Pig Scramble

As most of you know, the kids and I spent three entire, long days at our local country fair while Dominic was away on his Scotland trip.  Saturday was Farmer's Day where there were all kinds of activities to participate in such as team penning, wild cow milking, calf scramble, boot scramble, egg toss, etc.  Bryce was able to participate in the pig scramble and the boot scramble. 

The pig scramble is where little piggies are brought into the arena and let loose and all the kids try their hardest to catch one of them, either by the leg or the entire body.  It is hysterical to watch this event.

Anticipation before the piggies are let out....

Some of the pigs are let out....

And, they're off and running and very determined.....

Bryce is trying hard to catch up to this piggy....

Cousin, Cam is after one....

Well, in the end Bryce did not catch a pig but his cousin Cameron did.  The prize was a $5 bill and a ribbon.

After the Farmer's Day activities we walked back to the motor home (camp) and had some snacks....

Cam's dad, Jim, slicing up some sausage....

Kettle chips and french onion dip.....Oh SO GOOD!

Low fat cream cheese on whole grain crackers topped with Tastefully Simple's Pomegranate Chipotle Sauce (which has a kick to it)....my favorite!  Always good to finish off a long day with some tasty food and drink :)

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The Scotland Adventure ~ Go Team!

Dominic just returned from a quick 5 day trip to Scotland late last night, where the Petaluma FFA Dairy Judging Team he coaches just finished competing in the Dairy Evaluation Competition at the Royal Highland Show.

The team of four consists of, Sam Cheda, Rocco Cunningham, Mandy Brazil and Kelli Carstensen.  Dominic has coached this team all throughout their high school careers.  Last year the team won the California State FFA Championship for Dairy Evaluation at Cal Poly and then moved on to compete nationally in Indianapolis where they came in second.  As a result of their national results, they were invited to compete at the Royal Highland Show in Scotland.

This is a HUGE accomplishment!  No other Petaluma FFA team has ever made it this far in competition.   The entire community is extremely proud of them.  And I'm very proud of Dominic for volunteering his time to coach these kids. 

Here they are in front of the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh.

They were able to take in some sites before the competition. 

The Caledonian, a famous hotel in Edinburgh.  Such beautiful architecture.

When they arrived in Scotland, since it was 8 a.m., they dove right in to touring and their first tour stop was the National Museum of Rural Life located just outside of Glasgow.

The museum displays exhibits which gives one an idea of how farming has developed over the years in Scotland.

A short visit was made to the Scottish Agriculture College, Ayr Campus where they were shown the dairy facilities.  The grass is so green most of the year, the dairy cattle are able to graze on pasture well into September.  The winter is very wet and the cows are kept in free stall barns, just as they are here at home.

The cows are fed beet pulp, distillers dried grains and cereal grains (such as wheat), along with silage.

More sites to see.

Scott Monument.

Edinburgh Castle.

The Palace of Holyroodhouse is the official residence of Her Majesty the Queen in Scotland.

The next few photos are random landscape shots taken while touring. 

Just Beautiful!

Stopping for dinner at a quaint little outdoor cafe.  Dominic ordered lasagna.

Pictured from left: Jody (Mandy's Mom), Kelli, Kim Arntz (Petaluma High School Ag Advisor), Dominic, Mandy, Sam & Rocco. Thanks Lynn (Rocco's Mom) for snapping the photo!

The next day, Dominic and the Team toured the Royal Highland fairgrounds.

This breed of cow (bull in this case) is called the Highland Cow.

Umm...the Scottish know how to pack a show box.....(the drinking age is 18)

In the afternoons at the fairgrounds they have what is called "The Parade of Champions." 

Here the champion horses and ponies are paraded beginning with the Draft horses and finishing with the little Shetlands.  How cute are they?!

One of the champion bulls.

A Highland Cow.

The parade of Champion Cows.

Competition Day arrives.  Sam, Mandy, Kelli and Rocco are ready to begin. Dressed in their official dress, a white lab coat (this is the way of the Scottish).

Competition begins.  Sam taking his notes.

Total concentration from Rocco.

Mandy taking her notes.

Kellie, sizing everything up.

The team of four was broken down to two teams of two.  They judged against the other two top U.S. FFA teams, the top U.S. 4-H teams from the national show in Madison, Wisconsin and the top three U.S. Jr. College teams as well. 

The U.S. teams do not compete against the Scottish teams for the fact that the Scottish teams also test on sheep, beef and take a written test on Scotland agriculture laws. But word has it, comparing the Dairy Evaluation portion scores of the Scottish teams to our team, U.S. would retain the top scores.

The Results:

U.S. Petaluma Team #1 ~ Mandy & Kelli came in 1st Place!!!

U.S. Petaluma Team #2 ~ Rocco & Sam came in 2nd Place!!!

In addition, Rocco was the 1st Place High Individual overall!  Mandy was 2nd Place High Individual and Kelli was 3rd High Individual! 

Way To Go Team!!!  An experience they will remember for a lifetime!

Here they are receiving their awards.

Dominic was in Scotland for the competition portion only.  The rest of the team and their families will continue on, touring parts of Europe for the next week and a half. 

Happy Monday!

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Tomales Bay - My favorite beach area!

The other day we attended such a fun birthday party for our little friend, Eva's 2 year birthday.

The party was held at the family's beach house in Tomales Bay State Park that has been in their family for years. 

This is a photo of Tomales Bay, just as I was cresting the hill before the drive down to the beach.  Thankfully I was following Eva's Dad, John out to the beach house because I don't think I would have found it on my own.  We drove down a dirt road, through the dairy ranch (that is leased by one of their cousins) and then took a right at another dirt road, through a gate and down a few miles to the beach.

There are many beaches that are open to the public on Tomales Bay.  But it sure is nice when we have one all to ourselves!  The fog had already moved in from the Pacific Ocean over the hill.  One of the things I LOVE about Tomales Bay, is that it's protected from the wind.  It was foggy but it didn't feel cold.

I love this rock formation that sits at the base of the adjacent hill and was fortunate enough to snap a photo of it before the tide rolled in.

Our friends, the Taylors, were telling me that at one time this formation used sit atop of the adjacent hill many years ago and that they have an old painting of it when it was in it's original location.  How cool is that?!

I can't wait to check out that painting the next time I'm at their house.

Here's the beach house with a great back deck looking out on the bay.  This beach has a TON of clam and mussel shells for the kids to collect.  They had SO much fun.

The other thing I LOVE about the beaches on Tomales Bay is how shallow the water is with no waves to contend with. 

Bryce and Paige each experienced their very first Kayak rides.  Bryce was chomping at the bit to have his turn.

He was so happy Camilla gave him the next ride.

Paige was loving it also.

Mr. Gopher made an appearance at the party as well.  Didn't know gophers lived at the beach!

No B-day party is complete without cupcakes.  YUM! 

Here is a map of the area.  The circled area is where we were on this particular day.  On any given 100 degree day, we always head out to one of the beaches on Tomales Bay.  We only live 25 minutes from this beach area and the temperature change is normally 20 degrees cooler at the beach during the hot inland days.  It's great to find some natural air conditioning so close by.

Happy Sunday!

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