The Show! Part I

Today was Show Day! And it.was.awesome. Cows! Carnival rides! Baked goods! Everything I ever dreamed a country show might be!

We arrived at the showground a little later than I was planning, but no problem - it's not like we were on a tight schedule of events. After strolling through the sale booths, we arrived at the sheep shearing contest:

Shear! Shear! Shear!

I have no idea who won, because I was too eager to get to the animal nursery and check out the adorable animals, which included two random geese...

Every time I see a goose, I feel compelled to start spelling "T double-E double-R double-R double-I double-F double-I double-CCC."

...a live horse and a dead one...

It's OK children, it's not really dead, it's just sleeping! Stop crying!

...goats, my mortal enemy...

Ugh. The only way I like goat is marinated and served on a wrap.

...and chickens, those harbingers of evil the world over:

Look at them. Strutting around, plotting world domination. You can see it in their beady little eyes.

I took the appearance of the horrid chickens as my cue to leave, and we meandered off to inspect the sheep:

So cute! It makes me want to frolic in a field of buttercups and do pastoral dances.

This was where I showed my maturity by giggling inanely at the size of the sheep's cajones. (But seriously - they go down to his KNEES.)

That done, we decided to mosey around and see the sights - the rides and games...

I love this. It's like a Crayon box exploded.

...the weird Mad Tea Party ripoff...

It's like a designer knockoff...Disneeeland, the Most Cheerful Place on the Continent?

...the cage where Naughty Children go:

Oh for god's sake, STOP CRYING, Junior! They're playing in there - playing! Kids are way too serious these days.

Then it was off to watch the dogs! First, a quick stop at the herding competition:

This is what Korben the Wonder Dog wants to do...he just doesn't know it. But his herding instincts are right on - annoyingly so when you want to walk across the yard and he tries to manouver you into a corner.

I love watching these dogs work. They're just incredible, so quick and alert. But we swiftly moved on to watch Alison the Dog Lover compete with her Dalmatian, Steff:

The little whippersnapper with the second Dalmatian is Alison's daughter, who handled the dog that won the competition. I bet that was a fun ride home.

Then it was time for a lunch break while watching the showjumpers:

Clockwise from top: a Pluto Pup aka corndog; delicious mango and berry sorbet; and I drank about 6,251 of these today.

And with that, I'm going to wrap up this post - it's getting so long that I'm going to cut it in two...stay tuned tomorrow for cows, cats and crafts!