Summer means participation

Our church has hosted a jam festival for several years now for the community.  This year, for the first time, there was a "best berry dessert" contest and my granddaughter and daughter entered a strawberry pie.  They even went to the Farmer's market that morning to get the best fresh strawberries.  I heard they sampled a few in the process to make sure they got the best!

After fierce judging, their pie tied for first place!  They got a wonderful grape themed gift basket.  The cheeks on the little pie maker are full of yummy grapes.

 They compared their treasures with other winners.  I think Little pie maker  has a new hot chocolate mug.

 There were other events to participate in at the jam festival...smore making....

 a bounce house with a slide.  That would be Graypa partcipating with the grandmunchkins.  I took a few turns myself in the house and down the slide.  We participated in the Advil bottle that night too.

And then, before we knew it, the County Fair was upon us.  I've participated in one form or another since I was a young girl in the county fair.  My brothers raised pigs and showed them at the fair while my sister and I raised sheep to show and sell in the market lamb contest.  Today I do a different kind of participation and it was so much fun this year to take almost all of the grandmunchkins with us to the fair.  We never got to the rides and carnival part since there was so much to see and do and we all wore out.

 There were pumps to pump.

 There were tractors to try out, complete with making the proper tractor noise.

 There were reptiles to pet and see.

 There were shows to see.  Graypa had NO intention of participating but he was a good sport when he was called up from the audience.  I don't think the performer actually thought he would try and get up on the unicycle, but he did. 

 There were animals to pet and see. 

And then we headed over to the textile competion to see how we had done.  Blue ribbons, red ribbons, white ribbons!  We had a them all. 
Miss S entered a skirt and blouse she had made with her Great Grandmother's help.  She won two red ribbons!  She just entered a new level with much older girls competing in the same level so she did very well!

 Miss S entered a blanket in the special division and a hat.  A red and white ribbon.  The hat she entered competed against her older sister's hat. 

Our other daughter, home recooperating from having Mr. C, entered a scarf, hat, sweater, and vest.  A blue and red ribbon!

 I entered a lot of things this year, hoping to win the nifty needler award.  I didn't.  But I still won awards on most of what I entered, some blue, some red, and some white, and one judge's choice.  And best of all, all of the things I made are in use already!  The lady taking our things for entry told me some ladies work all year at making things for the fair so considering I work all year making things for the family and I had to "borrow" them back to enter in the fair because they were already being used, made me feel a bit better.

 All those ribbons and still not enough for the niftiest needler.  Wow, wonder how much the lady that won did?  There is always next year.

 And before we left, Great Grandpa actually got a hug from the littlest one.  A first!  Now we're off to participating in picking garden produce.