Houston Rodeo

During spring break in March, our family spent a day at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. We didn't purchase tickets for the actual rodeo and concert but still found plenty to keep us busy on the rodeo grounds. We were hoping that Cody and Jaden would have a second opportunity to do mutton bustin', a crazy sheep-riding event just for 5 and 6 year olds. Both boys rode sheep at the rodeo last year when they were 5 and enjoyed it, but we were thinking that they might exceed the 55 lb weight limit this year. Thankfully, at the mutton bustin' tent weigh-in, the boys just barely qualified (with Jaden extra close at 55.4 lbs!).   

Unlike last year, neither boy was nervous this time around since they knew what to expect!

Each rider was outfitted with a special RodeoHouston vest and a helmet.

Look at all these crazy Texan kids!!

Adley was quite eager to watch her brothers "ride a sheep!"

Cody was first up to ride. The announcer always gives the rider's name and some of his rodeo favorites. Cody said that he liked to see the baby chickens at the rodeo and that he wanted to be a construction worker when he grew up. His sheep was named Billy Bob.

Cody had a wonderful ride and made it to the opposite end of the arena! Here is his mutton bustin' video. 

The judges introduced Jaden as a boy who wants to be a scientist and likes seeing the bee exhibit at the rodeo. Jaden rode a sheep named Q-Tip.

As you can see, Jaden slid all the way to the underside of the sheep but thankfully came out unharmed!

Here is Jaden's video of his last mutton bustin' appearance.

After the last rider went, all the kids walked out into the arena to receive their participation ribbons. What a crazy, unique experience! We were so glad the boys could do it again!

The mutton bustin' event took up most of our morning, but we still had time for a few more rodeo activities before we left. Our next activity was watching pig races.

Cody was selected to be a flag bearer for our section. He was thrilled!

Next, we went to the AgVenture barn where we saw a couple baby lambs that had just been born that morning!

Also in the Ag building, all three kids planted a cup of sunflower seeds...

...and then spent some time watching the bees. It's always fun to try to spot the queen bee!

Seeing all the animals in the petting zoo was an especially big highlight for Adley. She wasn't nervous around these animals at all!

Our final Ag activity was watching the baby chicks. We didn't see any hatching, but it's always fun watching these little guys hop around.

Before leaving the rodeo grounds, we stopped at one last place that our family always enjoys called Fun on the Farm.

First, the kids picked out a "seed" to plant and then "harvested" their vegetables.

The next stop was to wash their harvest at the water pump. 

Then, the kids visited various farm-like stations, such as touching real wool, milking a (not real) cow, feeding chickens, climbing onto a tractor...

...and playing in a large box of corn!

At the very end, the kids exchanged their vegetable harvest at the market for play money. They were told to put half of this money in the bank, and the other half can be used to buy a (real!) treat to eat. 

As always, our family enjoyed our time on the rodeo grounds. Next year, we're thinking that everyone will likely be old enough to try out the real rodeo experience in addition to some of these grounds activities. 

Yee-haw!