Cowboy Up, This isn't our first Rodeo

We just love the Rodeo

If you are going to love it-then this is the place to do it!

(RodeoHouston is the world's largest live entertainment & livestock exhibition)

Think: Rodeo of all Rodeo's.

There is such a great array of things to do; Carnival games, rides, activities, shopping, concerts, livestock shows,

great food and lots of people!

(last year there were about 2.2 million people in attendance)

Anyway---its awesome fun.

We have visited every year we have been in Texas, and loved it.

I was lucky enough to go with Rod to see Keith Urban sing, which is always one of my favorite things. He's such a fun performer-always running into the crowds. The sound at the Astrodome doesn't compare at all to where we first heard him sing at the Gorge (while we were in Seattle) But--it did come with the mutton busting, and the sheep round-up, and livestock show. Not to mention the bull rides we did after the show.

This year was certainly the best yet--because the littles were old enough to enjoy it. And they absolutely did! I only wish we had been able to come more than one of the days.

To feed into the Texas Stereotype--we somehow managed to make it there with no shoes for Grayson. I put him in the car right out of naptime and we thought we had packed them---but when we got there--both Rod and I looked at each other saying "I thought you got them!" We spent the first hour hunting down Toddler Cowboy boots for our Barefoot Boy. Lucky him--they are the real thing, not play imitation or copycat. Real cowboy boots--because its all they sell. Grayson loves them. They are awesome because they are sturdy and protect him when he is out running around in the sharp grass or giant red ant piles (which will eat you alive and make you burn like you are on fire) or when your feet are being dragged under your bike half way down the block.

He loves them and grabs them while saying "ma boos" "ma boos". I remind myself of this when I think about how much money those things were!

There were tons of shops with all types of western and Texan gear (I loved it because there is a lot of sparkly things happening there this year) There was a giant petting zoo, with everything from a llama to little ram's. The animals were certainly used to all the people crowding them. Caily only had eyes for the llama-(once again--the credit falls to Llama Llama Red Pajama) Neither one of the kids appreciated the animals approaching them.

The 2 biggest hits of the day were the Pony Rides and the Giant Potato sack slides. Rod and I had a good laugh of surprise with Grayson here. Neither of us have ever seen him SO EXCITED, and DETERMINED. But he saw those horses and there was no stopping him. He ran away from us and started climbing the gate to get to them, we literally had to pry him off--and convincing him to wait in line was nearly impossible, he kept running in front of us and pushing kids and grown-ups out of the way. He loved the horses. Caily enjoyed them as well and it was difficult to leave those horses behind.

Grayson also had a similar love affair with the GIANT BULLS in the arena, when he started climbing that 8 foot wall-we decided to head outside again. This is what happens when your baby is born in Texas.

The Potato sack slides were a lot of fun, we got to go with one of the kids in our laps, inside the potato sack--it went pretty fast, and honestly, Rod and I loved it too. Both Caily and Grayson would laugh so hard as we went down. Totally worth it.

We ended up doing this over and over and over. It was only on our way out of the Rodeo did we notice these big water bubbles-which looks like so much fun!