HLSR

Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.  I believe that to be the official name.  "The Rodeo" is all one must say though, and I'm pretty sure everyone in Texas will know what you mean.  It is a part of life down here, not to be missed.  My son, a born Texan, does in fact ask to attend each year now.  So attend we did!

I took the kiddos with some friends this year - my friend Kelly to be exact.  Sam and her Leo have been thick as thieves since they were babies, and now that they neither live near each other nor attend school together, we make an effort to do these types of outings together.  Sam was thrilled to have a buddy along, especially for the inside stuff, which he deemed to be boring compared to the "outside stuff and the rides."  Really?  He found the carnival to be more exciting than the educational exhibits in a giant arena?  I AM shocked!

 

 

 

Annabelle appreciated more of the indoor activities, though, because several involved looking at animals.  Cows of various shapes, pigs of different sizes, bunnies, chicks, and my personal favorite, the animal L&D/Postpartum wing.  Yup, they group a bunch of super-preggo and just delivered animals together in hopes of showing off some live births.  I've never seen one, but I just love peeking in at the newborns.

And we rode the light rail again - Honestly, it was Annabelle who was most excited about this ride.  Her train obsession right now is fierce.  I'm glad she got a kick out of it, since she was only tall enough for 2 or 3 carnival rides.

We departed the light rail around 1:15 with two worn out kids.  I grabbed 2 happy meals, settled everyone into their seat and managed to keep them both awake on the 25 minute drive home, at which point I placed 2 tired and full kids into their beds for naps.  Mommy score!

As an extra treat this year, Chris and I went to the Rodeo as well!  We actually went on a triple date with some new friends from the neighborhood.  We took a hired car to Reliant, and despite it being 40 minutes late, that is a great way to go.  No parking, no waiting in traffic, no shuttles.  There's awesome rodeo action first, including barrel racing, bull riding, calf scramble, wagon racing and mutton busting.  The mutton busting is 5-7 year olds - Sam is unfortunately uninterested but one of the guys we went with offered to train our sons together if we can convince them!

The concert was Maroon 5 and I actually enjoyed it!  I'm  not much of a concert girl (Chris isn't into them either, we're a great match!) but I like this one!  I really knew the words to every song that was played, which Chris says is a testament to how overplayed they are on the radio.  Great seats, a chopped beef sandwich and some nachos helped, too.

It was a fun night out and a great chance to hang with friends.  Chris and I are contemplating some boot purchases, but we're leaning towards our 10-year anniversary in Texas before making such a commitment.  We're 8.5 years in...are we Texans yet?