It's the most wonderful time of the year! It's the third week of November and that means, AGRIBITION!!! I have always loved Agribition but it's even more fun taking the kids. Roman had a blast last year and has literally been talking about it since then. Every night before bed for months he was telling us how the "horsies popped balloons" (cowboy mounted shooting) and the "guy fell off the horse" (full contact jousting), and how he and Grandpa ate hot dogs. This year will be another adventure because it is Bianca's first Agribition and she'll be old enough to enjoy and react to everything we see. I'm actually pretty excited to see what she thinks of cows because she loves the book
"Are you a cow?" and loves when I make the toy cows moo. Normally I don't go to Agribition on Saturday because it's usually pretty busy, but this year it was the only day there was cowboy mounted shooting. So Saturday it is!
Bring on the fun!!!!
Obviously we had to start our day by checking out the cowboy mounted shooting. Roman was in love all over again, and Bianca really liked watching the horses in the arena. That is until the guns started going off. It isn't overly loud in the arena but I think the sounds itself just startled her. She was fine for the first few shots, neutral for the middle, and angry by the last four shots. Then she'd calm down and start the cycle again. Once Mom & Dad arrived we decided to head off to find some animals!
Roman was pretty intrigued when we came across this first critter, and even more excited when he was asked if he wanted to take a ride on him. Well, he didn't actually move so I guess it was more of a sit. Now you might be asking, "is that a real bull?". The answer; sort of. It was a living breathing bull at one point, but in the current day it is a stuffed head stuck on a metal body, draped in a hide. Cool, freaky, and interesting all at once!
Roman always loves seeing/petting horses, but particularly loves these giant beauties at Agribition each year. Bianca didn't hesitate at all when I lifted her up to pet the horse. Maybe between the three of us we'll finally get a horse. Although, I'm not banking on it.
Conveniently located beside the horses were the dairy cows. This year I decided that Roman was old enough to understand where his food comes from. Roman was pretty surprised to learn that the milk in the fridge came from that giant bag between the cows legs. This is also were the obsession with feeding the animals at Agribition began for this trip. He wasn't quite sure why the cows weren't interested in the straw he was attempting to feed them, but I assure him that there would be more animals that he could feed later on.
But before we could make it to any more animals, Roman was distracted by the vast array of equipment set out and ready for him to explore. I'm pretty sure Roman's butt touched each and every seat in the building. The only let down was that none of them had a horn.
These little guys quickly made up for the lack of horns in the equipment. One of the pluses of getting to the show early is that you get first dibs on all the fun toys! At one of the exhibits they had these farm hoppers on display. At first I thought they were just for show, but after I saw how well used they were I figured they were to keep the kids busy while their parents looked at the steel gates. I didn't take much coaxing to get Roman to give it a shot. He was up and down the isle in a flash. Roman loves doing things with Bianca so luckily there were two cows. Bianca was spurring that cow like a bronc rider and got it bouncing pretty good. John and I had originally thought about getting the kids these for Christmas, but we weren't sure if they would really enjoy them. Looks like we might have to get some of these guys.
Onto the Indigenous and Family pavilion! We arrive just in time to listen to some drumming and watch a round dance and crow hop. I've always loved watching these performances and seeing the beautiful costumes. With all the happenings around the world lately with racial and cultural divides, I've been making more of a conscious effort to expose the kids, particularly Roman, to different people and ways of life. I've been thinking about sharing a list of books that we've been reading on this topic as well. Let me know in the comments if this is a post you'd be interested in!
When I was little, one of my favorite parts of Abribition was going down to the lower level of the Agridome to visit the kids section to touch all the different animals. It's awesome to be able to experience this again with my own kids. Roman is extremely curious and has no fear what so ever, so he jumps in feet (or hands in this case) first. I even pulled up my big girl panties and pet the chicken. It's not that I hate birds, but their jerky random movements freak me out. It's like a mouse running through the house. I'm a firm believer in not passing on my fears or preferences to my kids when it comes to things like this, so I just fake like I'm superhuman even though I want to stay clear. On the chicken note, I would LOVE to have a chicken coop and have fresh eggs, but there is no way I'd be sticking my hand in there to get them.
Poor Roman tried so hard to pet those sheep but there were not moving for the life of them. He was reaching with all his might, head squished between the bars, but still couldn't quite reach them. Luckily this 1,600lb bull was more than happy to oblige Roman. Last year they had a cow in this pen and it was the friendliest cow. Roman fed her and scratched her ears. He tried his darndest to get this bull to eat from his hand but it just wasn't working. He did get to be up close and personal with this gentle giant, and even gave him a nice scratch on the leg. Bianca was pretty neutral about the bull, which surprised me. I thought maybe she wasn't putting two and two together so I mooed at her and pointed to the bull. Lightning bolt moment for Bianca. She squealed with delight and tried to reach into the pen. I think both kids would have happily stood at the fence all day watching this big guy. Maybe I'll have to give up the dream of a horse and settle for a steer or cow. I'm okay with that!
Roman is such an awesome big brother to Bianca. After he had his turn sitting in the saddle, I asked him to hop down so Bianca could have a go. He scooted back in the saddle and patted in front of him, "Bianca can ride up here with me!". Way to melt my heart tiny man.
Roman has been looking forward to having a hot dog with Grandpa since I told him Agribition was coming up. Of course, this hot dog needed to be consumed while watching cowboy mounted shooting, which Bianca was having no part of. So while Roman and Grandpa sat in the Agri-dome (technically the Brandt centre but I'm old school and can never remember the name) Bianca, Grandpa and I sat on the floor of the ticket office with our lunch. Not the best view at the show but it served it's purpose. When Roman and Grandpa found us, Roman was saying something that Dad couldn't understand. Of course, after lunch, Roman thought it was time for dessert. He wanted cotton candy! A request to which Dad responded by buying him an enormous bag of cotton candy. And we question why he's the favorite?
Mom and Dad have very few requests when they come to Agribition with us, but one thing Mom had to have was peanut brittle, caramel popcorn and mini donuts. So after lunch we headed over to the trade show section. It was getting close to nap time for Bianca and I knew if she didn't nap, life was not going to be enjoyable. Putting a 10 month old to sleep in a loud and busy place like this can be tricky to say the least. I found myself a chair in the mini food court and hunkered down with Bianca while Mom and Dad went in search of sweets with Roman, who insisted that he carry his giant bag of cotton candy with him.
The last thing left to see were the animal barns, always a favorite. The only down side is that the barns are currently under construction and we had to go outside to get into the next building; with a sleeping Bianca. I bundled two blankets around her, slipped her toque in her head, and laid her coat on top of her with the hood covering her face. It was a pretty decent day, about +2 Celsius, so I figured we had a good chance of making it. Halfway to the barn and she was still asleep, I couch taste the victory! Thanks to a lovely man who held the door for us, we made it into the barn with Bianca asleep! What I hadn't counted on was the extremely rough dirt floor in the barn. The bumps were too much and she was awake. This could have been a total disaster, but you can't be mad when you wake up to sheep!
Bianca thought these fuzzy little creatures were pretty cool, but Roman ecstatic! Finally an animal that would eat from his hand!! It was like the heavens opened up and the angels began to sing. He went from pen to pen offering snacks to any ewe that would look at him. He did take a short pause to ask why the sheep had pooped in their water dish, but didn't discriminate and continued on his feeding quest.
After the sheep we headed into the cattle barns. I didn't snag any pictures in there because I was too busy making sure the stroller didn't impede the flow of animal traffic. The sheer size of some of these animals never ceases to amaze me, and Roman found it just as interesting. Almost as interesting as the size of their testicles. Of the joys of having boys.
With all our bases covered we started making our way back to the car. But wait! We forgot the MINI DONUTS!!! Poor Mom didn't get all her boxes checked but I'm sure there will be another event soon that with dispense the tasty little morsels. Roman had put a lot of miles on and didn't even make it out of Regina before he was asleep. Bianca on the other hand. Don't you had when kids have 20 minute naps and think they are regenerated for the day. Me too. Luckily she slept like a rock that night.
