Well, How-dee!

It's rodeo season here in Houston, and I suddenly feel like I live in a different country. I know I have said this about Texas before, but the rodeo takes it to a whole new level.

Think of every single stereotype of Texas you can. What came to mind? Trucks? Fried food? Accents? Farms? Texas flags? Animals? Cowboy hats? Football?


That's the rodeo. All of those things are gathered into one place. It's overwhelming.

Yesterday, we adventured to the rodeo for the first time. After parking at Chris and Ryan's (they're seriously the best) and walking over, we picked up our tickets at will-call, and found our way inside the gate.

Then, we had no idea what to do. The rodeo has several parts, but we don't really know how to navigate them. There is a carnival, a livestock show (still very unsure what that actually means), and a rodeo, and then a big concert every night.

We wandered around the carnival at first, and saw a lot of rides and games, as well as a lot of fried food (on a stick!). For those of you who are familiar with Havertown traditions, think St. Denis Fun Fair, with a lot more fried food and about 10 times as big. I had the option to have any food fried- literally. So I figured when in Rome...

My qualifications were that it had to be fried and it had to be on a stick. This was easily achieved... with a fried Snickers.

Yes, the girl who prefers whole foods and eats vegetarian ate a fried Snickers bar on a stick. And liked it.

Then, we wandered through the Livestock Show Pavillion. We saw what looked like the AKC dog show... but kids were showing cows. We can't decide if this was what the Livestock Show is or if it's where people go to buy horses, pigs, goats, lambs, etc, but we will figure it out eventually!

Finally, we headed into the actual rodeo. We saw events like steer wrestling, calf scrambling, barrel racing, and bull riding... it was surreal. I loved that the best barrel racer EVER in the history of the Houston Rodeo... is a woman! She is a cowgirl from South Dakota, and is really cool. The events were so entertaining, and a very interesting part of American culture.

My favorite by far... Mutton Bustin'. It is when small children (aged 4-7) ride sheep for as long as they can. It's actually hilarious. They just grab on to the sheep and hold tight... so cute. Peyton, a 6 year old girl, was the Mutton Bustin' champion. Her interview was adorable... she informed the cowgirl that she had  done this 7 times before, which was probably why she was so good at it. She also practiced on her dog.

After the cowboy events were over, there was a concert that our ticket included admission to! Last night? Austin Mahone and Demi Lovato. Teen pop sensations. Pretty sure we were waaaaaay too old to be there, but we loved every second of it. Demi especially- she is such a positive role model for girls! She beat an eating disorder and depression, and she is very open about her story and empowering people to beat these terrible things. She's actually very talented too- girl can sing! She's from Texas and sang a great country song about being home, and teared up... which is when Eva, Megan and I lost it.

Look for more updates about missing home and the visit of Mary Emily and Kaitlin very soon!