Rodeo

For my sister Emily's birthday we went to a rodeo. These aren't pictures from the one we saw because they didn't allow photography but it's pretty much the same thing. I couldn't believe how those cowboys just got thrown around so much. They kept calling them the world's toughest athlete but after one got thrown off and then stepped on by a bucking horse I leaned over to Ben and said, "You mean the world's dumbest athletes." No offense to rodeo cowboys but what do you expect when you try to ride a thousand pound angry animal that doesn't want to be ridden? It was pretty impressive though and there were only a couple of significant injuries. (However, I'm sure all the riders will be visiting their chiropractors for months to come....talk about whip lash.)
Me with my sisters, Emily and Megan.

A rare shot of just the two of us.
My Dad actually wore cowboy boots and a belt buckle to the rodeo. (For any of you that know my Dad you know why I had to snag a picture.) They belonged to my Mom's Dad who passed away a couple years ago. My Mom loves costumes and over the years she's gotten my Dad to wear a variety of things outside his normal wardrobe. He drew the line at the tights she wanted him to wear as part of a George Washington costume. However, when my Mom gets fixed on an idea she's pretty determined to make it happen so she made a deal with my Dad. They agreed that all he had to do was try them on. If they fit he would wear them. If they didn't fit, he was off the hook. He took one look at those shriveled up little things and knew he had nothing to lose. If they could fit inside a sandwich bag they could surely never fit a grown man. Well, that day my dad learned one of womankind's most basic secrets--control top. Much to his surprise and dismay the tights fit. He was a really good sport and kept his end of the bargain although I'm sure he's much more careful now about making deals with my Mom. Now that I think about it, I'm not sure why tights would be so critical to a colonial style costume. It's not like it was Batman or Superman. Wouldn't knee-highs have worked just as well?