Annual Rodeo Trek

So Tuesday night, Jen and I did our annual trek to the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo with our 6 year old Daniel.  As usual, it was a dreary, rainy evening here in Houston so it felt like the perfect night to go.  I'm providing the details in this post mainly for those who don't live in Houston and may not know what the Houston Rodeo looks like.  For the Houston crowd, please enjoy the pictures.

Upon entering the Livestock Show area and after getting past the initial introduction to the sicky sweet scent of livestock, we walked amongst the rows and rows of plump, sheared, ready-to-show bovine.  Then we headed down to the kid area where we fed goats, lamb, chickens and a very rude, overly aggressive llama.  Then we did the pony ride, looked at the chicken hatchery, viewed the baby piglets and checked out the largest rabbit I've ever seen...it was the size of a large cat!

Bovine ready for show

Participants practicing for show

Cowboy Dan taking a spin around the range!

Daniel in the petting zoo

A very rude llama!  Get back!

Yes...that's a rabbit!  Or a small cow?

We then sauntered over to Reliant Stadium for the rodeo.  Tickets had been purchased upon our arrival and for $21 a piece we took four escalator rides to our seats in the nosebleed area.  Luckily, Reliant really doesn't have a bad seat and there was plenty of room for us to spread out.  Jen and I chowed on a pretty descent burger/fries and Daniel weighed in on a pizza followed by blue cotton candy. 

Daniel taking down some pizza

Momma, Daniel & Cotton Candy

You think he'll give Dad a bite?

The view from the cheap seats!

The usual bull-dogging, calf-roping, bareback bronc riding commenced and then the spectacular bull-riding event started.  The announcer promptly told us about one rider the previous evening who had to get 60 stitches between his anus and his junk. Yikes!  Those guys are nuts!  Of course, they think we're nuts for driving the Houston freeways everyday.

Then came the barrel racing and the mutton bustin' competition. This is where it got fun.  They strap 4-6 year old kids to the back of sheep and let them run.  Most kids fell within the first 10 feet, but a couple of youngsters made it 30-40 yards!  Now that's some entertainment! 

Mutton Bustin'

As Keith Urban fired up the band, we took our leave and made the 8 mile journey back to our car.  Daniel almost made it before I hauled him the last 100 yards.  So we've done our time at the Rodeo...again.  In fact, Jen went with some girls on Monday night for the Tim McGraw show, so she's really done!  What's truly amazing is that after going to this event annually for the past 40 years or so, it's still a ton of fun and it never gets old!