If you live in the Houston area, you know that March is Rodeo time! The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo is the largest rodeo in the nation! It's an amazing place to learn about agriculture for us "city folk"! For several years, Joe and I would go and thoroughly enjoy ourselves, but its an entirely new, awesome experience when you have young kids! We ended up going two different days to make sure we had time to enjoy everything!
The First Day
The first show we wanted to show Grey and Joleigh were the cutting horses. These horses are truly amazing - as you watch, you can see the horse thinking and picking out the cow to isolate and then that cow doesn't have a chance - the horse will not give up!
The purpose for the first day was to let the kids experience the carnival and Kiddie zones before these areas got too crowded. Grey picked out this giant slide to ride first. Last year, this was his favorite ride, but he had to ride with Joe so this year, he was tall enough to slide alone... he was up for the challenge...
Notice Grey is flat on his back - I think he is shell shocked.
Yep...a little scared. Joleigh however, was having a blast (but she was safe in Mommy's arms)
Grey didn't like going by himself. We tried to encourage him to go by himself again, but he had nothing to do with that slide for the remainder of the day (or our second trip for that matter)I'm sure he'll get over it soon - we'll try again next year!
Joleigh wanted to ride the pink elephant that was wearing purple! Of course she was excited to have Daddy ride in the pink elephant that was wearing purple with her!
It was now Grey's turn to choose a ride and he chose the "dragon roller coaster". This is the coaster I thought he was talking about...NOPE! This one went a little too fast. He kept telling me that it wasn't the right one - he wanted the dragon coaster...
Of course you can't go to a carnival without riding the merry-go-round!!
Grey found the dragon coaster and was very excited to ride it!!!
He even put his arms up on his own!! Way to go Grey!
Joleigh's turn: the bumpy cars! Very fun!!
Joleigh wanted to ride the pink elephant that was wearing purple! Of course she was excited to have Daddy ride in the pink elephant that was wearing purple with her!
It was now Grey's turn to choose a ride and he chose the "dragon roller coaster". This is the coaster I thought he was talking about...NOPE! This one went a little too fast. He kept telling me that it wasn't the right one - he wanted the dragon coaster...
Of course you can't go to a carnival without riding the merry-go-round!!
Grey found the dragon coaster and was very excited to ride it!!!
He even put his arms up on his own!! Way to go Grey!
Joleigh's turn: the bumpy cars! Very fun!!The Second Day
Riding the bus to the rodeo!
Both Grey and Joleigh were very excited this day because they knew what to expect...plus we were going to go to the rodeo and concert!!! YEEE-HAWWWWW!
What! How did Grey get in on the action! Wow Grey, you're brave!
And Joleigh too? Wow! Very brave - watch out for that bull!
We made sure the kids got to ride more rides!
Grey chose the dragon coaster again - he sat in the back. On the drive over to the rodeo, he told me he wanted to ride this coaster again. He said, "It goes fast on the curves and slow on the straights - it's just perfect!!)
So fun! I'm glad he found the perfect ride!
He loved this ride too!
It went pretty high in the air, but he didn't seem to mind!
Little Norman was born just a couple of days before...
These piglets were born earlier that morning.... There were 11 in this liter.
And this sweet lamb was born the day prior...
We saw chickens...
and chicks hatching...
Grey loved petting the rabbits.
Joleigh did too!
After lunch, we headed to the rodeo and concert! YEAH!!!!
Getting a closer look!
This is the beginning - The Grand Parade. I should have posted a pic of the actual parade, but it wasn't a good one. Basically, its a parade for all the important people for the evening to ride on horses and wagons around the arena. These horses above stood until all the people in the parade passed by. Riders on horses weaved in and out of these horses and the wagons made a circle around the arena before exiting.
Having a good time!
After the parade, a tractor smoothed the dirt so that the rodeo could begin. Grey was very excited - he yelled, "A Zamboni!!" We had to laugh! I am impressed he knew the word Zamboni, and connected the job the tractor was doing to a Zamboni! Good job Grey!
Many of the cowboys had "cowboy" names. This guy's name is Stetson Vest! We liked him because he is from a small town close to my hometown - Childress, TX!
Unfortunately, we were on the end of the other end of the stadium from the rough ridin' shoots, even though we could see the activities on the big screen, it was difficult to take pictures. But, this horse was parading around the stadium for a while - he had just bucked off the rider and was very proud of himself. Every time the cowboys would get close to take him out of the arena, he would run as fast as he could to either end of the arena...so funny!!
Riding the bus to the rodeo!
Both Grey and Joleigh were very excited this day because they knew what to expect...plus we were going to go to the rodeo and concert!!! YEEE-HAWWWWW!
What! How did Grey get in on the action! Wow Grey, you're brave!
And Joleigh too? Wow! Very brave - watch out for that bull!
We made sure the kids got to ride more rides!
Grey chose the dragon coaster again - he sat in the back. On the drive over to the rodeo, he told me he wanted to ride this coaster again. He said, "It goes fast on the curves and slow on the straights - it's just perfect!!)
So fun! I'm glad he found the perfect ride!
He loved this ride too!
It went pretty high in the air, but he didn't seem to mind!By this time it was getting a little warm, so we headed off to the kid zones again to buy some time before the rodeo....
The Ag-venture Area is an educational area for children to learn about agriculture - very fun and kid friendly!
Little Norman was born just a couple of days before...
These piglets were born earlier that morning.... There were 11 in this liter.
And this sweet lamb was born the day prior...
We saw chickens...
and chicks hatching...
Grey loved petting the rabbits.
Joleigh did too!After lunch, we headed to the rodeo and concert! YEAH!!!!
Getting a closer look!
This is the beginning - The Grand Parade. I should have posted a pic of the actual parade, but it wasn't a good one. Basically, its a parade for all the important people for the evening to ride on horses and wagons around the arena. These horses above stood until all the people in the parade passed by. Riders on horses weaved in and out of these horses and the wagons made a circle around the arena before exiting.
Having a good time!
After the parade, a tractor smoothed the dirt so that the rodeo could begin. Grey was very excited - he yelled, "A Zamboni!!" We had to laugh! I am impressed he knew the word Zamboni, and connected the job the tractor was doing to a Zamboni! Good job Grey!
Many of the cowboys had "cowboy" names. This guy's name is Stetson Vest! We liked him because he is from a small town close to my hometown - Childress, TX!
Unfortunately, we were on the end of the other end of the stadium from the rough ridin' shoots, even though we could see the activities on the big screen, it was difficult to take pictures. But, this horse was parading around the stadium for a while - he had just bucked off the rider and was very proud of himself. Every time the cowboys would get close to take him out of the arena, he would run as fast as he could to either end of the arena...so funny!! The events were: bronc riding, saddle bronc riding, bull riding, steer wresting, steer roping, barrel racing, calf roping.
We enjoyed chuck wagon races!!!
The calf scramble is an event for several young FFA kids. Calves are let go in the arena - if you catch the calf, you are given a calf to raise for free!! There are more kids than calves and it's quite a site to see how hard these kids work to first chase a calf, second catch it, third tie a rope around its neck and face to create a harness and fourth lead the calf to the large square in the middle of the arena. All four stages are very difficult. The kids are tired from running, the calf is a little wiggle worm and can get out from under the kids while the kids are trying to tie the rope correctly and then if all goes right at this point, it never fails that the calf all of a sudden acts like a statue and doesn't want to be guided into the square. It's a fight the entire way! Way to go kids!
One guy from the crowd thought it would be funny to try to help catch the calf for the kid. He ended up falling out onto the area after the calf got out of his arms. Of course it's against the rules to do this, so he got escorted out by a police officer...I kept looking to see if he returned, nope...guess he got kicked out!
Joleigh fell asleep about half way through and slept the remainder of the rodeo and concert!
After the rodeo, the arena is set up for a concert.
The stage is cool - it turns around durning the concert so everyone in the stadium get to see the singers head on!
Gary Allen was performing this night!
The light show was great too!
And of course fireworks are always fun!!!!
Joe took this pic through a window from the stadium! This is the world's largest mobile ferris wheel.
Too Funny...
As we were waiting in line to get on the bus, Joleigh thought it would be fun to smash her nose against the window in her stroller - we started cracking up....
So of course, she did too!
So sweet! Yes she was wide awake at this point and Joe and I wanted our naps!!!!
We enjoyed chuck wagon races!!!
The calf scramble is an event for several young FFA kids. Calves are let go in the arena - if you catch the calf, you are given a calf to raise for free!! There are more kids than calves and it's quite a site to see how hard these kids work to first chase a calf, second catch it, third tie a rope around its neck and face to create a harness and fourth lead the calf to the large square in the middle of the arena. All four stages are very difficult. The kids are tired from running, the calf is a little wiggle worm and can get out from under the kids while the kids are trying to tie the rope correctly and then if all goes right at this point, it never fails that the calf all of a sudden acts like a statue and doesn't want to be guided into the square. It's a fight the entire way! Way to go kids!
One guy from the crowd thought it would be funny to try to help catch the calf for the kid. He ended up falling out onto the area after the calf got out of his arms. Of course it's against the rules to do this, so he got escorted out by a police officer...I kept looking to see if he returned, nope...guess he got kicked out!
Joleigh fell asleep about half way through and slept the remainder of the rodeo and concert!After the rodeo, the arena is set up for a concert.
The stage is cool - it turns around durning the concert so everyone in the stadium get to see the singers head on!
Gary Allen was performing this night!It was fun - good music!
The light show was great too!
And of course fireworks are always fun!!!!
Joe took this pic through a window from the stadium! This is the world's largest mobile ferris wheel.
Too Funny...
As we were waiting in line to get on the bus, Joleigh thought it would be fun to smash her nose against the window in her stroller - we started cracking up....
So of course, she did too!
So sweet! Yes she was wide awake at this point and Joe and I wanted our naps!!!!We had a great time and were excited to share this expereince with Grey and Joleigh!
Looking forward to going back!
Looking forward to going back!
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