Fair Ribbons

To sum up the story….long story short….she just wanted a pretty ribbon.

Here’s how we got there:

1. I sent a local person a picture of her husband that I took back at one of the brandings. She responded that I should enter some pictures in the photo contest at the local fair.
2. Our play friends, twin boys, entered in a Pee Wee lead show at the fair with their mom’s horses. They won some ribbons and Ruby saw them. We saw some other pictures of friends in Georgia that won ribbons for showing livestock. She was intrigued and wanted to know how she could earn a ribbon.
3. I went online and looked at the different categories of the photo contest and saw there was an open class for 14 and younger. We were not sure if there was a minimum age limit to enter.
4. We went and printed the pictures, found some frames at a little store and went to enter them.
5. We entered them on a Wednesday evening, 10 minutes before the contest closed. There was not an age minimum to enter.
6. Ruby was a little confused and thought she would/should get a ribbon right when we dropped them off.
7. The girls and I drove back to the fairgrounds (45 minutes away) the next day after judging and saw that Ruby won ribbons!
8. The pictures were on display for public viewing from Thursday to Sunday morning.
9. We think she will be getting some prize money in the mail soon. First place ribbons earned 8 dollars and second place earned 6 dollars.

(They look thrilled. It was hot, they were ready to do some jump/bouncy houses, and see some pig wrestling.)

Ruby got her camera back in December. Some days she takes TONS of pictures, and then some days she doesn’t pick it up at all. Usually when she sees me grab my camera for our adventures, she’ll grab hers too. With all 500 or so pictures we’ve loaded on the computer from the camera, only 20 are identifiable or “good”. Sometimes she’ll ask for help in composing the picture she’s trying to take and I’ll help her set it up. Sometimes she deletes really good ones before I can load them on the computer. She’s getting better and better though.

(Three fingers up for three blue ribbons. Two fingers up for two red ribbons.)

The camera is a kid’s camera and does not have very many mega pixels. You cannot focus it or zoom in/zoom out. All the pictures have “noise” or are grainy. Most current smart phones are clearer, sharper, and faster and hold more memory than this little camera.

(Three first place pictures)

(Two second place pictures and her camera.)

We really want to say a special “thank you” to Wayne and Jane for getting Ruby her camera. She is learning, showing interest, being independent and having confidence in herself. We now know what to look for, take pictures of and the different categories for the fair next year.

Maybe she can earn more ribbons. J