Monday, March 21, 2005
Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo Pt. 1
Off we went to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo Friday and Saturday. We had such a great time (and took lots of pictures) that I will take two blogging days to tell you about it (part of this is to fill my lack of knitting--more on that mid week....)There are several reasons that I love this type of event. First, my daughter is obsessed with animals. She continually asks to ride a horse--and since we have an empty horse barn it makes sense that we might buy her a horse in the future. This is a great way to spend the day for our family. Also, the fairs and shows are a huge cultural event for Texans. You really get a sense of what Texas culture is all about (and about how Texans view themselves). Finally, as a 4-Her I showed animals, crafts, foods, etc. at both my local and state fair. It was the greatest thing that I could have done as a kid--even learned to knit through 4-h! I just love to go to fairs and see kids learning some of the same skills that I learned.
Plus, animal shows are just fun. Proof?
Anna has decided that we should have chickens:
She was very upset when any of the other kids tried to touch "her" chicken. This chicken just sat there sleeping while Anna patted it--the calmest chicken I've ever seen. We also enjoyed watching the chicks hatch in the huge incubators.
Then there was the baby goat:
I vote for getting goats and sheep. Fiber. How can you go wrong?
Do you know the book How are you Peeling? This book is so cute--the artist used veggies, fruits and seeds to make faces with a variety of expressions. The Texas Agriculture commission had a booth set up where kids could make their own faces. Here is our green pepper face:
I think the highlight, though, was the practice roping:
The Aggie Rodeo team members were helping kids learn to rope the cow head positioned on the haybale. Anna thought this was the greatest thing she had ever done... I see the potential for a cowgirl rider in our future...
And no fair would be complete without the midway. What did our kid want to do? See her ear to ear grin? She laughed the entire time on the rollercoaster.
Tomorrow--the fiber escapade....
