Kidaddle to the Royal Canberra Show

Ah, The Show.

It took some prior preparation.

Wallets had to be located. Money was handed out. The lecture was given about how the money was finite and once it was gone, it was gone. Separate advice was provided that each child could have one - repeat one - showbag, in addition to the money provided for rides. Another lecture was delivered about how unfortunate the meltdown in the Showbag Pavilion had been last year and if the performance was repeated, there'd be no showbag at all. Final lecture reminded us all that everyone had their interests. If Mum wanted to drag everyone through the Craft Pavilion, and Libby wanted to sit and watch the hacks for an hour, well then that was something that had to be borne with stoicism.

And with that we were off. Despite great intentions about "an early start", we failed to arrive before 1030 on the Saturday and paid the usual price of the furthest car space from anything and the hottest part of the day.

We also failed, for the second year running, to be at the Racing Pigs at the appropriate time.

Negatives aside - we enjoyed the Farmyard Nursery, Sideshow Alley (despite some fear in the fairly benign Seaworld), the Superslide, and a calm and relatively quick decision to go with the Mario and Hello Kitty! showbags. Best of all was the Panning for Treasures - $7 saw each child allocated a pan and a flower pot full of dirt, which disintegrated slowly in the paddling pool as they swirled their pans to reveal a fantastic array of treasures: a Chinese coin, a 1951 penny, a bracelet, polished stones and some gold flakes ...

It may be hot and dusty and crowded and testing, but it is a tradition of sorts and the closest we get in Canberra to a country fair (not counting the Hall Markets). It's just one of those things that has to be done.