Ruby Slippers and Georgia Peaches

We went to the Wyoming State Fair recently.

(and if you didn’t know, you can click on blue words and it will take you to the website that gives you more information, just hit the back button to bring you back here.)

Remember the last time we went to a fair and Ruby rode a little roller coaster?

Terror, pure terror.

Well, this time she LOVED it.

Maybe it was the nice strong man holding on to her that helped ease some anxiety. She did much better.

(Yep, she has the same exact outfit in the picture from last year. She picked it out because she wore it to the last fair she went to. She never forgets anything.)

The favorite ride of the girls is still the carousel. Clara was big enough to ride some rides this time.

We went down to Douglas (4.5 hour drive) to the Wyoming State fair to see the hay equipment exhibits, hay/alfalfa contest exhibit winners and enjoy the day. Unfortunately, my camera got switched on sometime during the ride and my battery in the camera was almost drained. I had to be pretty selective on what I took pictures of. We got to see the dog dock water retrieving contests, all the exhibits, the vendors, see some livestock shows and visit the carnival area.

The fair had free parking. We adults only had to pay one dollar each to enter, our kids were free. The day was youth day, so the rides were exceptionally cheaper. By far the best thing that the girls got to do was play in the kid’s area. It was free as well and was set up close to the livestock buildings. Again, it was totally free. The little rodeo was held three times a day and was free as well.

(Ruby “giddy-upping” to the song Elvira in the middle of the play area with a stick horse and a ribbon.)

There was a music area, a roping area with saddle (like a ring toss), a kitchen/market area, chalkboard, pillow toss and a sand/gravel box. All were covered with sun shades. There were hay bales and benches for parents to sit on. It was obviously were we found the Young Guns Rodeo that Ruby participated in. When Clara was too small to ride most of the carnival rides, she and I hung out in the play area.

Most of all, we really, really enjoyed our day with our Papa B at the fair!

She practiced all winter in the community center.

She raced her barrels while I called out her location, racing pattern, and times.

We really didn’t know it was going to come in handy.

She made it to state, ya’ll. J

She rode her trusty gal and carried the stripes in the parade as a little gentleman sang the anthem.

She got coached up by her old man.

She kept the mare steady while in the chutes.

When the signal was given, she was off!

Maybe not in the right pattern, or on her side…but she was off!

Her time of 7.2 seconds won her a medal AND a blue ribbon!

She has vowed to do more patterns in the off season and make the Young Guns Rodeo next year.

J

Thirty-eight dollars.

That’s a lot of money for a little girl. Her next step is to sit down with her Papa and budget it out into tithing/giving, spending, and saving.

West of the Mississippi people don’t “cut” hay. They swath the hay.

When you look up the word on online dictionaries, it is listed as a noun. Here, people use it as a verb. “I’m going to swath the big pivot.”

The first few months we lived in Kansas, the hay broker/hay manager for the farm would correct me every single time I would say “cut”. The lesson was quickly learned.

They don’t use a mower. It’s a swather.

This year alfalfa was swathed. Sometimes we get to ride along as a family.

The cab area is fairly large. There is a driver seat and a passenger seat.

While swathing, Matt watches in front of him, to the sides, his gauges, the controls, his windrows and his side mirrors.

I watch the scenery, the kiddos, sing songs, and enjoy the air conditioning and the scenery.

The alfalfa is swathed, dried for a few days, sometimes raked (depending on the moisture level or how wet it is), and baled at a high humidity. Here in Wyoming the humidity is best between 2am-9am. Good alfalfa is not a classic “hay” color of yellow or gold. It puts up as a nice light green. The lighter the color of alfalfa, the less nutrients, less protein, less leaves, etc.

We enjoy riding in the swather. It gives us good family time and time to talk to each other.

Swathing.

If you have been near any elementary schools in the past 10 years or so, you know the character of Froggy by Jonathan Landon.

I have a few of the books in my personal library. The girls think he is funny and relatable.

During the last of our homeschool units we were studying about frogs and reading some of the fiction Froggy books.

Soon, we were on a mission to find frog eggs, tadpoles or adult frogs.

We asked all the ranch workers to be on the lookout for frogs.

We finally got one!!

(Matt dumping the frog out of the bucket he was contained in before he came to the house.)

One of the girl ranch hands found him while irrigating back up in Paint Rock Canyon in a pasture called “Rinehart”. It was the one place we haven’t been to look yet.

He was a Northern Leopard frog.

We did a bunch of observations.

Froggy traveled all around with us that day.

We caught two big black ants, a horse fly and a box elder bug for him to eat. I think he was a little too stressed.

He survived a 2 year old, and four 4 year old kids. (Yes…four 4 year olds…at a play date over in the campground.)

Froggy only escaped once and I was the only brave one to catch him. Ruby and Clara liked looking at him. Clara wouldn’t touch or hold him. Ruby would do both.

After a long 12 hour day with us, we released him near the creek that night.

Thanks, Froggy. You were special!

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

This just in….

Ruby won three first place blue ribbons and two second place red ribbons at the local county fair. She had competition in most categories. A blog post with more details coming later!

This kid….

She’s a fun one.

She gets in trouble for stomping her foot.

She wants what you are eating and drinking.

She uses “I think so…” to answer most questions.

She’s super chatty to her parents, but super quiet around anyone else.

She’s always on the move.

She likes horses….from a distance.

She loves her tank tops and boots.

She takes it all in.

She’s sneaky.

She loves watching Matt work.

She’s still so little.

She’s the sassy one.

I love this kid.

She’s getting better.

(she had a little bit of help and pointers with this one)

Not too shabby for a 4 year old.

The longest day of the year has come and gone, but that doesn’t mean our days aren’t still long on the ranch.

Y’all, they are long.

As I’m typing this, its 1:30 in the morning and Wooster has been gone from the house for 30 minutes. He probably won’t be back at the house for another 12 hours. Then, he’ll come in, eat a quick lunch, lie on the cool floor for a few minutes, and then go back out for another seven hour stretch.

There is always something to do. ALWAYS.

(and that, boys and girls, is what it looks like when you have the wrong settings on your camera. Blurry night shots)

We go find him during the day, play around where he’s at, ride around with him, irrigate with him, etc. It’s the only way we would make it.

It’s the reason we are on our “second shift” schedule. We WANT to see him, be around him, be involved with him and him be involved with us.

Sometimes, like the other day, he happens to be coming home when I’ve planned on going back into the canyon. Whoops. There was some miscommunication on his arrival time home.

But he’s a good sport, even when he’s running on two hours of sleep.

We went into one of the canyons behind the house.

Three bucks, a young bull elk, two sisters playing in water, one creek crossing later improved everyone’s mood.

We got to reconnect, talk, enjoy each other’s company, and go 4×4 riding for a bit. After the canyon the night was filled with supper, baths and bedtime routines.

An evening in the canyon is just what everyone needed….and sleep….sleep is always good. J