Showtime, 2011

I have made the most of having a school teaching husband and worked a bit extra this week - partly because my boss was on leave so I needed to cover her and partly to show that I very much appreciate the flexibility my boss allows me during term time and that I'm ready and willing to return that when I can during the holidays. So instead of two and half days I worked four full days. Can we just say, EX.HAUST.ED! Seriously how do other mums manage it? I literally only had to get myself sorted and go to work each day - Hubby was at home with the kids and I came home to dinner cooked and the house tidied every night and I was still in bed by 8.30 or 9 every single night.

But.... today was my one and only day off so we hit the Perth Royal Show and had us some fun. The kids had some birthday money saved for spending and had earned some extra money doing chores with their Dad this week. He's kind of a slave driver and they well and truly earned the cash!

We got there nice and early and avoided the crowds for the morning, though by about midday there were LOTS of people around. We hit all the free exhibits, samples and goodies to be collected. We patted baby animals, walked and walked and walked and spend much time considering showbag purchases. We planned to stick with the tried and true tradition of one ride, one game and one showbag which has worked well in the past but because the kids had their own cash we did allow them a bit of leeway. I also followed my annual tradition of buying a new hat at whichever show we attend and now have a huge shady hat for summer.

Offspring #1 had grand plans for the ride he wanted to go on, and would actually be tall enough for this year. But in the end he and his Dad hit the Dodgem Cars and had a blast.

Offspring #2 decided horses were the order of the day and ended up with a pony ride as well as a ride on the horse in the carousel.

We also: rode the Ferris Wheel and loved every minute of it, watched the sheep dog working the sheep, had a go at some circus tricks, collected lots of stickers and colouring pages, watched the prize-winning cattle being paraded around the show grounds, patted a two week old piglet (soooo cute!!), put our sunscreen on every couple of hours and still got a little bit of colour, ate hot donuts and hotdogs and hot chips (hmmm, is anyone else seeing a theme emerging here?) and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. I think 'doing' the show every second year is just about the perfect fit - it makes it super special for the kids and gives the adults in the house plenty of time to forget how exhausting a day at the show is!