Illinois Beef Expo

Last weekend was a big weekend for us. We took the kids and their calves to Springfield to the 2009 Illinois Beef Expo. It is held at the state fairgrounds, and it was our first time down there. This is a much bigger show than what we've ever showed at so we were all a little bit nervous.... okay, maybe me more than anyone. Brooke took her heifer, Jewels, and Blake took his steer, Cowboy (previously known as JT). Brooke's steer was dehorned that same week so we left him at home to recuperate for a few days by himself. By the way, I don't think he really liked being home alone!

There ended up being about 800 calves there - coming from all over the state of Illinois and ranging in price from $500 (Blake's steer was probably the cheapest there!) all the way well into the 10's of thousands.... like maybe $20,000 for some! Whoa. I can't imagine having something worth that much money, especially a show calf. But some people really get into it. It was like being in an old town village - brick paved streets, lined with old brick buildings full of calves and their showmen. There was constant action and tons and tons of people. We learned a lot and it was a great experience.

Our days started at 6:00 am and ended at 9:00 pm so it was an exhausted weekend for sure. The kids always found time to hit the pool for a few minutes at a time. I don't think they've fully recuperated yet. At least I haven't!

Brooke showed Saturday night. Jewels looked so great. They had her fitted so nicely and of course I thought she looked the best! Brooke had a major meltdown before entering the ring. She cried and cried and cried and cried. She didn't want to show and was refusing to even go into the ring. There were several nice young ladies that were talking to her, trying to convince her that she would be fine. The problem was that Brooke was the first to enter the ring in her class. There were 9 heifers, and hers was the lightest so that meant she had to lead the pack. That posed a big problem for poor Brooke. It would be like leading an animal into a ring the size of a basketball court with 5,000 people watching - that's 10,000 eyes all on you and your animal. Needless to say, I had to walk away and let everyone else calm her down. I definitely make her more nervous. But... she did it! She walked into that show ring and did her best. Jewels definitely felt Brooke's nerves so she wasn't cooperating too well. There were 2 heifers in her class that got away from their handlers so that made Brooke even more nervous. Brooke placed 8th out of 9. I don't have many good pictures, it was very dark in the arena and I couldn't seem to get a good picture to save my soul.

Blake showed Sunday afternoon. Was he nervous???? NO. Not at all. In fact, he was pretty cocky about the whole thing.... until he walked into the ring. He actually did fine. It was funny to hear the crowd as he walked in. I could hear lots of "Ahhh, look at that little guy" and "Oh my he's so little". They were right. He was the youngest one there showing. In fact, I bet Brooke and Blake were the 2 youngest showmen there. There were a couple young boys, but I'm betting they were at least 11. Everyone in Blake's class were in high school. You can show until you're 21. He ended up letting go of Cowboy once he got spooked by the steer beside him. The steer drug his showmen across the ring and once Cowboy pulled on Blake, he just let go! He placed 4th out of 5.

The big highlight of the weekend was Blake getting stuck in a bucket! Zack tried to pick him up and we literally could not get that bucket off of Blake's butt! It was hilarious! I could have cried because of laughing, but I'm glad I didn't - my tears would have frozen!

All in all, we had a lot of fun! And it was a great experience for all of us! I'll post some pictures in a little bit - but it's time do chores! I'll be back.....