Our first Rodeo

I am WAY behind on blogging which drives me crazy! My excuse is that I am just now fully recovered from our road trip to Texas one & a half weeks later & I ran out of space on my hard drive so I have to delete to load new pics...also driving me crazy, and three out of my four are sick....not driving me crazy but making me tired. That said, let's take it back to March 6th, just two days shy of the Buckaroos turning one. We thought, "where can we get the most western experience (in the city) & celebrate those sweet lil' cowboys?"

Why yes, the....

A little history: 

• it's been around for over 80 years
• the livestock show is the largest in the world 
• the first star entertainer was Gene Autry in 1942
• the community school "Rodeo Art" program began in 1963- we participated in our own school Rodeo Art competitions growing up. I remember drawing or painting lots of bluebonnets & never winning.
• in 2013, the rodeo attendance hit 2.5 million which is more than the amount of people residing in the city of Houston itself
• utilizes 28,000 volunteers to make the three week long excitement possible. My brother Scott's friend Logan was working at the Mutton Bustin' grounds....that's where I would want to be.
• the Ellis fam (or at least myself) have seen Reba McIntire, Wynona Judd, Alan Jackson, Vince Gill, Steve Miller Band, George Strait, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill over the course of many rodeos & various others I'm sure I cannot remember. 

I could hardly wait to take the family & thanks to my parents, we were treated to RodeoHouston all cowboy'd up with our boots!

At Christmas time my mom had bought the cutest fabrics to make the kids something to wear with their boots & we being the procrastinators we are, we spent the eve of Rodeo Day sewing like maniacs until after midnight! Boy oh boy did the Fab Four look cute in their new attire....it made the bags under our eyes worth it ; ) For the little guys, we decided on dyeing a couple onesies with tea bags so they were not so bright & then picked an embroidery pattern with their names, a #1 in honor of the upcoming first birthday topped with a cowboy hat. They turned out cute! Part way through putting the girls tops together I remembered how much Charlotte HATES bows in the back of her dresses/tops & I already knew that she equally hated 3/4 sleeve tops but we kept moving along anyway. The next morning she of course had a meltdown about how the sleeves were too short & the bow hurt her etc etc etc.  We had a long conversation that resulted in Charlotte requesting that I write her a "list" that said "Put your dress on & don't throw a fit about it!" She told me that if she started whining I could show her the "list" to remind her. Hahahaha! My she is maturing as she nears her 5th birthday! Anyway, she put it on & by the time we were at the Rodeo, she was too busy having fun she never uttered a complaint!

First stop, the kids carnival which I have fond memories of. It was absolutely SO much fun to have my parents & brothers with us!

Paw Paw or Annie fans might have referred to him as "Daddy Warbucks" was shelling out dollars right & left for tickets, pony rides & ice cream...anything those sweet granddaughters wanted ; )

Elo rode Shadow,

Char rode Trigger who proved to be a stubborn little pony,

while others watched..

Next stop MUTTON BUSTIN' which might have been my favorite part!  For those of you who are unaware of a competition of this sort, it is basically a small kid hanging onto a running sheep for dear life. The longer they stay on, the higher their score. I wish I had video recorded of the kids that participated. Char was declaring that she wanted to enter but we encouraged her to watch first so she could make an informed decision.  Good thing she did....her eyes looked like they were about to pop out of her head when the first kid/sheep pair flew out of the gate! Maybe next year ; ) It was definitely fun to watch!

some real live "mutton"

After that, the girls convinced me to ride the mini snake roller coaster with them. It was Eloise's first official roller coaster ride & like her sister (& mama) was hooked! I was actually kind of nervous as we got moving & I looked over the front of the car & saw how it was put together...how trustworthy are those carnival rides anyway? We survived, had lots of smiles & lots of double chin pictures of myself.  Thankfully there was one where it was a little less noticeable ; )

First time on the tea cups....SO glad they didn't need an adult chaperon for that one!

We caught the pig races & could not stop grinning when Eloise was chosen to wave the flag for our section & root for the orange pig.  Our little piggy won & Eloise got a pig nose to commemorate the big win!

All the boys minus Daddy Warbucks...

That picture was taken right before Owen lost one of his boots. Thankfully they found it after a quick search! After plenty of outdoor time we headed inside & got in line for ice cream. Eloise was getting a little worn out by this point & was quite upset when Gaga did not get gummy bears on her Hawaiian Blue ice cream. I think it looks like Eloise is making her request known in the next picture ; )  Gaga redeemed herself in Elo's book when she got her a cup of gummy bears on the side.

I had another one of those twin conversations with a woman in the bathroom that left me smirking. I have no problem with the attention that the twins draw & the questions that come with them. Anyone who knows me is aware of my ability to make friends with a statue so talking with strangers is right up my alley ; ) Back to the conversation though. It started similarly to others...

Stranger: "Are they twins?"
Me: "Yes ma'am."
Stranger: "Both of them?"
Me: "Yes ma'am." (trying not to laugh as I heard in my head "Are those your ski's, both of them?" from Dumb & Dumber"
Stranger: "How old are they?"
Me: "They will be one on Saturday."
Stranger: "Both of them?"
Me: "Yes." (laughing inside thinking "did she really just say that?" Haha!

The best part about that conversation was that the woman behind her had a container of chocolate milk in her hand (in the bathroom which kind of grossed me out) but, I was on a hunt for milk for two hungry buckaroos who we had just transitioned off of formula. I said excitedly "Where did you get that???" since I had looked all over. Her reply "right next to the birthing center." Ha! How appropriate to have milk next to the birthing center! By the time we got there the boys were SCREAMING their heads off & all were laughing as I ran up with my money, bought two containers of milk (not chocolate) & poured it into their bottles right on the counter. They were happy within seconds!

Once my babes were content, I went to see the other new babes. I was alone at this point since the girls were wandering around with my parents & my brothers were talking to Rob. There was a couple brand new baby lambs that had been born the day before weighing 4 & 5 pounds....close to the little buckaroos this time last year! Maybe I would rather volunteer in the birthing center since I at least know how to deliver human babies....how different can it be? ; )

and then there were a couple mama pigs with 10 piglets each...I thought I had it rough nursing two babies ; )
Speaking of those two babies, they are like parakeets we say. When we want them to go to sleep we just throw a blanket over the front of the stroller & they are out! Thanks to GGran & her handy quilting skills, we fit right in with our western fabric!

The girls were pleased to find a petting farm with plenty of goats, pigs, sheep, a llama & even a kangaroo!

Charlotte's favorite part was two baby goats (twins she said) that were nibbling on her dress. Her giggle was absolutely precious as they tried to eat her Rodeo attire.

When Paw Paw spotted another pony ride, he rounded up his little ladies & got them ridin' again!

Dinner was grab & go with some Chick-Fil-A nuggets for the little ones & a "Cowboy Burrito" for the rest of us that was BBQ meat, potatoes & cheese in some tasty shell.  Paw Paw fed Gaga & Gaga fed everyone else ; )

Some Elsie the cow milk was enjoyed by all under four feet tall...

 Uncle Kyle was tough enough to brave a spinning dino ride AFTER dinner....I should have paid him money.

Me & my partner in crime...that is if you consider sewing past midnight a crime ; )

I love this last one. Eloise was SO tired by the end of the evening & had to hitch a ride on her person of choice....

We walked a LONG way to get to the top floor of the arena for the start of the Rodeo. Our seats were great though on the front row of our section with the first 10 seats & no one to climb over. I greatly enjoyed this with my typical 5 trips to the bathroom per hour with four small children. I always joke with Robby that I can't wait for the boys to be potty trained & we can divide & conquer. By that point the girls will be fully capable of lining their seat with toilet paper, wiping & flushing with their foot without assistance while I stand outside & guard the door. I will have it made ; ) I had to check our stroller at guest services so my mom & I ergoed the boys & sweet baby Anson promptly threw up nasty green squirty packet dinner down the front of my shirt. I cleaned up as well as I could but smelled it the rest of the night...GROSS!

We lasted just over an hour enjoying the bull ridin', calf ropin' & general feel of the Rodeo before Eloise was ready to jump off the balcony...oh wait, maybe that was me & Rob ; ) Everyone was happy to leave so we trekked back over to get the stroller & took the elevator down...seriously, where was that darn elevator when we were headed to the north pole? We made it back to the tram ride where O & A had our row chuckling on the way back with their back & forth giggles & waving. Our car ride was quiet but that was because Gaga & Paw Paw had Eloise in their back seat. She is a chatterbox in the car & talked their ears off for about 40 minutes before falling asleep!

What an incredible day at the Rodeo enjoying all things Texas, especially the Ellis family. The girls are still talking about it & Elo is still calling it the "Rode-E" & I am going to let it continue because it is that cute.