rodeo.

The kids look forward to this rodeo every year. We were excited to take our little cow-loving Gretchen this year! (Whenever she spots one out the window on a drive back home she hollers out, "Cow! Cow!")

Even though we parked really close to the gate, the kids really wanted to ride the wagon. 

Gretchen wasn't too sure about it, though...

We got there extra early so that we could find a seat in the "good bleachers." (The ones that aren't completely open in the back. Can't have any little people falling through!) Daddy took Gretchen for a walk to see some of the animals up close.

They came back with popcorn...

The weather was perfect! We were actually chilly in jeans and long sleeves. We ended up wrapping up in the blankets we brought to sit on!

The cowboys were having some bad luck with the awful calf roping/jerk their heads back and then tie them up thing. (I hate that one.) The rodeo clown told these two ladies in turquoise that if they roped the next one, they had to do a victory dance. "You might wanna start stretching, Grandma." =) (But apparently, she really was his grandma, so it was okay for him to say that.) We know Miss Annie on the left...

Mutton busting is always a favorite...

And the calf scramble...

This was a new addition this year that I really didn't care for... bull fighting. They brought out fence panels and blocked off all but a small section of the arena. Then they turned a bull loose with a clown/bull fighter and somehow scored them. I didn't love it. It's one thing to watch them distract the bulls when they are trying to protect a cowboy... this was just teasing them. And watching one of them throw his hat in the air, signaling for help after he was thrown into the fence... then later hanging by one arm from the fence so that he could move his dislocated shoulder back into place... was a little creepy.

I jammied up my sleepy little baby and enjoyed a quiet ride home with my mom and 2 sleeping kids. (The other sleeping kid was with my dad and Corey in the truck.) A perfect evening for a fun family tradition!