So, the rodeo was running a little late for Isaac and this was his temprement most of the actual rodeo, but we watched the steer wrestling in awe and wondered if we could volunteer Izzy to be wrestled. I have had a few diaper changings that make me think I could be a good cowgirl if I learned to ride and rope.
Below is the what I will call the Mom and Dad "horse and pony ride", because it was way to expensive and your typical kid trap. But the boys had to do it, and can't quit talking about it, so I am not bitter....I just hope that whoever made all the money ripping us off is paying their mortgage and not in Vegas.
Last night we finally went to the stock show, something I have planned on doing but have never done after living a whole decade in Denver. The kids were really psyched and I was glad to take my "city" kids to share something that was a little bit like the rural area I grew up in. We had fun. They had a lot of displays and we walked around and saw several before going to a rodeo that night. We mostly only had time for the kids stuff, like petting zoo and baby animals. They loved it. All kinds of bunnies, chickens some cows and pigs and even some turkeys and a guy selling a bunch of guinea pigs. The chicks bought back memories of my childhood. My Dad used to work for a feed supplier who incubated and sold "colored" chicks in the spring. They put die in the eggs and so when they hatched they were all kinds of bright colors for a few days. Anyways, I didn't tell the boys that they always poo in your hands, I just let them think the cute little yellow fuzz balls were nothing but fun.
I loved the rodeo, but we had to leave before the end. I think Isaac was tired before it started, but we sat there for 2 hours until almost 9 pm.. which was really good. We let loose for the night, buying popcorn and cotton candy.
We saw all kinds of team and individual calf roping and bucking broncos, both bareback and with saddles. Pretty impressive. A kid from Bruno Idaho did really good on the individual calf roping.
The boys liked the rodeo too and in the middle they did "muttin bustin" which I got a fairly good shot of. Those sheep run really fast. Anyways, they had about 8-10 kids and a girl won! I was glad for that. You can sign up any child who is 5 plus, but I don't know if my kids have enough exposure to animals outside of dogs that allow way too much, to not get the crap scared out of them when they are big enough. Anyways, those sheep run fast and I couldn't see close enough, but I think that maybe a couple of the little kids cried... and I empathized because although it wasn't totally the same I remember little celebrations at the Iona square when I was little (pioneer Day or 4th of July? I can't remember)... they had little rodeo like events for the kids like letting some age groups catch a greased pig, or the one I remember was when my age group was supposed to catch chickens. I didn't come close and so I cried and my parents took me to my nearby Uncle's farm and put me in the chicken coop and told me to catch one. I was way too scared. You have to grab their legs and hold them upside down so they don't peck you. And they want to peck you. There was no way I was doing that......so how would I have done Muttin Bustin? Well, what is important is that my kids now see that noone busts cows, and that horses and farms are fun. Isaac has been playing with his little horsey figure all day, and that makes me happy ;). He can't stop talking about how the horsey was nice, didn't bite his head off and he pet it. Mom, does Uncle Black still raise chickens? Maybe I'll have another go at them when I go to Idaho this summer?
