Kansas State Fair 2011

It was a wild ride, baby!! Filled with cute bunnies, exciting results, aching backs, funky food, exhausted parents, screams of terror, and empty pockets.

Jacob entered his gun rack-red, Snickerdoodle cookies-red, picture of an old antique truck from out in the pasture-blue and he entered 5 Havana rabbits, which ALL received purples. He was awarded Best of Breed with his just-turned Sr Buck, Rufus, and Best Opposite with his Sr doe, Keisha. He got a wonderful mention in the Best In Show judging when the judge said that Jacob's rabbit will be seeing great things in the near future. =)

Tristen took the "famous" Apple Bundt Cake--blue and took 2 Dutch rabbits. He was to take 3 but his little buck decided to molt.  Tristen and that buck are pretty good buddies and he wasn't too excited with the thought of him being gone for 3 days, so the decision to leave him home wasn't really a hard one. His little black doe was awarded Best Opposite Sex of Variety. Which is 2nd. The best black (Best of Variety) was a buck, so they chose his doe to be BOSV.  His little blue doe he took was awarded a blue ribbon.

Here are some pictures from our great day!

This is Stormy, Tristen's little blue doe.  She's in the judging coop, but she kept staring at Tristen like she wanted him to come and get her out. He felt really guilty.  It was really sweet when he arrived and went to see his rabbits. They both got so excited to see him they were doing little binkies around in their cages and begging at the doors. People who claim animals have no feelings are insane.

And this is my handsome hubby WORKING at the State Fair. He got asked to work behind the tables for "just a little bit" assisting the judge. He loved it so much he ended up doing it for the entire show and I'm pretty sure he will doing it again at other shows.  But it's safe to say he probably won't be wearing a BLACK hoodie when he does.  Bunny hair really likes black it seems.
Jacob also worked. He was a runner-- bringing rabbits up to the table and then taking them back to their coops after they were judged.  It's probably safe to say he will be doing it again next year. He loved it.

Tristen didn't work, but claims he wants to next year. One of the best things about rabbit shows is rabbit FRIENDS and he was with his "pack" for most of the day.

After the show we...er...they...rode a few rides. It would seem Jacob has inherited his mother's stomach. He only rode just a handful before he declared he had had enough.

Tristen conquered his fear of "The Zipper" after a bad ride year before last with his mom. I'm sure my screams of absolute terror and my vocal fear about the cage door coming open really didn't help things. He braved it again with his brother and declared "it really wasn't that bad after all."  Whatever you say, T-Bone!

 Tristen even got his dad to get in on the action, while Jacob and I, and our poor,weak, bellies watched.

 I had can't post about the fair and not mention THIS ride. They strap these people, with their arms behind their head, in this circle shaped device of torture and SLING SHOT them into the air, while the seat bounces and spins from the bungee like cords.

 Looks like fun, eh?? Ack!!

We love the fair!

Next up: FOOD from the State Fair!! It deserves a post ALL of its own!

Let's SHOW some BUNS!

 This weekend was the show we had been looking forward to for months. It's one of our favorite shows at Wichita. It's a double show, one put on by the Sunflower club, the other put on for the KSRBA Scholarship fund.  And there are specialty shows the night before, so you can potentially show 3 times.

I guess I should probably mention I woke up Friday, the day we left, with a scratchy throat. Just annoying. Nothing bad.  A while later it was a full blown sore throat. By noon, as I was stumbling through the hunting section at Wal-mart with Jacob and I was having to pump myself up to even swallow my spit, I realized I was very sick. Like "I want my Mommy" sick.  So I got Jacob out to the car, drove to the motel, checked in, crashed in bed, and called my momma, who promptly took control and made things better by calling my Dr and sending a bag full of meds up with Danny just as he was packing up to head up our way. Sometimes only a mom will do.
BLAH. I was so annoyed that I was SICK on our big weekend get away.

Anyway, Friday evening Jacob showed in the Prairie Winds Havana Specialty show where he got Best Black with his Jr buck, Rufus.  It was nice for him to hear lots of good comments about his Jr's--they just needed to grow up a bit, but I think he's defiantly on the right track.

Saturday at the Sunflower show, we anxiously waited for ALL the Havana's to be judged. Havana numbers have really grown.  It felt like there was 1000 of them, and I lost track of what belonged to who and what and where Jacob's were. In the end, while we were holding our breath,  Jacob's Jr doe, Pink, was awarded the Best of Breed prize, with the Best Opposite going to his friend Madelynn. Pink also got looked at twice and long and hard during the selection for Best In Show at the end of the day, but no such luck this time!

Jacob, BOB with Pink,  Madelynn, BOS with her blue buck, with Judge Eric Mixdorf from Iowa.

Later in the scholarship show, Jacob's friend Tyler took the Best of Breed with a broken, and Jacob's Jr chocolate doe got Best Opposite.

Jacob, BOS with a jr chocolate, Tyler, BOB with his broken buck, with Judge Vic Vogts.

Jacob's haul, minus a really cool BOB ribbon that was buried in his moms purse. Jacob graciously shared ONE of the boxes of candy with his family. The other boxes are hidden and probably under lock and key.

I was thrilled to witness a wonderful camaraderie with the youth Havna breeders. Jacob, Tyler, and Madelynn were never far from each other, going over each others rabbits, asking questions, giving advice, asking advice. Jacob had hauled a few rabbits to the show for Tyler to look at to buy, and he ended up buying 2.  Later, Jacob and Madelynn traded stock, because each of them had something the other wanted and needed for their programs. I love it that they are turning to EACH OTHER and not just the adult breeders, for support.

You can also tell exactly when and where the Havana breeders are at a show..youth AND adults. They cheer VERY LOUDLY and give candy for the rabbits first off the table. (last place)  It's just another way to have fun and show support. =)

(I have news on Tristen, but I think he deserves a post all of his own, so stay tuned!)

State Fair Results

It was a great year at the State Fair.  And crazy.  And exhausting.

 T took his Florida White, Runny Babbit. Runny is an old guy being 4 years old now, but that didn't stop him. He came home with a nice Best of Breed ribbon from the open show and a blue ribbon from the 4-H show.

J has been working on his meat pen for about 4 months now. It was the first time he's ever done it, and learned a lot from it.  He didn't qualify it for the 4-H show, but got Grand Champion Meat Pen in the open show! (A meat pen is 3 rabbits who are to look exactly alike or as close as possible in body type and be pretty much the same weight.  I think J's were all within 2 oz of each other.  It sounds easy, but it's a challenge.)

 J took his Sr Buck Californian, Truman and came home with a Best Opposite Sex in the open and a blue ribbon from the 4-H show.  Truman does well on the table. He's J's showmanship bunny so he usually goes to all his shows, but he also gave J some NICE looking babies so he can just sit back and relax now. (Babies above in the meat pen are his boys and J's already been practicing with one for showmanship!)  Truman was J's first HOME BORN winner so he's got a special place in our hearts.  He's kinda of spoiled. ;-)

 For Havanas, J took his Black Havana Doe, PR8.  She came home with a Best of Breed from the open show as well as a Best Opposite Sex and a Best of Variety from the 4-H show.

 He also took his Black Havana Buck, Charlie.  He got  a Best Opposite Sex for the open and a Best Opposite Sex Variety for the 4-H show.  Charlie was J's Best In Show winner from the Dodge City show, and just might have done better had he waited to molt. He was in horrible coat condition.  Most of the rabbits there were blowing their coats in some shape or form.  People with allergies were really suffering in the bunny barn!!

 J also participated in the showmanship contest and got a blue and also the judging contest and got a purple. He was really excited about that one as its his favorite and he's really improving.  They take 4 breeds of rabbits with 4 rabbits in each group. They have numbers in the ears and they have to judge and place each group.

The boys also took some other projects.  T took his Strawberry Coffee Cake and got a white.  J took Mint Chocolate Cookies and got a red, the boat harbor picture got a red, and he received a purple on his chess board.
I'll need a year to recover from this years State Fair....and I'm not even sure that will be enough time!