A Day at the Fair

On Saturday we went to the local county fair to watch the nieces and nephews show their animals, enjoy the exhibits and booths, and eat some yummy, unhealthy, hey-I-only-eat-it-once-a-year fair food (like fry bread).

We got there in time to see the large class of steers. Before entering the arena, the steers (and in some cases, the kids) were given a last brush. Note that Caleb has his number on in the above photo.

The steers were led into the grassy show arena.

Clay, Alyshia, and Caleb were all in this class, and had really big steers! Alyshia's had been behaving on the ranch, but in the show arena he kept wanting to make a getaway, making Alyshia run after him.

They walked them around so that the judge could get a view of all sides.

Note Caleb's shirt now. There are safety pins, but no number. Where did it go?

Apparently his steer thought it would taste yummy and ate his number off of him. Completely.

Clay smiled as he listened to his mom.

The judge ended up awarding Clay, Caleb, and Alyshia blue ribbons. He commented that their steers looked like they were from a commercial cattle ranch. He was right about that!

Next we walked around the booths. Desert Boy had fun collecting free stuff like yoyos and balloons and crayons. He also really liked this game where he threw ping pong balls into a house that had areas open to show where fires could burn.

Then it was back to the arena to watch the Showmanship round. Megan did a good job with her sheep. We were informed that Desert Boy will be able to take a sheep to the fair the summer after next. Yikes, that seems soon! And I know about nothing about sheep!

Alyshia's misbehaving steer kept up the act the second time around, while her dad and uncle looked on from the fence.

Caleb (with a new number attached) did a good job and won a Grand Champion for the junior showmanship class. That meant he got to compete in the round robin and also show a sheep and a pig; the latter was a new experience for him.

Caleb's steer.

After visiting more animals like ducks and rabbits and chickens, we went through the exhibit hall and wandered around again. We were lucky to catch a competition about to start.

It was the watermelon eating contest, and Desert Boy was willing to compete in the 0-3 year old division.

On your marks, get set...notice the boy on the left and the girl on the far right didn't really think it necessary to wait for the "go."

They had one minute to eat as much as they could. The girl next to Desert Boy needed a little coaching.

She's taken a couple bites, while Desert Boy keeps chomping down. Usually he hates the seeds, but he didn't complain at all about them.

It seemed like a long minute, but finally the time was up. The kids had to stop eating and the judges tried to figure out who had eaten the most.

And the winner was Desert Boy! He got a nice first place medal. He also achieved a very slimy shirt, hands, and face.

He was happy to keep eating the watermelon. And Desert Girl was happy to assist. She'll be ready for this age group next year!

Roping

Last Saturday we went to a nearby town for the team roping competition. I had never been to such an event before, and I was very excited to see what it was all about. When we got there, several of the participants were walking and trotting around the arena to get warmed up.

It was also a fundraiser for the local junior and senior high schools, which will be taking a trip to Washington, D.C. next year. Some of the kids were there to help with the event.

And then it was time to start. In case you've never been to a team roping event, here are the basics:
1. Two people chase a steer with horns and try to rope it.
2. The first roper is called the header and tries to lasso the horns.
3. The second roper is called heeler and tries to lasso the two back legs.
4. They only get one try.

This event wasn't timed, so they either succeeded or not. A success could be full, being both back legs roped, or partial, with just one back leg roped.

There were two competitions, a morning and afternoon. For the morning competition there were 35 teams. Some people only went once, while others went more than ten times. Each competitor had to pay $25 to compete. The purse was split between stock charges (a fee to take care of the steers), and the winning three teams.

Glen was the guy who organized it. He's been to many roping competitions and makes it look easy.

Here are the steers in a chute waiting for their turn to outrun the ropes.

While the cowboys and cowgirls waited, they practiced their form.

When the team was ready, the header nodded at Blake, operating the chute. He opened it, and a steer raced out, followed by the horses.

I've tried roping a fake steer standing still in my inlaws yard and couldn't even manage that. Trying to rope a moving steer from a moving horse takes a lot of practice.

Once the ropers either missed or caught it, the steer was taken to the far end of the arena where the teenagers took off the rope, if needed, and let it through to the holding pen.

The speed is really impressive. Each try at roping was over in less than a minute.

Above, the header is getting the rope around the steer's horns. Each steer wears protective head gear.

Here's another header trying to catch a steer.

Desert Boy was happy to spectate with Carol and Sam while I wandered around with Desert Girl taking photos.

More ropes waiting their turn. The roper on the far left might be familiar to you from previous posts.

It's Lee, our 90 year-old cowboy. He was lamenting that he was no longer a good roper. He's still better than 99.9% of the population! I sure couldn't do what he was doing that day!

It was neat watching the ropers swing their ropes. They don't use just any old rope, they have very special ropes for roping, with a certain heft and flexibility. After being used for awhile, the ropes develop kinks and have to be retired for basket making or odd jobs.

Ben had a really good camera and probably got much better photos than me. Someday I may get a better camera, but first I have to be willing to haul it around!

Sam concentrated hard on the competition.

This young cowboy watched intently. I wouldn't be surprised if he's competing in ten years.

After all the steers had had their turn, it was time to bring them back for another round.

There's a little score booth where the score keeper can keep track of how everyone is doing and announce who's up next. Out of 35 teams, about a dozen were successful ropers in the first round, so they went on to a second round. Only three were successful then, and there were no ties, so it was only three rounds long.

In the afternoon there were ties, so there were many more rounds.


Here the header has roped the horns and the heeler is swinging his rope tried to get the back legs.

Caitlin and Creg were one of the teams that were tied, so they had to rope many times.

Caitlin has successfully roped the horns.

And then Creg gets a leg. The steer is quickly released.

Meanwhile the younger kids found a chute to play in. We also ate a delicious barbeque lunch and bought some bake sale items to support the fundraising efforts.

And out in the arena, the roping continued. It was getting pretty warm and the kids were ready for their naps, so we got ready to go.

I don't think it's something that I'll ever be able to do, but watching the competition was quite entertaining. And now I can say I've seen some team roping!

The Big Water Fight

Sunday evenings we often go down to the softball field for some jovial softball and socializing. Last Sunday there was an added attraction (or perhaps distraction) to the softball.

My brother-in-law had brought a trough and filled it with water, and those that were hot were enjoying the cooling water.

It didn't take long for water lover Desert Boy to find himself in the makeshift pool.

Some people had brought along super soakers and were spreading the cool.

There were some off-limit areas, so those who wanted to stay dry could.

As more people came, more got involved with getting wet.


Clay quickly found himself soaking wet, and a little cup wasn't giving him much payback power.

Ava enjoyed playing in the water.

Hector was dry in an earlier photo, but is wet here, while my husband looks mostly dry. But not for long!

He somehow ended up being a target for a couple little girls, and gradually got wetter and wetter.

He didn't mind. It was a hot day!

Laura really enjoyed dumping coolers of water on people. She was willing to get soaked in return.

Breanna didn't get away quite fast enough!

My hubby got surprised again with another pitcher of water poured on him.

And Clay can't stop laughing. He might know what's about to happen.

And another pitcher! It was too hot to stay even partially dry!

Tana ended up in the fray and found a cooler to get more people wet!

Clay has upgraded from the little red cup to a big pitcher. Obviously, creative tools were at work during the water fight.

Eventually we got around to softball, and most everyone started off nice and cool and wet.