Stock Show and Rodeo Time!

     Last weekend we went to the Ft Worth Stock Show and Rodeo, which has become an annual tradition for us, one I inherited when I married Dalton. We were really looking forward to it, thanks to a book we read called Goodnight Cowtown. It had a page about the stock show and about the rides at Midway. Each time we read the book I'd let Cooper know that we'd be going there and maybe we could ride the dragon ride.
    Saturday morning dawned and we headed out early (practice run for our trip tomorrow). We stopped at McDonalds for breakfast and potty break and then went on to Ft Worth and Academy. Dalton exchanged his tent for a better and unused one, and I found some shoes for myself. I have to tell you God knew I didn't have much time to try and decide and pick, so he made it clear as could be. The shoes that I like were on clearance, had one pair left that was in my size and were the right brand. Then as a bonus, a pair of shoes I'd seen at Christmas were on sale, one pair left and just my size. I wasn't too sure if I should get them, but once Ace spit up on them it sealed the deal.

Trying to get a peek at the goats

     Parking was crazy at the grounds, so we parked across the street and walked a little bit. Ace had fallen asleep and miraculously stayed asleep as I put him in the stroller and we walked around a bit. We saw show goats, baby animals and Cooper even got to hold a baby goat.

     Then we headed to the expo hall to look at the goods for sale and get a corndog (a must for me and Cooper). By this time Ace was awake so I put him on my back and he rode just fine.

     Even though there were toys galore, Cooper walked right past them. He was on a mission to find and sit on every full sized tractor there. And I think he accomplished his mission! He was in little boy paradise and it was hard to pull him away. Finally we managed to entice him with a corn dog and lemonade. So good!

"This is nice, but I want a green one."

     Before rodeo time we wanted to head to Midway, where the rides are. I had to see if the dragon ride was there….and it was! Popsey bought some tickets for us (thank you Popsey!) and Dalton, Cooper, Merann and I waited in line. When it was our turn Merann and I wound up in the front car with Dalton and Cooper behind us. I wanted to ride so I could get a picture of the boys during the ride. As we sat there waiting for the coaster to take off, Merann and I realized how silly we looked sitting side by side in a small roller coaster with no child. Oh, well! It was fun and Cooper really liked it.

 Wheeeeeee!

 After the dragon he rode a car ride, a tractor, and a flying dragon.

Pitcock, Cooper Pitcock

He was just mesmerized by all the fun and we had to carry him away to the rodeo.

Look at Dalton's face..priceless! He was attempting to put formula in a bottle for me and it was spilling all over his hand. The face says it all.

     We were sitting at the very top of the arena, so we had a nice bird's eye view. The rodeo was really good, especially since Ace did this the entire time….

     We saw Whiplash the cowboy monkey and the chuck wagon races (I only picked one winner), in addition to the normal events. After the rodeo we headed out and to the car. It was just about as great as it could have been; the boys behaved so well and the company was so nice. We finished the day with dinner at Papasitas…yum, and a quick run into Sam's for diapers and milk.

     Another great time at the Stock Show and Rodeo!! Now onto California…..