rodeo.

My family has attended this small town rodeo for as long as I can remember. Many years we watched in our warmest clothes, wrapped in blankets and drinking hot chocolate. Now long sleeve shirts are almost too warm. At least until the sun goes down.









Mutton busting. They put little kids in bike helmets on the back of big wooly sheep. They burst out of the pen and the kids try to hang on as long as they can. Most only last a couple seconds, but there are always a few that make quite a run. The funniest is when the sheep fall down and the kids are still holding on tight... with the sheep on top of them!


The kids had so much fun! They clapped and clapped and after every cowboy (or cowgirl) Sophie would say, "Did they win?" Her favorite was the closing ceremony with "Quiet Thunder." It's an all women's group that rides with American and Kansas flags. They perform to their own version of "I'm Proud to be an American" and at the end they turn all the lights off. Fireworks shoot out of some of the flags and some of the women have letters on their shirts that light up and spell USA or KANSAS. (It's my favorite part, too!)



So sleepy on the way home. Way past bedtime.