At the Perth Royal Show, 2011

Luke — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 03:07:03 +0000

The Perth Royal Show is held every year and is similar to the state fairs that take place across the US. It’s generally focused on agriculture and regional Australia (with prizes awarded for the best livestock), but also includes a lot of rides, junk food and … showbags.

Showbags are generally themed and have 5-15 different toys, gadgets and other bits of plastic junk relating to that theme. We like to think we’re doing our very important part to support the Chinese economy. The kids spend a lot of time agonising over which bag to get; comparing the contents, considering the utility and evaluting the coolness factor. They’re fully aware, however, that the chocolate and candy bags are totally off limits.

We had another reason for visiting the show this year: LR had two of her photographs accepted into the photographic exhibition. It was a big accomplishment; only the best photos make it in, and she was competing with high school kids, too!

This year, we visited two times: once during the day, and a follow-up visit in the evening to see the excellent fireworks with Grammy, Poppa and the Melbourne cousins, PA and MS.

Well, we're here guys. What should we do first?

Mom and LR meet the world's friendliest goat.

RJ and LR spend some quiet time with some recently hatched chicks.

RJ really liked the chicks. Someone needs to genetically engineer chickens that never grow up.

LR found Poppa's favorite pig, just laying around in a stall. No performing medical research on this one, Poppa!

The first ride? Teacups, of course! This ride operator made sure the kids were spun EXTRA fast.

The kids rode on the bouncing kangaroos. The ride operator refused to speed it up any further, despite RJ's many protests that they weren't bouncing high or fast enough.

While the kids waited in line, Mom wandered off to get some donuts. The shouty man insisted they were American donuts, but we honestly couldn't tell the difference. They looked pretty tasty.

But to really enjoy them, you first must make sure the kids are locked away behind bars.

RJ gets his donut!

LR gets her donut!

Time for a quick break to watch the show jumping. Mom teaches us all the inside tricks that we didn't know about.

LR and RJ carefully make their way into the boy scouts encampment.

RJ and LR explored the different mazes in the boy scouts area. Apparently, Bear Grylls was EVERYWHERE.

We stopped by the best exhibit of the show, the photography competition, where LR had two entries accepted into the show!

At the end of the day, RJ got his precious, precious glow bag, complete with 200 ways to light up the night.

We went home before the fireworks started, but it was okay. We knew we were coming back the next day with Grammy, Poppa and the cousins!

Everyone enjoyed a super "healthy" dinner of showgrounds burgers, chips and pizza.

We had to arrive a bit early to get good seats, which meant there was time for some angry birds to fight some pigs.

MS huddles in with Grammy to try to keep warm.

Poppa decides the LED augmented green shutter shades are necessary to really enjoy the fireworks.

RJ starts assembling some of the essentials from the Glow Bag.

With all the waiting, Dad and the girls headed off to the ferris wheel. We were hoping to get back to the grandstands before the fireworks started…

The ferris wheel is huge, but luckily the line is not too long.

PA, LR and MS cheer as the ferris wheel starts up!

All of a sudden, the ferris wheel shook with a series of loud bangs and the sky lit up with bursts of colour. We got to watch half of the fireworks show from the top of the ferris wheel and it turned out to be terrific!

MS and PA huddle together in the ferris wheel as the fireworks burst in the sky above them.

LR, PA and MS ran out of the ferris wheel to watch the last half of the show outside.

Eventually everything started going off at the same time!

The cousins had a great time... and they left a trail of mayhem and destruction behind them...

A day at the Perth Royal Show

Luke — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 03:05:47 +0000

Every year, we head off to the Perth Royal Show to see the animals, ride some rides, watch some wood chopping, cheer on the sheep dogs, and of course, pick up a couple of showbags. If you haven’t been, it’s just like a state fair in the US, but perhaps a little smaller with fewer crazy rides. It’s great fun, and we haven’t missed it yet.

RJ challenged one of the Australian Defense Force underwater operations specialists to a game of tic-tac-toe.

LR got her hands on some very cute chicks.

"Whoah. This came from one really big chicken."

LR cuddled this guinea pig for nearly half an hour. RJ discovered that it loved carrots.

RJ's uneaten sandwich had the undivided attention of this Australian Shepherd.

Mum and LR queue up to buy some tickets for the rides.

LR makes some waves in the bumper boats.

"Hey! Look out! You're going to *BUMP* ... crash into me!"

RJ and LR take a wild ride on the kids' roller coaster.

RJ shows off his fantastic new hat from his Backyardigans Showbag.

LR gets to work right away with her new paper and pens from her showbag!

LR jumps on Mum's back for a fast getaway! That's all until next year's show!

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At the Perth Royal Show, 2011

A day at the Perth Royal Show