At any livestock show - from county fairs to jackpot shows to nationals - you expect to see hard-working showmen, good looking animals and hopefully purple banners. But if you walk through the barns and arena's and take a good look around, you're sure to see a handful of other things each and every time. Here are five things you'll see at a livestock show besides livestock.

1. Someone catching up on much-needed sleep

Livestock shows are a lot of hard work and can be quite a tiring experience for everyone involved. You learn fast that if you're tired enough, you can sleep anywhere from lawn chairs to on top of show boxes. (The sound of the fans blowing in the beef barn knocks me out every time.)

2. Crockpots and covered dishes

Of course, there's never any shortage of food trucks or things deep fried at most livestock events but that's never where the really good food is. No, the best food comes from all of the crockpots and covered dishes passed around in the campers or base camp. All of the hard work makes you hungry.

3. Kids being entertained however possible

When kids are still little there's only so much they can do to help out and stay involved. Even when they can help, kids have a short attention span and get bored after so long. So then you do whatever to keep them entertained or make them entertain themselves. Whatever works.

4. An intense game of cards

Euchre, Spoons, Egyptian Rat Screw and Five Card Stud are just some of the games I learned sitting around a show box turned into a table. While we all took our hands of cards very seriously, chances are we were laughing the whole time.

5. Smile sharing, story telling, and memory making

Purple banners aside, no one would do this if they didn't enjoy it. Some of my closest friends and fondest memories come from the barns and they don't all involve a banner. Livestock shows are truly a wonderful world of their own.