It's Showtime!!

Our town has just had its yearly "Show" ... you know, the event where livestock are paraded around, cakes are awarded ribbons and everyone spends too much money in Sideshow Alley and on showbags. Oh, and nearly everyone goes home with the added bonus of having caught every nasty virus that happens to be doing the rounds right now.

We don't normally go to the show. The rides are expensive and so is the food. With two adults and three kids, it's harder every year to justify the cost.

We decided to go this time though, just because our younger two kids were so keen - and our littlest Caveman hadn't been since he was a baby.

Unfortunately, he was a little under the weather (even before he ran into the collection of viruses already floating around at the show), so we knew it wouldn't be a long visit. We got there mid-afternoon and stayed about four hours. There were a couple of rides each and I even splashed out on a very expensive ice cream cone for my little guy.  His favourite part was riding the Dodgems (or "Dodging Cars", as he called them). I wished we'd got home sooner, before the cool night air had set in, but there really is nothing like the atmosphere of the show at night.

For the older kids, at this age the show is a real social event. Everywhere we turned we saw their friends and classmates. Our Cavegirl, aged 11, was thrilled to be allowed to separate from us and walk around the show with a friend for the first time ever. I'm sure her being away from us was much easier on her than it was on me - I kept my eyes peeled for her at every opportunity! As hard as it is to let them become more independent though, it's also great to see them having a good time with their own friends.

We left the show and bought dinner on the way home - yes, sadly, even takeaway is cheaper than show food.  We were home before the fireworks, which pleased the dog immensely since she really doesn't like them! We can see them from our street though, so that was a great way to end the night ... accompanied by the sound of our poor old girl barking away frantically in the back yard.

Expensive it might be, but no doubt we'll do it again in the future. It adds to the memories for the kids (and, despite our whining, we "big kids" really do enjoy it too!).