change his mind and tell you its "like a dinosaur"  oh "I see a rainbow too".  Can you see all those things?  This kid has some serious talent!

It was fun to watch my kids through this process and see the sense of accomplishment they had when their hard work paid off.  I think this might turn into a yearly thing for them.