What a day at the Saanich Fair. We met up with Megs, Kairi, and Arya, and did it up right.
Canon EOS 70D · Tamron 60mm f/2.0 macro
60 mm · 1/1000 s · f/4.5 · ISO 1600
We started with every little girl’s love: horses. I love the juxtaposition between the tradition and formality of the fairgrounds and horse riding with the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory in the background.
Canon EOS 70D · Tamron 60mm f/2.0 macro
60 mm · 1/1500 s · f/5.6 · ISO 400
Yeeeeee-haw!
Canon EOS 70D · Tamron 60mm f/2.0 macro
60 mm · 1/350 s · f/11 · ISO 800
Without being able to ride any real horses today, Kit ’n Kai did the next best thing: they rode a pretend horse.
Canon EOS 70D · Tamron 60mm f/2.0 macro
60 mm · 1/180 s · f/5.6 · ISO 800
Nome won first prize in a duct tape contest! She’s always wanted a blue ribbon for something.
Canon EOS 70D · Tamron 60mm f/2.0 macro
60 mm · 1/1000 s · f/3.5 · ISO 1600
After the arduous torture of, y’know, all that agricultural stuff, the girls’ pleas were finally answered when we made it to THE RIDES.
Here’s Ride Face Compilation #1. Note Arya in the top right corner.
While we were in line for the mini-coaster (see “eyes squeezed shut” above), the skies opened up, and the dark cloud which had been moving our way unleashed gigantic spheres of extra-wet rain . . . and it didn’t stop.
Canon EOS 70D · Tamron 60mm f/2.0 macro
60 mm · 1/1000 s · f/5.6 · ISO 1600
For a solid five minutes (which doesn’t seem a long time unless someone has the hose turned on you), there was no escape. People fled in all directions, filling any amount of shelter with their dripping bodies. Plenty of people left the fair altogether.
With three girls in a lineup, dragging them out and finding a place to hide amongst the chaos (and it was chaotic) wasn’t easy but, eventually, we made our way to the bingo tent.
Canon EOS 70D · Tamron 60mm f/2.0 macro
60 mm · 1/1000 s · f/5.6 · ISO 1600
My radio station, 100.3 The Q!, was broadcasting from the fair. Our Roadie, as we call him, bounded inside to unplug the extension cords from which all of our P.A. and broadcast gear was powered. Good thing, ’cause the area ended up quite flooded.
We were soaked through. We wrung rainwater out of what clothes we could while sheltered amongst the bingo dauber-wielding crowd, and hoped the hot sun would return (it did) to begin drying us off.
How much fell in that five minutes?
Canon EOS 70D · Tamron 60mm f/2.0 macro
60 mm · 1/2000 s · f/4.5 · ISO 250
Yeah, plenty. But, 15 minutes later, you’d be hard pressed to know it was Ark-building time. Here’s me almost getting kicked in the face (not really) outside the Zipper, sky as blue as if it had never happened.
Canon EOS 70D · Sigma 10-20mm f/3.5 EX DC HSM
60 mm · 1/3000 s · f/4.5 · ISO 800
There were some hints, though . . .
Canon EOS 70D · Sigma 10-20mm f/3.5 EX DC HSM
60 mm · 1/750 s · f/5.6 · ISO 400
Ride Face Compilation #2 is all about one ride: The Terrifying Bunny Ride.
I’m pretty sure that’s not what it was actually called, but with the hypno-stare of the neon-hued hares penetrating the very souls of every adult within hopping distance, it’s all we could come up with.
After the disappointment which was the Yo-Yo (Arya and Kitara were both too short to ride, and severely let down by that fact), we piled the littles onto this ride, expecting . . . actually, I don’t think we were of sound mind when we decided on this one. Must’ve been the eyes. THE EYES.
Anyways, this turned out to be the slowest and most uneventful ride in all of creation, possibly suitable for giving a 6-month-old a thrill of inertia, but not likely. For our crew, it was nothing short of torture waiting for the damned thing to end.
The Mamas took to giving “roller coaster hands” and whooping loudly as our kidlets passed by. It worked for some, not for others.
All of a sudden, it was 4:00 pm, we’d spent seven hours at the fair, and the girls were getting a little loopy.
Canon EOS 70D · Tamron 60mm f/2.0 macro
60 mm · 1/500 s · f/5.6 · ISO 800
Here’s Kitara demonstrating her “Powers of Ruby.”
I’d explain it, but there’s about a four minute backstory which’ll just be too wordy and nonsensical to type out here.
Canon EOS 70D · Tamron 60mm f/2.0 macro
60 mm · 1/500 s · f/5.6 · ISO 800
We ended the way we began, with one more ride. Kitara’s favourite ride in all of creation: The Fish Ride.
Canon EOS 70D · Sigma 10-20mm f/3.5 EX DC HSM
60 mm · 1/500 s · f/5.6 · ISO 800
T’was a long day for the grownups, but that face up there made it all worth it.
Canon EOS 70D · Tamron 60mm f/2.0 macro
60 mm · 1/500 s · f/5.6 · ISO 800
We didn’t think we’d stay the whole day, but we did. And we had a blast. We rode all the rides, saw all the exhibits, ate all the food, and slept all the way home.
And when I say “we,” I mean everyone 5 and under.
=)