Let's Rodeo!

This past weekend I took the boys to the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo. As you can imagine, the Rodeo is a huge deal here (so much so that the Spurs have to go on a 2.5 week road trip). When we walked into the rodeo grounds Joey's eyes got really wide and he exclaimed, "Dad, LOOK at all the COWBOYS!!!" He was absolutely rapt during the events, almost always cheering out (with his arms included) "AllRIGHT!!! He GOT him!!!" or "OOOOHHHhhhh... He MISSED him..." Even during the barrel racing (which in my mind, is the rodeo's version of when you go to the bathroom) he shreiked every time a barrel was knocked over, like something he had worked so hard for had just been lost (which was probably exactly how the barrel racers felt). We had fun in the midway where we rode a ride that almost made us throw up, we went through all of the Texas exhibits and the rodeo hall of fame, and of course through all the millions of square feet of barns for the stock show. The boys really liked the swine barn, where they wanted to personally inspect each of the approximately 2,000 pigs. All in all, it was a good day.

Except maybe for this guy who may or may not have had his head stepped on by a bull.


Here are some videos I took while we were there.

1. One of my favorite events is the "Mutton Busting," which may explain why Texans are tougher than your average American.


2. Outside the arena there were the strangely entertaining "Pig Races"


3. Here some shots of some of the riders--bulls, bareback, and saddle broncs--plus an appearance by the famous clown Leon. James, I'm sorry you missed it, but you can just watch this over and over.


4. The entertainment directly after the event on Saturday was Alan Jackson. Every other day has an equally big performer. This year included Willie Nelson, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Beach Boys, Brooks and Dunn, etc. While I'm not a huge fan of country music, I can definitely appreciate Alan Jackson at the rodeo. Joey was completely fixated, but I don't think Charles like it very much...


For slightly better resolution, you can see the videos themselves on YouTube with these links:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m61mP3rwIeg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yy8aizP0N6U
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rz-sq3IqpZQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOlJRZWsfFo