A day of animals
Mari and I went down to check out the sixth annual Amaze-ing Agriculture event, held at Northlands in Edmonton. The event is a weeklong agricultural fair, bringing many producer groups together. During the week, the fair brings in about 1,100 school kids a day. It was free to the public on Saturday.
The event was extremely well done and I got a chance to talk to many of the animal handlers and demonstrators. Mari was thrilled because she got a chance to play with the animals. We played with chicks, goats, sheep, alpaca, horses, cows, and pigs. We didn't get to play with them so much as pet them through their cages, but it was still pretty awesome. I spent a lot of time talking to the various producers, asking how the kids had responded to the exhibit and how the entire event had gone. The whole thing was pretty cool because attendance was quite mixed. We saw a lot of families from every ethnic background and income bracket. The kids were obviously digging the activities and were riding toy tractors, making play dough and watching the dairy cow milking demonstrations. All very interesting stuff.
After we left the exhibit, we noticed that the Edmonton Kennel Club was hosting its dog show in the same building. As we're both dog lovers, we had to check that out too. We were sad to have missed the terrier class, but got to see many of the dogs on display. The toys, cocker spaniels and hounds were being shown in various rings. Show dogs are weird. I watched one woman spray her dog with hairspray and decided that I don't really like poodles. I know that they're smart, but they just look weird and silly to me.
There was a cairn terrier breeder with two pups in kennels, but she wasn't around any of the times we stopped by. I stopped by about 3 times, hoping to see her and her dogs, but no luck. Still it was a fun day, full of animals.
The dogs were an added benefit. I find it really hard to be dogless whenever I come back from Saskatoon. I always miss Fergus and find it hard because we are together 24/7 whenever I'm home. It just feels so lonely without him. :(
The event was extremely well done and I got a chance to talk to many of the animal handlers and demonstrators. Mari was thrilled because she got a chance to play with the animals. We played with chicks, goats, sheep, alpaca, horses, cows, and pigs. We didn't get to play with them so much as pet them through their cages, but it was still pretty awesome. I spent a lot of time talking to the various producers, asking how the kids had responded to the exhibit and how the entire event had gone. The whole thing was pretty cool because attendance was quite mixed. We saw a lot of families from every ethnic background and income bracket. The kids were obviously digging the activities and were riding toy tractors, making play dough and watching the dairy cow milking demonstrations. All very interesting stuff.
After we left the exhibit, we noticed that the Edmonton Kennel Club was hosting its dog show in the same building. As we're both dog lovers, we had to check that out too. We were sad to have missed the terrier class, but got to see many of the dogs on display. The toys, cocker spaniels and hounds were being shown in various rings. Show dogs are weird. I watched one woman spray her dog with hairspray and decided that I don't really like poodles. I know that they're smart, but they just look weird and silly to me.
There was a cairn terrier breeder with two pups in kennels, but she wasn't around any of the times we stopped by. I stopped by about 3 times, hoping to see her and her dogs, but no luck. Still it was a fun day, full of animals.
The dogs were an added benefit. I find it really hard to be dogless whenever I come back from Saskatoon. I always miss Fergus and find it hard because we are together 24/7 whenever I'm home. It just feels so lonely without him. :(