Today was a busy day - we're off on another road trip out to Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons tomorrow, so there is much preparation to be done. Add to the mix all the requirements for taking a baby along with us, and I have a funny feeling we'll need a Tardis to hold everything. Just as well we have a bigger car than our Jeep from the seven-state road trip last year ;-)

Today was also the opening day for the Evergreen State Fair - apparently Washington doesn't just have one 'state fair', but this one at least has 'state fair' in the name!! When I dropped off my entry last week, I was asked to come along today and sit at a demonstration table for a few hours - Andy was able to get some time off work, so we piled into the Mustang with Isobel and headed off.

Once at the fairgrounds, we found the crafts building - I'd been chatting with knittycent on Ravelry and quickly found her two entries, both with ribbons! Andy, however, was the first one to spot my afghan. His words? "Umm, Ali ... your afghan has a few ribbons on it!!"

Oh. My. Goodness.

Holy Cow.

Not only had I won a first place ribbon, there were two huge rosettes as well - Best in Show, and Grand Champion!! I felt like I'd won at the Royal Melbourne Show at home. Andy managed to eke out enough battery life from our little camera to take a quick photo. There were so many other beautiful crocheted pieces on display, I was so very proud to have been judged deserving of a win in such a high standard of competition. I then had to calm down a little and find the demonstration table I'd volunteered to work at for a few hours.

There was another lovely lady there already, working on a huge thread tablecloth that received lots of compliments from passers by. I laid out one of the strips for the afghan I'd started earlier in the week, and of course every school group of little kiddies that came past asked if I was making a scarf . Sigh.

Andy came past with Isobel a couple of times - once with a yummy Italian soda to keep me going, but Isobel was fed up by the second time and wanted out. I'd managed about 2 1/2 hrs of my four hour window, but another lady had shown up by then (hi Skosha!) and I felt reasonably comfortable that I wasn't abandoning my post ... not completely, anyway!

We wandered round for a little while longer - Isobel loved looking at the animals, and some of the 4H kids had some chickens out for petting ... they must have been very tame, Isobel screeched in delight and managed to touch the birds without grabbing handfuls of feathers. We headed home so I could call the mechanic and find out when the car would be ready - they'd managed to get most of the 'issues' fixed, but they charge like wounded bulls. Cars are very cheap to purchase here, because apparently the dealers get their money back in servicing charges. No wonder we see so many late-model cars broken down on the sides of freeways ... I guess a lot of people can't afford to keep them serviced regularly!!

The second big achievement for today? Isobel is officially walking. She'd taken a couple of short steps earlier this week, but today was the first day she managed to toddle about four feet along the carpet from Mummy to Daddy. We decided that was enough for her to 'qualify', so today will be duly marked in the baby book as Baby's First Steps.

Now we're really in trouble .