Rodeo Time

It's Rodeo, San Antonio! I took Ella, Natalie, and our friend Rachel to the Stock Show last week and a good time was had by all. What's not to love? Cows mooing and being led (sometimes pushed) across the walkways by their teen-aged owners, a petting zoo full of the most docile critters that have ever nibbled on your clothes, free bouncy castles, free food samples, rides and junk food galore, pig races, and hats and boots as far as the eye can see. We look forward to it every year, and it never disappoints.

Yep, that's a pig snout in Natalie's hand. She liked it, too. She also LOVED the petting zoo, where she tackled, mauled, and kissed (yes, kissed) every animal that wasn't faster than she was. I chased her around saying, "Soft, Natalie! Be soft!"

Natalie also loved the carousel, which we call The Fastest Carousel in the West due to its unnaturally high speed. She loved it so much that she threw a screaming, kicking fit when I took her off. The very nice ride operator let us ride again for free, which made the girls very happy and made me very dizzy. It was worth it to see Nat get giddy when the ride started up again.

Ella and Rachel, long time best buds, sampled all the delights of the day, including a cotton candy for each of them, lots of bouncing, and a variety of rides. Here they are posing on a fake horse. Who knew it could be so much fun?

Hooray for positive peer pressure! Rachel is the 4th of 6 kids, and as such is much more daring in the rides department than Ella. Ella rode a few things, including the big swinging boat ride, that I could never have gotten her on in a million year, purely because Rachel was brave enough to go on them. Check out the following action shot: