Real Cowboys!

The best photo of the day!...G did not let loose his grip on the armrests for a full hour once we got in there!...it was high in the arena...high and steep... Do you see the facial expression in the extreme foreground on right? I reassured him of course but did not know if he would make it or not!

breakfast cookies ...yum...

and corn dog lunch....(not for her..not yet anyway!)

M had to wait to get home for his .....(sigh) smoothie

not thrilled with crowds and/or soaking in the warm sun and cool spring air at the carnival...

first cotton candy! a childhood right of passage..an old rare (I admit it) fave of mine

they did have to share with mama

the cowboys arrive..woohoo!

this is high, very steep

A very generous vendor of M's gave us complimentary tickets to the 2010 Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. I have not been in about 15 years and M has not been since he was a teen...a long time for us both. So when we received these tickets, we were very excited to share the experience with our children. We spent over eight hours just attending..not including drive time and that is a long but fun day with three little ones six and under.

We saw sheep dog challenges, live huge cows, pigs, chickens..they have seen these before so only little T1 was mystified with that part. The juried Art Show which I used to take part in in Elementary through High School. The boys enjoyed their first cotton candy and relished corn dogs on a stick. I ordered from 'Fried What?' yes, fried what.....they fry things you would never eat or fry or even think about..ever. Batter fried bacon, fried Snickers bars, fried other things I cannot remember anymore now...so what did I order? A fried Twinkie! When the cook asked, 'regular or chocolate dipped?' She smiled when I replied enthusiastically, 'chocolate dipped of course!' There were onlookers as if it were a circus freak show who wrinkled their noses as I placed my order. It was fun to be a food rebel and let me say..that Twinkie was delicious!! It really was... don't think I am getting set up to make these though at home.

Inside at the rodeo we loved the roping and of course the bull riding and chuck wagon races. Those cowboys are tough and don't show emotions much. Real men. One even had a bloody trickle on his white cowboy hat and after a dab of alcohol, he did a 're-ride' on the bull because the first one, the one who inflicted the wound, did not buck enough. Love that toughness..love that my boys were there for it. Just love it. The cowboys had names, and I am not kidding, like Stetson Vest and Howdy something...yes, 'Howdy!' from Beaumont. We will try to go again next year for sure.