Fort Worth Stock Show

When mom was in town for John's birthday a few weeks ago, we spent Sunday afternoon attending the Fort Worth stock show. I had heard from colleagues that this was a great family-friendly event that the children would likely enjoy, and after having attended the show, I agree with this comment. Basically my opinion of the stock show is that it is like a state fair with a purely agricultural twist, and more specifically, a focus on livestock important to certain agricultural areas of Texas. Now, Dallas is about as non-agricultural (in general) as Texas gets, given Dallas' serious focus on all things Neiman Marcus and high-end glamour. But let me tell you, the afternoon I spent in Fort Worth (the neighboring town to Dallas, about 25 miles to the west) at the stock show was all about the typical Texas stereotypes - big hats, big boots, obnoxious clothing, and country accents. I swear that I witnessed more people wearing cowboy hats during the one afernoon we spent at the stock show than I have EVER seen during our near four years living in Dallas.

One highlight of the trip to Fort Worth was our visit to the rodeo. Mom and I took the children to the afternoon rodeo show, which was full of competitions involving horse bucking, calf roping, calf chasing, fancy horse riding tricks, and a host of other spectacles common to a rodeo. This was mom's first rodeo and was obviously the first rodeo for the children, and they honestly enjoyed it. Below is the calf-roping competition...

John in particular sat still for nearly two hours of the rodeo show, but when I asked him if he wanted to be a cowboy when he grows up he quickly answered "No, a policeman, mommy." However, he asked many questions about what the cowboys were doing with the various animals (I had no clue, so did my best to give hopefully accurate answers) and he clapped when a cowboy completed a given task successfully. It was fun!

The second best highlight (and perhaps the first highlight for the kiddos) were the midway rides. We visited the Midway after the rodeo and the children were allowed to select three rides to go on. Here are a few photos and captions to go along with the pictures. John with the longhorns!

Amelia, my motorcycle girl!

Above, before the ride (Amelia is excited, while John seems uncertain about what he is getting into!)

Above is a photo of me and the children on the mini-roller coaster. The three of us squeezed into the seat, and let's just say that I had to pretend to be excited about the thrill of the ride. But it was fun to enjoy it on behalf of the children's sake (John wanted to go on this ride and was not allowed without an adult accompanying him). Check out the scared, crying look on his face, which is quite in contrary to the pleasurable look on Amelia's face during the ride. But, despite his screaming of "I want to get off!" during the ride, when asked at the end whether it was fun, John replied (likely because his sister did), "That was fun!!"

Overall, our visit to the Rodeo and the Fort Worth stock show was fun and was certainly educational and entertaining for us all. However, I don't envision us having to participate in 4H competitions when the kids are older (not that it is even likely an option here in the tony section of Dallas where we live called University Park). I was proud though when Amelia chose to talk about her trip to the rodeo for her homework free-writing assignment last week, as it showed she got something out of our visit to Fort Worth. Yee-haw!