Yee-Haw

Yesterday was my birthday, and it was a great day!  Thanks everyone for all the birthday wishes :) 

The day started out with my hubs cooking me a yummy breakfast- thanks dear!  Then we got ready to go to the National Western Stock Show here in Denver.  Yep, that's right folks, a stock show.   To kick off the show they have a parade downtown, which I missed :(  Here is a picture of it:

 

The show is in town for about 2 weeks (maybe 3?) and Sunday was the last day so we got tickets to the sold out rodeo finals. 

We headed out around 11:30 so we would have time to roam around before the 2:00 rodeo.  It was quite the scene!

Comfort dental cowgirl tooth fairy

Inside there is a trade show type of thing where they sell everything under the sun.  There are also lots of different events going on showcasing different livestock, auctions, pony rides, sheep herding, bull riding and so on.

belt buckles galore

Lots of farm equipment

palease!

Underneath the stadium where they do the smaller events like the sheep herding are the "stables."  Since it was the last day they were pretty much cleared out.   Someone who went earlier in the week told me it was a similar scene to the movie Best in Show, and that they are blow drying the cattle's hair, etc before they go out to be sold or whatever it is they do.  

These kids were walking this sheep (?) on a leash.

Before the rodeo we wanted to watch some of the sheep herding (bc we LOVE aussies!!).

None of the trials we saw were too successful but it was fun to watch, especially when the dogs were being naughty & not following their owners commands :)  They really got yelled at but it was hysterical.  Crazy how well-trained these dogs are for the most part.

One of the more well-behaved doggies:

We did a little bit more roaming around..

petting zoo

Such a child...

I kept telling Christian I bet Temple Grandin is here!!  Here she is in the program.

After this we grabbed a snack and then headed over to the rodeo, in a different building.
It was carnival like outside the rodeo

Fried Twinkie's

OK here we go...

(This is where the video of them setting things on fire, etc. would go but it won't upload, boo)

First up were the bucking bronco's

I can't tell which video is which but here are some of the different events.  It seems like we were really far away but it's just the video's... we had a great view of everything!

This video below was one of my favorite parts.  These little kids ride the sheep and get scored.  Some of them came out of the chute completely on the sheep's side and then slid underneath it but kept hanging on.  It was hysterical.



 

 

This horse below was one of the little acts between the good stuff.  Basically the guy talked to the horse and the horse did everything he said.  For example he would say, "Canter, stop.  back up.  trot..."  Then he had the horse jump in the bed of the truck while it was moving. 

We had a great time!
Though I was bummed this little guy didn't make an appearance (he has in the past):






Glad we took advantage of doing something different while we are here in Denver.  As my mom said we are going to be very bored back home :)