Rodeo.

After 8 years of living in Texas, we finally made it to the Rodeo.

Those not from Texas – the Rodeo is a BIG deal around here. It goes on for about 3 weeks and it’s all anybody seems to talk about. There is the actual bull riding and stock show and there’s is also the carnival and concerts that come along with it. I guess it’s like a version of the State Fair…except every city has their own Rodeo.

We started small and just went to the carnival.

We headed there late afternoon with our friends Scott & Yvonne to take advantage of “Friday dollar days”. $1 to get in, $1 rides, and $1 popcorn, hot dogs, and cotton candy.

The kids made quick work of their ride tickets jumping on the first roller coaster they saw.

E chickened out of all the big rides.

And clung to Ryan’s leg for the first 30 minutes.

We found him some good old fashioned slides for him to go on and he was thrilled.

And the Merry Go Round is always a sure bet.

We were having an absolute fabulous time. And then the sun set.

Which made for an awesome photo but also made it very cold outside. And Ryan and I forgot our jackets. The kids had their Old Navy hoodies but even they were still freezing.

We didn’t want to miss out on what everyone says is the best part of the Rodeo – the food. And it’s true. It was probably some of the best “carnival” food I’ve seen (and tasted)!

We went to see some animal shows which the kids enjoyed (and the adults agreed that any amount of alcohol would have made the show more tolerable.)

By 9pm the kids had their fill of cotton candy, popcorn, funnel cakes, and rides – okay, maybe they hadn’t had their fill but we were freezing and ready to warm up.

Geez, my kids are getting big.

At one point X said, “this is the funnest night ever.” I love when we hit that soft point in her. Sometimes I feel like she’s so hard to please and is ungrateful for special treats like this (which basically means we have a normal parent/child relationship). Friday night, however, I got lots of “thank you’s” and a girl that practically collapsed from exhaustion in bed.

I like collapsing from exhaustion. I did the same thing.

1. Yeah, so next time X says ‘We never do anything fun’ you can show her this blog post

   Comment by Kara — February 7, 2010 @ 12:29 pm