Rodeo and Stock Show...

We went. We didn't go to the Rodeo, but we did enjoy the exhibits and a few rides. The older two boys were working. We are getting used to family outings with "only 5" these days, and it's not quite as "bitter" and quite a bit more "sweet". LOL
AnyWHO....we were blessed when a man stopped us at the entrance and gave us all wrist bands for free entrance to the grounds. Shew. That meant we had $40 to buy ride tickets. We bought 24 - which would be two rides a piece and 3 for 3........Arielle, Stacia and I decided to do just one ride. We discovered Nolan and Zander are going to be the next generation of daredevils to enjoy rides with Mike.
Petting Zoo

Stacia was unsure

Babies were one day old!

"Yeah?"

Now I know what celery is good for! ::snort:: JUST JOKING!
Some sort of crab....

Even THIS made me sick....but I held it together because it would not be cool to puke while taking your 2YO off a kiddie ride. ::snort:: Hey it DID go up!


Cowboy photo for Bre who loves to take black and white train track photos!

The guys however loved this roller coaster - though we missed Krista!

And the youngest men got to ride the dragon too...(second car from back)
Last car in the photo!


Our favorite cake!


As we were leaving a really nice lady brought her horse out for the children to pet and such.

The crowds were really not bad. We stayed within budget. We think we'll do the Rodeo next year. Mike said it was time to leave when I began commenting on how good the sausages and funnel cakes smelled. I was looking around for a deep fried candy bar.....he dragged us to safety where the cholesterol demons couldn't attack. LOL Did anyone watch the Tim Hawkins DVD? "Spirit of Low Carb rain DOWN on me!" ::snort::

Bocce Tournament

Have you ever heard of Bocce? My brother and his family introduced the game to us on our trip to AK a few years ago. It is a fun game that all ages can enjoy together. We've played on the AlCan, and we've played camping in AK, OR and TX. LOL

After the Stock Show we grabbed some lunch at Chick Fil A (of course - great salad). There was an old cowboy staring at us...forever...finally he told me "I didn't know people still had big families these days!" The hilarious thing to us was that it was a "small" day - only 5 of the children were with us as the olders move away from home and work. I bit my tongue and didn't say, "Only 1/2 of us are here today."  I smiled and said something polite. We seemed to have made his day. LOL

Here are a couple of shots. I believe Mike won each round.