Expo week was finally here!! The kids did awesome at Achievement Day, with Cady entering 12 exhibits and getting 1st place on 10 of them and 2nd place on the other 2. The 10 first places will go on to the NM State Fair next month and then all 12 of hers qualified for the 4-H Red Barn at Southern NM State Fair. Her hard work paid off (plus a couple of those projects she made for me)!
Colton also did very well and received 1sts on 4 of his and a 2nd on the last. His four 1sts will go to the State Fair and all of his will go in the 4-H Red Barn at Southern NM as well! (He wasn't at home when I took the pictures).
The week started off with the Rifle competition on Monday evening.
The kids shot well:
The weather got crazy, though! Luckily our kids were finished and we were on our way home before the storm hit the shooting range and the rest of the competition was postponed!
Tuesday night was the Archery competition. Cady had a great time shooting in a group of her friends (almost too much fun!):
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| Clairissa, Aubrey and Cady |
Colton shot very well and placed 6th in his age group:
Wednesday night was Trap and Skeet and they both struggled a bit with this one:
It was finally Friday and animal time! First thing after arriving at the fairgrounds was to clean the heifers, starting with blowing the dirt out of them:
Then its off to the wash rack to be scrubbed and whitened:
Then blown dry and ready to have the topline done:
Make sure to get those ears clean:
Then, get into those show whites, right before the show so you don't get any dirtier than you have to:
A group pic with dairy friends:
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Cady, Yamali, Grant, Ayden, Joe, Kaydens, Colton, Patrick and Preston
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Cady showed first with her Class 2, where there were 10 exhibitors. The rain hit right as they were entering the show ring and boy, was it loud!!! These young heifers are jumpy anyways, and hers very stubborn, so she acted up and gave Cady a run for her money the entire time. We could tell the judge liked her, though, and he wound up placing her 5th, which we were excited for after both kids placed dead last in both shows last year. The judge did say he really liked her but she was hard to look at with how jumpy the rain made her. Cady handled her well, though, and the judge commended all the Class 2 showmen for holding onto their heifers and not letting any get away from them as easily could've happened due to the loud rain.
Colton's class, Class 6, came a little while later. Thankfully the rain stopped (right after Cady's class!) and Mooesha showed perfectly!! Only 4 in his class due to their size and not a lot of the kids want one that big. He did an amazing job showing and received a lot of compliments on it and how far he'd come in just one year. Mooesha placed 2nd and we were all thrilled!!
Next up was Showmanship for Juniors and I was proud of Cady for wanting to follow through and do it even though her heifer had acted up so much during the earlier show. Clover showed much better without the noisy rain. Cady didn't win, but we were very proud of her!
Senior Showmanship followed and again, Colton showed like a champ!! He showed his heart out, but unfortunately the judge had an eye for the girls, who made up his top 4 showmen. Colton had fun, though, and again, received many compliments on his showing skills. He was proud of his accomplishments and had a great time, so that is all that mattered!
Following the dairy show, it was time to clean up our area and get home to rest up for the rabbit show the following morning:
In the picture below, Cady and Poppy are ready for Rabbit Showmanship, after the judging of the rabbits already happened. Neither of her Roasters placed in the top 6, but the judge had positive things to say about them. Besides saying that they had potential for Southern NM State Fair, he also commended Cady on the condition of their fur, as well as how easy they were to handle which showed how much she had worked with them.
Junior Rabbit Showmanship came, and Cady remembered everything and did a great job! She needs to work on making more eye contact with the judge and speaking up, but other than that is showing like a veteran rabbit showman in only her 2nd year:
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| Aubrey and Cady waiting for Showmanship |
So the animal shows were finished for us and all we had left to do was to relax and enjoy Family Night that Saturday evening. This year, instead of a hamburger cookout, food trucks were invited to set up around the pavilion during the dance. Our family decided to go out and eat prior to driving out there at one of our favorite Mexican food restaurants:
It was a wonderful dinner! Then we headed out to the fairgrounds for one final time to dance and visit with friends at Family Night!
It was a fun and successful Expo! Thank you to all of our friends for the support and help - we couldn't have done it without you! Couldn't be prouder of our kiddos - they did great!
Now to prepare for State Fair and Southern!
