Well, it's sad but true.  The show season is over for the summer.  The good news is that Scott, the wabbits and I had a great time at the last two shows, Midnight Madness and State College, this past weekend.  We had such a good time, in fact, that last night Scott and I met for dinner in Frederick just to continue the celebration.  We weren't ready to be back at the drudgery of work just yet. 

Saturday evening our local rabbit club, Blue Ridge Rabbit and Cavy Club, had its spring show, Midnight Madness, just outside Charles Town, West Virginia, at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds.  A good time was had by all.  Our Flemish Giants showed particularly well.  Guenther won Best of Breed, and Bess Truman won Best Opposite Sex of Breed.  Eleanor Roosevelt and Andrew Jackson each won their respective classes, too.  All the rabbits won ribbons, and for dear Sam, it was his first one.  I was so proud of Sam and of them all! 

After the Best in Show competition, we drove up to Altoona, PA, to spend the night at the Quality Inn there.  We got there at 2:30 am and got up again at 6:00.  The weather again was stunningly beautiful.  The day was off to a good start.

At State College, we were pleased to again see the Brady family, with their 12 Flemish Giants, that we had gotten to know at Nationals.  Ginger Daniels, of Ginger's Giants was there, as was Kim Croak of Kim's Kuddly Kritters, the breeder from whom we bought our first Flemish Giant rabbit, dear Benjamin Bunny.  As Ginger's birthday had been Friday, we brought her a birthday cake with a delightful brown rabbit holding a carrot in his paw, which surprised and delighted her.  The weather was so nice, and the show room was so crowded, we stayed outside under the shade of trees and in the breeze, as did Ginger, her fiance Ivan, her mother and the Brady's.  It was a wonderful time for bonding.

At the first show of State College's double show, Guenther won Best Opposite Sex of Variety, and Eleanor and Andrew Jackson both won their classes.  Sam won his second ribbon.  I was so proud.  He really does enjoy going to the shows, and that's good to see.

At the second show, which we had not originally entered but decided to stay for when we heard Eric Stewart, our District Representative for ARBA, would be judging the Flemish Giants, Guenther, Eleanor and Barack Obunny all won their respective classes.  Barack went on very nearly to win Best Opposite Sex in Variety but was just barely beaten, said Eric, by Ginger's fawn buck, Grissom. 

We were still home by a very decent hour, 10:30, despite stopping for dinner at the EatnPark and really enjoying ourselves there.  The wabbits were, I think, relieved to be back home to their hutches.  By the end of the second show, Guenther, especially, was quite tired and out of sorts.  By the next morning, everyone seemed calm and relaxed and happy to have carrots and romaine for breakfast. 

As a wrap up, the show results from Nationals arrived in the mail last night.  Guenther won 108 sweepstakes points for his second place in a class of 27 sandy senior bucks at Nationals.  Previously, Samantha with her 30 points for third place out of ten sandy junior does at Cortland was our high scorer.  I am so proud of them both.

Enclosed in the results envelope were two commemorative patches for the National show.  Now we just need to get some proper show coats to iron them onto, and we'll be set for the fall round of shows.  Looks like our first two shows will be Labor Day weekend, with Bucks County on Saturday and Mill Hall, along with its Flemish Giant specialty show, on Sunday.