Tuesday was the first day of school for Ben, Macy and Eleanor. Eleanor had a rough morning before this picture was taken, but after we reassured her that all would be well, she happily went on the school bus.
She didn't even look back as she got on the bus! :) 
Here's the bag for a Head Start student that I entered in this year's "You be the Judge" contest. There are four awards given out. Most votes from Children's Day, most votes from Golden Year's Day, most votes among the Home Arts Building volunteers and most popular vote for the entire time the contest runs (people vote from Sunday-Wednesday.)
I won most popular vote!!!!! Yeah! The only bummer was that last year we received gift cards to Joann's. This year it was to a restaurant that I doubt I'll ever go to! Oh well, I do it just for fun, not the prize. Next year we will be making pillowcases for cancer patients. They'll have an extra contest for most pillowcases made-I'm hoping to win that one!
Since they were only able to ride one ride it was easier for them to focus on all the other neat things available.
This year Trident had a free picture booth. The pictures turned out very nice. These are just pictures of the pictures since our scanner is not hooked up right now. Sorry for the poor quality.
The photo booth was a dream come true for Ben.
I think he would have spent all day in there if he could.
We did manage to go the lost and found to look for his camera. They had a digital camera, but unfortunately it was not his. So it appears to be forever lost. Whoever found it, enjoy it until the battery dies-we have the charger.
I didn't even know he could do this with his eyes.
Macy is my calm and down to earth child.
She's very popular with her classmates. I think it's because she's very confident about who she is.
Every picture was exactly the same. Just like Macy.
I guess she just had to get that out of her system.
Playing on the tractors and lawn mowers is always a very popular activity.
Of course we had to stop to eat a funnel cake on the way to the midway.
Claire loves the merry-go-round.
Kate wants to know where her sling went. She thinks it's the best ride at the fair.
And of course we have to get an ice cream cone before we go home. The kids get a free cone as part of the summer reading program at our public library. It's always our last stop before going home.
This is my favorite entry of hers. It took second place. She and Macy are obsessed with putting a rainbow on every picture they draw. 
Her skirt took second place in the item sewn by someone 9 and younger.
Her tie dye received an honorable mention.
The best part for Eleanor is the money since she doesn't get an allowance yet. The cookies should get something like $6.00 all by themselves. She'll be wanting me to take her to Target so she can spend it all!
But they took third place in snickerdoodles in the adult division. This is because in this division she was just competing against just snickerdoodles, but in the 6-7 year olds it against every kind of cookie and brownie, so the competition is much tougher in a way.
Her shorts (on the right) took first place in garment sewn by someone 9 and under. Ellie's skirt is on the left. She was very happy. It was her first blue ribbon ever.
I just love this picture. It's a wild thing chalk drawing from school this year. It took second.
This is another picture I like. She had actually drawn another one that was even better, but we lost it. This one took fourth.
This one took 6th.
Her tie dye took second. She was very pleased about that!
Macy is still learning what is okay for the fair and what isn't. I don't want to hurt her feelings and tell her things won't win, so I just let her enter what she wants and then let her find out for herself. She has a tendency to grab a piece of paper and paint a quick rainbow and want to enter that. Tomorrow we're going to study what won ribbons so she can get a better idea of what the judges are looking for.
We had the highest hopes for his brownies, but the judges did not like them as well as we did. He received an honorable mention in the kids class (8-9 year olds) and a fifth place in fancy brownies in the adult division. Go figure.
This picture took sixth. It was taken at the National Zoo. On a sad note, these will be the only pictures Ben takes for a while. We had given him Trent's old digital camera with the understanding if he took good care of it, he could give it to his sister Macy in December and we would get him a brand new one (that took movies with sound) for Christmas. Unfortunately he has trouble keeping track of things and managed to lose the camera at the fair. We called lost and found, but they didn't have it and we will check again when we go back tomorrow, but I'm not hopeful. It was a nice little camera, even if it didn't have very many pixels.
His pinewood derby car took second.
This picture that he made in art this year took second. He didn't want me to enter anything for him, but I always do and he's always surprised when they win. The picture is hung up wrong, but oh well.
His bee from a school project this year took second.
His tie dye took fourth. I thought his was much better than Macy's which did better. I'm not exactly sure what they look for in the judging of tie dye.
Ben was very excited by the end of the day, although disappointed his brownies didn't do better. He kept saying, "Is there anything else you entered without telling me?" He's so afraid he won't win so he doesn't even want to try, but I think it's good way to learn how to deal with disappointment. There wasn't really much to be disappointed about this year though and he will get some money, which he's very excited about.
Finally his collection of restaurant business cards took fifth. I think he was hoping for higher, but I think it was fine especially since it was a last minute kind of entry.
On this dress, I did receive a best in show, but only for smocking. Again, I'm not sure why they did this since Smocking doesn't have it's own department anymore. Maybe they're hoping it will have it's own department again in the future, I'm not sure. There weren't very many entries, and there are fewer and fewer every year. This year was a little better than last though. They will make it very clear to me when I pick up the dress that I didn't get best in show in the clothing department. I understand that, I'm fine with that, but they always seem to think I might misunderstand!
Pink Velour Dress-first place
Fourth Place
Third Place
Tie Dye-second place
Doll Clothes-first place
smocked jumper-first place
skirt-first place
jumper dress and infant garment-first place for both!
I'm exhausted, my shoes smell like a barn and we are still on the nit patrol, so I need to go to bed. I will post how all the rest of my family did at the fair tomorrow. Hopefully!
