Wild, Wild West

When I was in second grade, I went on a field trip to the Stock Show. I hadn't been back since. Recently, Marina and I had a conversation about the Stock Show and we decided to go this year. Naturally, Marina wanted to wear her Jessie costume from Toy Story. We left after lunch today. It was a beautiful day, so a lot of people made the same decision and we had to park pretty far away. Fortunately, we were able to take a shuttle and get to the grounds quickly.

When we arrived, Marina found a tractor to climb on. We also watched an artist demonstration - a man using a chainsaw to create carvings out of logs. We were just in time to see a show of trained pigs. It was funny. During the show, Marina spotted Ainsley, on of her classmates. They were excited to find each other and asked if we could all hang around together. So, we headed into the exhibit hall together.

Inside we saw the holding area for cows and sheep. The sheep were much more interest in us than the cows. Some even allowed themselves to be petted. We also looked around the vendor hall. The girls were drawn to all the glittery cowgirl stands. Ainsley and her family always like to look at fancy horse trailers, so we joined them in that.

We had tickets to the Wild West Show, so we left our friends and went to get a snack before the show. We got a funnel cake - one of our favorite snacks. Then we headed over to the show. The Wild West Show was a recreation of Buffalo Bill's traveling show of the 1880's. We saw shooting demonstrations, historical reenactments, bucking broncos, horse races and fancy lassoing. Marina loved it.

After the show was over, we had the opportunity to go backstage to meet the actors. Marina chatted with Annie Oakley and the Rodeo Queen. She also go to pet some of the horses from the show. On the way out, we met up with Ainsley and her family again. We also met the County Fair Queen.

We were tired, so we said goodbye to Ainsley and headed for our shuttle. Marina asked if we can come back next year. The stock show was a hit!