Our First Rodeo

The International Finals Rodeo has been in town this weekend.  We've been looking for some fun family activities to do during Ryan's leave, so we decided to go this afternoon.  Neither of us had ever been to a rodeo, but I had seen commercials on TV saying Sunday afternoon was kid's day, so we decided to try it out. 

There were a ton of people there.  By the time we'd waited in line for tickets, the kids pre-show activities were over.  That was fine though because we weren't really dedicated to any part of the rodeo.  We were just there to see what it was all about.

First of all, we were the only people not in Wranglers. I knew we would be, but we didn't own any, so what could we do? I did however pull out the old Justin Ropers from college and wore them with some too long for me bootcut jeans, so I did make an attempt to dress for the event. I'm sure you're all thrilled to have the fashion angle covered in this post.
 
Now, onto the event.  I was pleasantly surprised at how fiercely patriotic it was.  They must have spent the first half hour on the national anthem and videos and other tributes to veterans of past and present wars.  Then came the unapologetically Christian part which was also appreciated.  There was a very long, emotional prayer to God to bless their competition, give them all attitudes of respect and appreciation for their competitors, keep everyone safe, and thanks for God's amazing creation, etc.

The rodeo itself was really entertaining.  Ryan and I had never seen anything like it.  I have seen short clips of rodeo events, but to see it all in person was definitely interesting.  There were all kinds of events.  I can't remember a lot of their official names, but tonight when I asked Clayton what he saw at the rodeo, he replied, "a cowboy wrestling a cow."  Yep.  Saw that.  Of course we wanted to see the bull riding and barrel racing.  I also enjoyed the pony express, which was like a horseback relay race.

Today's session lasted just over three hours, right smack in the middle of naptime.  There were a few times when we thought the kids might be done, and we thought about cutting out early, but then they'd get better, so we stayed the entire time.  Clayton's interest was held for a good portion of the time.  Eli watched things every now and then.  We sat high up in the arena so that the kids would have a little extra space to roam, and that helped a ton.  Aaron slept the first half and did pretty well through the second half.

The rodeo was a great experience, and I know we'll try to make it back the next time they're in town.  I highly recommend trying it out if you've never been.