Houston Rodeo & Livestock Show

In March each year, Houston puts on the country's largest Rodeo and Livestock Show - and it is AMAZING! Unfortunately Rich and I were unable to get a babysitter for the few nights we were able to attend the Rodeo, so we didn't get to go to the actual Rodeo and concert, but I took the kids during the week to the Livestock show and they LOVED it.

The first indoor display we went through were all the bovines - who knew there were so many types of cows! This little lady isn't even that big, and she's behind fences and bars, but John wasn't so sure. As you'll see later, he got over his fear of cows. Sydney was very concerned that we call them all by their name - so if an animal didn't have a sign with their name, we had to ask.

Yes, he got over his fear. Here is the Longhorn - yes, it's real - that you could "ride". John had no problem climbing aboard and waving to the crowd. And of course we thought he was probably the cutest little cowboy who rode the steer the whole month. Sydney would only go as far as the top step, but I don't really blame her.

We've had a lot of people ask what they used to drug the thing so it didn't move; I don't have the answer. It wasn't until after the fact (like when we got home and went through all the pictures) that it dawned on me that I'd let my little 2-year-old sit on top of a Longhorn, walked away to take photos, and there was no one "attending" to the animal. No leash, no one standing next to him, nothing. Hmmm, glad I didn't think of that at the time or I might not have got such a great picture!

I bought the kids cowboy/cowgirl hats, of course, and the wore them all day. They had this fantastic "working farm" interactive display. The kids collected their basket at the beginning and then got to collect wooden eggs from the hen house, plant a "seed" and harvest their veggie, pick "fruit" from the tree, milk the cow - it was really neat. Then at the end they went to market to "sell" their goods, collected their money and passed through the store to buy a treat.

We also went to the petting zoo area (totally crazy) and rode the ponies. They had a few wallabies in the petting zoo and there was this group of kids following the around saying "look at the kangaroos" - Sydney kept correcting them saying "No, they are wallabies". One 7/8-year-old looked at her and said "No, they are kangaroos" - so Sydney turned to me with this questioning look to which I said "you're right, Sweetie, they are wallabies, but just let the kid think they are kangaroos and walk away". So she did.

They both loved the pony ride, and I have to say I was pretty impressed myself. They went around about 20 times and got a good, long ride. When we were waiting in line for our turn I was trying to figure out how one of me was going to walk along side two of them, but it turned out neither of them wanted my help - my little babies are growing up!