We were staying at the Emerald Show Grounds and lucky for us, well the kids anyway, the show was coming!! Yeah another show - gee I really hope we don't follow the shows all around Australia. The kids were really excited about the show and it was really interesting seeing all the animals and rides arrive and start to set up.
One afternnoon Chris and the kids went for a walk around to check out the bulls that had arrived earlier today. Wow - I never realised how much a good bull would set you back - some of these at the show were worth between $80,000 to $100,000 each!! No wonder the owners took such good care of them and even slept near them - if I had an animal worth that much I wouldn't let it out of my sight either!! On one of their daily afternoon walks, the kids all came running back excited and all trying to talk to me a
t once. After calming them down a bit, they managed to tell me that they saw some shetland ponies, one of which had a baby only three days earlier. They had spoken to the owner, who let them pat the baby, and who had told them the baby's name was "Extra". They named her that because when they left home to follow the shows they didn't even know the mum was pregnant and now they have an "extra" one to fit in the horse float.The kids also saw their very first clydesdale horse at the show - 
you just don't realise how much bigger they are until you see them beside a normal horse. The kids are getting really good at scouting out information around the camp site. Today they went out for a walk and came back to tell us that one of the clydesdale horses had been spooked during the night and tried to jump out of the stable but got her leg stuck between two steel railings. Luckily she didn't break her leg but it was scratched up pretty bad so they took her home. We walked down later in the afternoon to look at the stable and it was amazing how badly the steel was bent.
The show finally started - which was just in time because the kids were driving us crazy with asking how many more days to go. It was great being able to walk over to the show and come back for lunch and head over again after lunch. We stopped to watch the pig racing which Lexie got to name one of the pigs. She called it "Skinny Pig Miss Princess" - who knows how they come up with it - some of the other names from the other kids were just as bad. Anyway, her pig didn't win, but it was exciting cheering for her.
Jack and Chris went on the dodgem cars but Logan decided he wanted a go on the quad bikes - so the two boys had a ride on the bikes. They were both a little nervous to start with, but once they got going the started to relax. Logan was more relaxed than Jack and was smiling and going faster - but Jack was concentrating hard and going slower. In that sense, Logan is more like Chris - daring, and Jack is more like me - cautious. They both thoroughly enjoyed it!!As we were walking back to the van, the motorcross riders had just started, so we stopped to watch them. It made me feel really old because I was now a parent whose kids would climb up the fence and hold out their hands for a high five every time the riders went past. When they finished the motorcross, one of the riders threw their goggles over the fence just near us. Chris, with his quick thinking, took off to get the goggles even before I had a chance to move. The goggles landed at the feet of Bree (yes ..... from Big Brother) who pick them up - and then looked up to see Chris charging at her - she quickly told him he could have them. The boys were really excited - although I wouldn't let them wear them as they were all wet and sweaty.
Wednesday 3 June 2009
Headed back over the the show again today - the boys had another ride on the quad bikes and then we talked them all into having a ride on the rollercoaster. Jack and Lexie were keen but Logan was a bit unsure - however we managed to talk him into it. You couldn't wipe the smile off their faces - they laughed and laughed the whole ride. They all agreed that it was "awesome"!!
For more photos - check them out here http://picasaweb.google.com/travellingoakeys/EmeraldShow?feat=directlink
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