That's what I said :)

Exhibition day starts super early for the Dairy people in particular. I was lucky and got to stay home with Annika :):) We slept in a teensy bit which was really good after she spent the night awake with a cough :( we were sleeepy people!

We got to the Ex just before the first Tug of War pull happened (but after the weigh in) Im happy about that...lol perfect timing! LOL

Tug Of War team ready for their first pull...

Digging Trenches to get grip

Holly didnt get to pull the first time; they make up their team based on weight, closest to max without going over is best for weight (doesnt always get you the best pullers tho...)

Despite a hard pull and some maneuvers they did lose the first pull...to the team that eventually won.

After Tug of war they had a big of a break before they had to head over to the Agridome for the Scrapbooking Competition. They had loads of time to do it all BUT the competition before Scrapbooking went late and rather than setting up at the side of the room, they waited and waited and started 45 minutes late which put their Dairy coach into a panic because Junior Showmanship was next and OMG There is nothing quite as important as Dairy projects!

The girls had just enough time to finish their Scrapbook pages before they ran off to change their clothes to whites and get into the Dairy Ring. Their calves had gotten ready before Scrapbooking so they got their in plenty of time.

Dairy Junior Showmanship; Both Taylor and Holly show in Junior Showmanship and it was a bit more competative this time. Holly`s calf has had a few shows behind her now and walks like a kitten. She did a good job training it.

Taylor also did a good job training her calf but it did not walk so well this day; and it showed. She was struggling in the ring and that doesnt suit her very well.

While Holly`s calf put on a good show and she did a nice job showing it off :) it all worked for her.

And she was pulled in third place behind two older boys.

Taylor had a rough time and the first time she was actually placed 12th! She gets flustered when things are not going well and has to learn to take it in stride. But she did keep on showing, the calf settled down and behaved better, and the judge moved her up to 6th place which I thought was a much better place for her; I saw some pretty crappy showmanship between 6th and 12th LOLOLOL She was lucky the judge recognised her perseverance and moved her.

The final placings has Holly in third....doesnt she look TINY! OMG!

And Taylor brought it up to 6 very well. Im sure although she planned to do better, she was relieved to be where she ended up! And she did understand why.

Holly was pretty tickled to be third in showmanship and do not think it was any small part that she had beat Taylor who is a realllllly good showperson. She knows what she did; and she knows that if she had been one more placing up, she would have gone to Pro Show for showmanship. :):)

There was a lunch break and another tug of war; this time Holly got to pull and there was a win for the Clifton team :):)

Calf Conformation Classes were next; Holly`s Calf Royal is a Junior Calf (Born after March) and she showed it first.

She looks really good with her peers and was called into line up first! :) Not unexpected tho; She`s a great calf!

Holly worked really hard to make sure Royal looked her best!

And Royal stayed in First place! That means for Junior Calf Holly will be taking Royal to the Provincial 4H show in October!

Taylor shows a Senior calf...Sparta was born in September of last year. She was looking particularly good this day...

She was called into lineup second behind Alexander`s Calf and the judge looked at them very closely.

And he called her back out to walk in first place! :) She was surprised!

Taylor`s calf remained in first place (it was close tho) and She will be taking her senior calf to Pro Show as well!

Taylor and Holly both got to go back into the ring for Champion Calf :) All of the firsts and seconds go in. Both calves were pulled out of line for the Champion calves...

And Holly`s Calf was picked for Honourable Mention :):):) This made her happy :)

Although hers was not picked, Taylor`s calf was called out so it was also considered to be a good calf by the judge that day :)

A great Dairy day for the kids! :)

One more Tug of War before the day ended; Holly Pulled (and Taylor did not).

The pull remained in almost a tie for a very long time with neither team gaining much advantage. It went the full 5 minutes and then into over time.

Then they made a serious mistake when the announcer said `time is up and now overtime`and they stopped pulling.....apparently there was an issue with their Anchor choking on the harness or something but either way....because too many of them dropped the rope and could not really pick it up again, they lost their ground and quickly were defeated. With some experience they are going to be a very good team!

Annika did not have a great day; after coughing all night she proceeded to sleep every time we stopped moving, in the stands, in a stall made vacant by showing sheep;) She was not feeling well at all! She slept half the day and woke up later for a bit of lunch with Nanny and Grampy before she fell back asleep. She was better that night.

4H Parade (awards) were at the end of the day and our club looked festive in their orange and black Clifton shirts.

The awards from our point of view.

It was a super long day with a lot of exhausted children by the end . As much fun as we had, I was not sorry when it was time to go home. And we slept better that night (despite Annika`s continued coughing!)

4H Day at the Ex was just this past week. It has been a super busy week, and more if you count all those days of barn cleanup, working on the new cement floor, endless meetings, decorating and moving animals, and it's no wonder I don't know what my husband looks like anymore.

Oh there he is. 4H Tug of War.

So we helped decorate on Sunday after my long long run and I was bagged and didnt help much lol Scott was running around building stuff and making sure things were where they were supposed to be :)

The displaylooked great when they were done decorating it with the Trend theme :)

Holly hard at work ;)

I guess Taylor is done!

Making those doors hard to open!

My cutie

After the deocrating and cleaning was done we went over to check on the Lifeskills area if there was some way to help; and to check out results of the judging which went on that day. some NICE results! Holly's Explosion Album won Reserve and is going off to the Provincial 4H Show Next month!