Rodeo: Calf Scramble

The Calf Scrambles is THE BEST part of the whole rodeo. Since the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo is all about kids and education, this is the perfect event. A group of high school kids line up (in the white shirts), then they turn loose 1 calf for every 2 kids. The kids simply chase a calf down, bring it back into the square in the middle and they win a scholarship to help them raise an animal next year for FFA.

And they're off!

The best word to describe this whole ordeal is pandemonium!

The girls had the guys outnumbered 2:1 on the night we watched.

Yes, this poor girl sacrificed a pair of jeans in an attempt to catch a calf.

And then the calf stepped on her!

Even when they can get their harness on the calf, that's not a guarantee the calf will actually cooperate then.

All 4 feet must come in the square, and if they catch them inside the square, they have to take them and and bring them back inside.

This calf knocked over the camera guy.

Yes, that calf is dragging on kid in the rear and harpooning another kid.

The calf shed one kids. Good times- good times!

When all else fails.....

The tail can sometimes act as a rudder to steer the calf in, but it's not generally too successful either.

Ohp! That kid is getting trampled too. This is brutal!

I'm not sure who is winning this round.

After about 20 minutes of riotous fun, the final few calves are rounded up and the remaining kids start helping each other out.

But sometimes, those calves are just STUBBORN!

So funny......

Another gal that sacrificed her jeans to the calf scramble.

After all the fun and mayhem, they start bringing out the stage and getting ready for the concert.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: Some new flooring is supposedly being installed today in the boy room.

Rodeo: Bull Riding

You know the last official cowboy event of the rodeo is about to start when you see the clowns come out with their bull barrels. They are there to help the cowboys and distract the bulls when necessary.

Bull riding is the toughest of the competitions, and involves receiving a score if you can hang on for a mere 8 second ride on a tornado.

The bulls come out kicking and spinning with their thousands of pounds of muscle and mean.

This poor cowboy got launched off this bull and back into the pens. Can you see him?

Just cause they can, the bulls usually get a good kick or stomp in on the cowboys once they toss them off.

Here is a cowboy showing excellent form and using his extra hand for balance.

And if you don't get kicked or stomped coming off, you might get hooked or horned!

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: No cowboys, cowgirls, bulls, calves or clowns were harmed in the making of the rodeo (at least the night I went).

Springtime in Texas

Spring has actually been here in Texas for a few weeks, but I'm just very behind on blogging!

Thanks to my dear mom who planted these bushes in my yard last year. We didn't have to do anything & some nice flowers started showing up about a month ago.

There are still dozens of blooms and buds on the purple tree.

I love all these new buds on the dancing pear tree, thanks to my macro lens.

Not to great for the allergies, but beautiful to look at.

The new Wax Myrtles we planted on Labor Day aren't growing fast enough, but there are still tons of blooms and buds on them too.

The timing is perfect, because the finishing touch on the new building is a big bright flood light that shines in our bedroom window at night. :(

These little guys all came out for St. Patti's Day. There not actual weeds and they really aren't in my yard either.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: Had an awesome Easter with friends and family last night and today.

Rodeo: Barrel Racing

Finally time for some girl run in the Rodeo! 3 large barrels are set up in the above pattern, and a rider attempts to creates a clover-leaf pattern around them and race back in the fastest time.

I love watching this event because the horses are so powerful and beautiful as they race around the arena.

A really good horse (and rider) will turn as close to the barrels as possible to save on time. They will tuck their rear-end low and swing tight- sometimes even knocking a barrel over, which results in a penalty.

After the last barrel, there is the final sprint back to the finish line for the prize money.

The actual highlight of barrel racing is the fancy costumes all the cowgirls wear.

Who has the most tassels and sequins gets extra points. (J/k)

With the limitations of my 200mm lens and even a super-crop, I can't adequately show off the flamboyant outfits these gals sport while on a horse.

The above horse, making such a wide turn around the barrel, is bad form.

Even worse form! You need to stay near the barrel to not lose those precious thousandths of a second.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: Happy Easter- let us celebrate the risen Christ.

Hunter's Birthday Party

Last weekend, on the first weekend of Spring Break, my brother had his 14th birthday party.

We started out at the house with almost 20 teenagers. The guys all played basketball outside.

The girls were all inside jamming out to Rock Band. Typical teenage party ;)

Despite not being the tallest guy, my brother is pretty darn good at basketball.

What he lacks in height, he makes up for enthusiasm and athletic ability.

We then loaded all the kids in 4 cars and headed downtown to Dave & Busters.

The kids had a great time playing video games & collecting hundreds of tickets.

I really think they were quite brave to take so many teenagers on such an adventure!

Since Haley & Hunter are only 18 months apart and 2 grades apart in school, Haley knows many of Hunter's friends, especially ones from the church.

H even got in on the action and hooped it up.

I was mostly entertaining myself with my camera and wasn't too interested in all the shiny, blinky, flashy, noisy games.

Back home we had a cookie-cake and ice cream.

Loved this picture of my sister laughing and sporting her new styling hairdo.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: Another 5 hours of studying today...whew!