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Wow has the weather changed.  We are now basking on hot sunny weather with the temperature reaching the high 70′s.  Our days have been lazy and we have really done very little until today.  We had read about a County fair and decided to check it out today.  What a treat, this wasn’t anything like what we get in the big cities, there were some rides, games and of course the food.  We wandered around the carnival side then headed towards the livestock show where the FFA (Future Farmers of America) and 4H members were showing their animals.  We arrived in time to watch the small animals (rabbits and cavy’s) being judged, and were able to talk to some of the participants before and after their category.  The members do not need to live on a farm to belong but the rules are the same for them as for larger livestock and it was refreshing to watch the care and attention that these animals received.  We then walked through the goat, sheep, cattle and swine exhibits, but found out that we had missed the judging on these animals.  However, we did find out that the parents of the youth were going to into the ring and show their children’s animals.  Most of the parents hadn’t shown before or actually knew the animals too well either.  The parents didn’t have any different rules but were warned that they had to be good sports and there would be no hitting, hair pulling or scaring the animal next to them.   What a hoot, they came out in full force with the cattle first, then the goats, sheep and the pigs came out last.  I can’t remember a time where we laughed so hard, none of the animals did what they were supposed to do and the parents were trying to control their animal and impress the judge at the same time.  To say there was chaos in the ring would be an understatement, especially when the swine came in.  The pigs came into the show ring running and squealing and totally unmanageable.  Some would go after another pig and start fighting, some just ran in circles and some rutted in the ground and lay down when they got tired, all the time with the parents trying to get them up, stop them from fighting and trying to get them to slow down enough to show.   The parents had fun and the audience got to see a show they didn’t expect.  We left the LaPaz County Fair, with sore sides from laughing so hard and full tummies from all the carnie food we ate.

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