When all was said and done at the Central States Fair and all of our entries were back in our possession, the kids had $82 dollars between them and a Best in Show and Best in class ribbon to add to their collections of Blue, Red and Whites.

Impressive, no?

This year (AGAIN!), Tess was the big winner with a painting receiving Best in Show honors and a ‘Fireworks’ shirt she made with sharpies and rubbing alcohol earning her best in class. But she deserved every blue ribbon that came her way. While her brothers gave half hearted efforts most of the time, Tess went all out even when she had blisters from the hot glue gun. The moment one entry was done, she would ask what else she could do and was creating up until the moment we loaded everything up. I’m especially proud of her big ribbons because those items she did completed unassisted. Way to go, sister!

Anyway, their entries and awards were just some of the high points from the week. Others included:

– Snowcones! Who doesn’t love psychedelic tongue colors?!

– The bounce house. Ellie spotted it when we took in the entries and asked and begged and pleaded to bounce for the rest of that afternoon/evening and well into the next day. When we finally did get her in, she bounced twice with Max and then was done.

– The parade! Candy out our ears! Shriners on scooters!

– Being scared silly at the prospect of riding the Slingshot. I’m not sure how it started, but Jac started teasing Philip about it and while Max flatly refused to even entertain the thought of being shot into space, Philip saw Jac and raised him one by announcing that he WOULD ride if Jac would. Well, as we piled out of the van the first night, Philip saw the poles for the ride, grabbed my hand and said quietly, “I’ve changed my mind.” Jac, upon hearing this, hollered, “WHAT?!?! You’re going if I’m going!” and it escalated from there. Poor Philip! I don’t think he noticed a single ribbon or bunny (his favorites!) that night. He was rather pale and wan when we came to a stop close to the Slingshot and Jac assured him that there was NO WAY he would ever, ever ride it. Plus, we reminded him, he was too small. Relief! He was able to watch the other thrill seekers in peace at last.

– An evening visit for rides with the Brown’s and Julie. 1. Lacey is my hero for braving the smells of the fair in her current state. Just sayin’. 2. Julie was Ellie’s chaperone for the night. AWESOME. Thanks again, Julie for riding the Merry Go Round with her 3 TIMES. Tess continues to be our thrill seeker and Philip was much braver this year. It was so sweet to see Bailey and Ellie chatting about the rides and enjoying things together. We capped off the night with cream puffs (Ah-MAZE-ing!) and the kids running out the rest of their energy. They slept soooo well that night! Thanks again for a fun night, guys!

Until next year!

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