Mental Meanderings

Perth Royal Show 2006

WOOT!!! We had a fantastic day. It started slow but in a way I'm glad. We paced ourselves. I chatted with my mother and dealt with my mail etc. in the morning. Got ourselves all prepared for a day out. Left home about 10AM and walked the hour to the train station. The kids were excited and so was I. The trip to the showgrounds is a long one and after the hours walk they were already impatient but were entertained counting stations on the thirty minutes into the city and then changing trains for the short jaunt to the special events station that opens direct at the entrance to the showgrounds.

Entrance started the fund depletion. $20 adults, $10 for Kaylie and Josh was free but I'd expected that and had it ready. We arrived with the plan to do lunch before we started by Kaylie wanted to do some rides first so we went off and found the Kiddy Amusement Center. Now I don't know the names of all those rides but there were heaps.

Kaylie and Josh are great kids, well behaved, patient, and they work well together, supporting and playing with each other (in situations like this) They had a ball on the rides. Kaylie loved the bouncy castle best and Josh laughed and giggled spinning dizzily in the teacups. All up I worked out that they each enjoyed about 10 rides at $5 each. OUCH!!! $100 in rides.

After the rides it was already early afternoon so it was well past time to get some lunch. We wandered down to the arena with our meal ($25) and sat to watch the dog trials. Sheep rounding dogs are great to watch. They're disciplined, agile, and instinctive. Sometimes I wonder if the sheep know the drill though and are easier to manage because of that but mostly it seems like there is an energy over the field where you can see the lines of dominance the dog molds around the sheep. Wow, who'd have thought rounding could be interesting like that but I just make it sound cool. It is. After that a great game of polo, I love watching horses but the game doesn't really interest me. We finished up our meal and headed off.

By then I had to stop off for some extra cash. *chuckles* It runs out fast. And for some reason the ATM's are all hidden over in the showbags malls. We browsed around and Kaylie spotted some of those blow up rubber 'things'. You know, hammers, giant hands, battons, rods, etc. So we hunted about for a show bag that contained one but wasn't full of other useless crap we didn't want. One of the bags we did want was sold out. But we bought tons of goodies. Cadburys, Red Skins, Candy. Kaylie got a My Little Pony bag which had a backpack and Josh got a Cars back which has some fantastic stuff. I wanted a basketball but they were sold out of them. Instead I got a Glow bag which has some great lights and glowy stuff, including a great pen. About $100 later and we were moving on. lol

Into side show alley. Games, clowns, ducks, grab bags, fishing. So much fun, each a guarenteed prize and we did pretty well. While Kaylie went on a roller coaster too big for Josh I snuck him over to play two more games and he won big. lol A giant plush dog and an even bigger plush emu. He hugged the doggy so tight. Of all the toys they won it was his favorite. Kaylie came off the roller coaster and we did a bouncy castle at that end. They had their time and Josh was having so much fun he got upset when someone had to come in and carry him out to me. lol Tantrum but it didn't last too long.

Then between games we had a chance for the part of the show I could do for just me while having the kids. The coin slots.!!! WOOT!!! Once a year I give myself permission to play a rediculous gambling game dropping 20c coins into tumble machines. I love those games. I changed up for $5 and dropped coins. Probably doubled my money but I play until it's gone. For me it's not the opportunity to make money in those games it's the playing, the chinging noice as the coins drop down the shoots. After I'd dwindled my coins into the machines we wandered onward.

By then it was getting late. The sun was starting to head down and it worked out well that we'd rounded and were heading home. It was well timed overall and we reached home just after dark in time for a quick dinner and then trying to settle the kids to sleep. After the busy day they wanted to stay and play with all their new toys so it took some convincing but it didn't take them long to konk out. They'll sleep well tonight.

Overall it was a great day for us as a family. In fact I think I enjoyed myself more this year then any other year I've taken the children. Without Paul I was in control of the day and I've gained the confidence I lacked in years before. Part of the time I remembered why I don't like crowds. I had to keep reminding myself that I wasn't in a hurry as the pace dropped to crawls sometimes.

One advantage of my lovely home, Perth, is that we're actually a pretty damn fine community. While I kept tight to my bags and purses there didn't seem to be any need to do so. There were others who were less cautious and no one seemed to care about an easy access handbag or something like that. I've not heard any issues of crime. I didn't see any lost children. There were very few tantrums. Kids were mostly well behaved. In such a large gathering of people I was surprised how well everyone managed to work together.

I have to admit there was a downside to my day. I used to be terrified of the rides when I was a child and never went on them. But these days I would love to. Being on my own with the kids however meant that I couldn't go on any of the rides myself. I'm thinking that next year I'll plan for the show twice. I'll plan a day to take the kids and do what we did today. Then another where I've arranged for a baby sitter and I go either by myself, with adult-only friends, or with a date. Then I'd get to enjoy the event for myself, instead of living through the enjoyment of my kids. I mean doing THAT was great too, seeing how much fun they were having made it fun for me. But it would be a whole different show to do the adult instead of the family route.

Still, it was a fantastic and very expensive day. Thankfully it only comes once a year and I budget for it. To me this day out is part of living for my family. We go without food for a day out like this. Oh, one downside, sunburn. I got a little too much of it today and I can feel the burn just tinting my skin. I'll have a cool shower and some after sun lotion later tonight so it'll golden instead of peel, it's not bad. Josh looked a little pink cheeked too but that could be tiredness more than sun. I'll see how he looks in the morning.

So, it's over for the year. Now I'm seriously tight financially and have to work up some funds. lol Still, it was worth it. Now money saves for Christmas which is the next major expense I need to worry about. *shudders at how close that is*