The Rodeo and Concert

I promise, this is my last post about the Houston Livestock and Rodeo Show. We just had so much fun, and I took way too many pictures (imagine that). So, at the end of our visit there we went to the Rodeo. It's a double rodeo on the last day. You get to watch the normal 7 events and then the top 4 from each event ride again for the final prize money. It's great having two rodeos for the price of one. I was a little late getting our tickets, so we had a bird's eye view of everything. Everyone looked tiny. The kids didn't mind watching the miniature rodeo. Cowpokette was tired. She wanted to take a nap. Big Cowpoke was thirsty the entire time, and Little Cowpoke was actually being good! The Cowpokes love to go to rodeos. They talked about this rodeo all month long. It was even more exciting that they got to ride in our local rodeo the next day. Here was the line up for the final four riders in the barrel racing. It's a bit grainy. The pictures was a picture of the huge screens they have hanging above the arena. I was really excited about watching all four barrel racers go. They are all pretty competitive.Sheena Robins had a good clean run. I think this was Mary Burger. I am having a hard time remembering who was who. She had a good clean run. That was Jill Moody on the gray horse. She too had a clean run. The last to go was Lindsay Sears. I was really excited to watch her go. She was riding Martha. The horse she rode at the NFR. That first barrel, she was kind of off a bit. Well, at least it looks like it in the picture. I am sure Martha just has a powerful engine and was pushing her up out of the saddle. I don't really know, I only trot the barrel pattern and I probably would fall off Martha if I ever rode her. But here is the rest of her run. Here she is coming into the third barrel. Does anyone else see what I see is going to happen?Well, if you guessed that they knocked the barrel down, you get a gold star for today!! I guess even the best of the best have bad days. She still won a bunch of money from the rest of the runs she did during the rodeo. I was really excited to watch them run. And just a fun fact, did you know that Lindsay Sears used to be a competitive ice skater? That was kind of random!! Now on to my husbands reason for breathing, the rough stock!These guys are traveling partners. The one in the dark blue shirt won a huge rodeo in Colorado and the one in the light blue shirt won the Houston rodeo. They were both so excited for each other. They both had awesome rides. Now, just saying, but if my legs ever, EVER, looked like that on the back of a horse, and I was only holding on with one hand, my butt would be in the dirt. But I was just saying.How about one that bends in half? Holy cow! I think I would have flipped over the front of that horse's head. I know that one was saddle bronc. I had to throw that one in there. The horse was just too cool of a bucker. And you always have to love those blue roans. What are the chances that that little horse has some Hancock blood in him? He was a big mover too. Now onto my husbands love of all loves. The bull riding. These were the top four riders. My husband knew two of the bull riders. He rode with them in college rodeo. He told me to take lots of pictures, that later on he never looked at so I deleted half of them. This is his friend. I can't remember his name. I think he ended up with fifth place. So, close, but no cigar. This was his other friend. He was getting a bit brave, and he started to spur the bull. He looks like he is about to fall off, but wait, there's more!!! Oh no, oh my, I don't believe you are supposed to be riding in the back seat! Yep, the was launched into the air. I thought I had gotten a picture of the flight, but I must have deleted it. He did make the 8 seconds though. But not a good enough time for the top four. The the top four bull riders went. The first three didn't cover their bulls. So, the last bull rider was up. All he had to do was cover his bull and he would win 50,000 dollars.He covered his bull and won the 50,000. If he hadn't covered his bull, all four riders would have had to ride again. Then for our intermission, we got to watch two go rounds of chuck wagon racing!!Those crazy men stand up that entire time that four galloping horses pull the tiny wagon around the arena. The things people do for fun!! The thrill seekers!! After each night of the rodeo, there is always a music concert. We got to watch Brooks and Dunn. While the stage was being put together, we got to watch the calf scramble. It was like watching ants run around! The calf scramble is always fun to watch. I hope one day my kids get to do a calf scramble. Then the lights went down and Brooks and Dunn came out to sing!The stage is a circle and it rotates around as the songs are sung. It's pretty cool. Plus they have really awesome lights. Big Cowpoke slept through the entire concert. Is this Dunn? Well, if he is, then he sang all the songs. Brooks was sick, so he didn't sing any of his songs. I always get the two of them mixed up. When the stage came back around our way, Brooks jumped off the stage and found a little girl to dance with. It was so cute!I would have died!! How exciting to be able to say you danced with Kix Brooks. Sigh.........It was a really great show! The kids all loved it and it was the perfect end to a super long day. The concert ended at 8 pm. Which was perfect for us. We had a three hour long drive home. We put the kids in their pajamas and went home! It was a long day and this was a long post!