When in Rome...

The National Western Stock Show is in town. It's an annual event that has been going on for over 100 years and is the biggest stock show in the world. It's got rodeos, bull riding, parades, auctions, livestock exhibitions, and just about every other thing you can think of that has to do with ranching and agriculture.

It's a world I know nothing about, so we figured we'd take the kids and see what was what. Zeke was crazy excited to go see horses and cows ("and chickens?" "sure, honey, chickens, too." "And rhinos?" "no, I don't think there will be rhinos, but we can go to the zoo afterwards if you want").

We put on our plaid shirts and our Aussie jackaroo hats and headed off to the Denver Coliseum. I'm sure we looked like complete dorks to the authentic rancher and farmer types that were there actually doing business, but we had fun.

It was kind of awesome. What was really interesting, in addition to seeing rows and rows of livestock for sale and learning about life on the farm and stuff like that, was seeing all of the cowboys and cowgirls check each other out. For people living out in the country on farms and ranches, this is THE big social event of the year, and it's something of a meat market (and not just the beef kind).

Zeke puts on Daddy's hat and says "I'm a cowBOY! I'm a cowBOY!" No idea why he emphasized the second syllable.

Josie and Mommy check out a pretty horse.

Zeke's observation upon seeing the horses and cows up close: "They've got boogies."

"Semen for Sale." This big guy doesn't even need to stand up to impregnate all yer wimmin' folk.

Saturday night was Parents' Night Out at the daycare, so Jason and I had been planning a date night. We thought about going to the movies, but decided to hit the Mexican Rodeo Extravaganza instead. Our very first date was at a rodeo, so we're going to make the Stock Show an annual pilgrimage to remember the good ol' days.

A quarter-horse auction, complete with an auctioneer talking at lightening speed. I spent the rest of the night going, "EIGHTYFIVE heebadabadoobadabadeebadaba EIGHTSEVEN heebadabadoobadabadeebadooba..." It's irresistible once you get started.

A horseshoe making competition. These guys were working HARD.

Another date night at the rodeo, 6 years after the first one...