Awe, the memories of chasing cows in the fields with my girlfriends, being scared to death of snakes in the hay in the horse barn or watching our pet catfish(s)swim in the horse trough. Now, the smells of it all...don't miss it so much or cleaning up the messes from the animals...not so much either or scared to death a coyote was going to get any of our animals at night...not so fun memory too but that is part of the life of living in the country. I doubt K will ever get to have any of these experiences that Wade and I both have had unless we visit my uncle Mark on his ranch for a few days. Yep! We are spoiled city folks now. Although, honey, I would still really LOVE to have some horses one day again. hint, hint I know a little girl that has been asking for one since she was three too.
For those of you who have not visited the SA rodeo yet, here is just a little bit of info I discovered about it. The San Ant*nio St*ck Show & R*deo is divided into three main sections. The stock grounds where everyone can enjoy all the animals, a few competitions and a dining and children's play section provided by HEB. Then they have the rodeo in the AT*T center which is rumored to be the 3rd richest rodeo in the nation with a total purse of 1 million dollars. They close the rodeo each evening with a nightly concert performance by top rock and country artists. On the opposite side of the AT*T center is a carnival/fair set up for all to enjoy throughout the day and evening. Yep. That's two weeks of non-stop activities for us to enjoy. It's not like the rodeos Wade and I grew up going to, that's for sure! I am not going to complain that we live here and get to experience this event every February with our lil cowgirl. A few other things I learned while researching the event was that nearly 2 million dollars of scholarships are donated from the Livestock and Horse exhibitors. Which I think is wonderful. Many people come from various places across the US to showcase their animals and compete in the nightly rodeo or other events. In 2009 they had a little over 1.3 million people attend the events over the two week period. If you are interested in learning more here is a link http://www.sarodeo.com/who/news_room/fun_facts_stats.html
Wade and I actually said while we were out at the rodeo that we felt like we were country club folks walking through all the barns past all the stalls and ranchers. Scary! I believe at one point in both of our lives we would have fit in very well. I do sincerely think some of the kindest, most genuine, hard working individuals I have ever met live out of the city either on a farm or remote countryside. I can only hope to instill some of those farm values into our child and that she will understand the importance of finding the beauty in Gods land, his animals and the bliss of some occasional solitude.
We had a blast and came home EXHAUSTED! Actually K fell asleep in the car on the way home without dinner and I think Wade and I were in bed by 10:30 that night. I could have gone to sleep in the car too truth be told. If you asked K what her favorite part of the day was she would possibly say either watching the pig shows, (kids showing/selling off their pigs) petting All the animals, or the Team pinning. Uncle Mark, you would have been very proud of her. K was yelling like crazy during the team pinning show..."number 6, no. 6, to the left, to the left...get her, get her...focus, focus. You can do it! YEAH!!! WAY TO GO!!!" She was toooo cute! I even had to ask her to sit down and be just a tad quieter about 4 times. She would get so excited for each team. I seriously think she will one day be a great cheerleader. If she wants to of course. As soon as a new team would enter the arena she would pick out her favorite rider and horse and give them nick names. I think I recall one white horse being "sparkles" and two different brown horses with dark manes being "Doc and Boogie" (Thanks to uncle Mark, his horses). There was also the mystical horse "princess." Princess is K's favorite imaginary horse that she rides all the time. She enjoyed herself and we giggled a lot watching her and rooting for the teams. We must have enjoyed watching it all because I looked at my watch when K said her lil tummy was hungry and we had been there for an hour.
Reflecting back on our day, I think she may have even enjoyed watching the demonstration on how a cow is milked and seeing it all happen in real time. She and Wade experienced the demonstration close up as she asked a ton of questions. I wish I had taken a picture. (but mommy forgot her camera) Great learning opportunity though. I love that!
These pics were taken with Wade's phone camera b/c I forgot my camera.After we finished seeing all the animals and competitions around the stock grounds we headed over to let our spirited cowgirl run out some of her energy in the HEB Buddy center. She was thrilled to be able to ride on the ponies this year. The last two years we went to the rodeo the lines were terribly long and we somehow convinced her to not wait for the popular rides. Not this time! The wait was short and so we waited. She picked the horse named "Twinkie." and around and around they rode. We also waited in line for some of the bounce houses they had. One of them was a slide bouncer. Wade and I both were concerned if she would climb up to the top and come down on her own (all the other kids were in pairs) but she climbed the rope all the way up to the top, slide down smiling all the way and so she did it again.
We didn't stay for the concerts this year because the last 2 years we tried with K she had a fit over the loudness. Yeah, it was Lyn*rd Skyner...Who can blame her for that one? And, who takes their kid to see Lyn*rd? Guess if I really want to go see someone in concert I either need headphones to cover her ears or a baby sitter. Wade and I both can't believed we missed Tim McGr...on my birthday this year. Woulda been fun. Maybe next year!
I think we are planning on going back next weekend to enjoy a little more of the rodeo grounds and actually spend some time over in the carnival section. I'll post pics soon because I will be taking my camera.
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