Rodeo!

A couple of weekends ago we took a really fun weekend trip to Galena, Illinois to see a RODEO! I had been to some rodeos when I was younger, but for Jason and the kids it was a first. We went in part to see the fireworks after (it was the weekend before the 4th of July) and it really felt like a very American thing to be doing for the 4th.

Before the show we got to go down into the arena and see all the animals up close. Eli is our animal lover, and so was the most excited about all of it--especially getting to pet the horse!

Logan was really interested to see real, live bulls (as opposed to the cartoon and basketball player versions we watch on TV during NBA season). They are REALLY big!

It was a lovely evening to be outside. I was so impressed at how happy our kids were the whole time, especially considering that it wasn't over until about 10:30pm and they're usually in bed no later than 7:30pm! Eli's favorite part of the rodeo was walking around behind us and jumping on our backs, or patting our heads while saying, "duck, duck" but thankfully never "goose":)

Here are our good friends, the Andersons. This is their 4th of July tradition and they were kind enough to let us tag along with them this year. I decided to thank them but putting this picture of them on the blog instead of their silly face one, even though that is the one I really wanted to add:)

One of our favorite parts of the whole night was watching these two cute buddies playing together! Ali's favorite part of the rodeo was the fireworks at the end--a girl after her mother and grandmother's hearts!

Logan's favorite part was climbing up the fence that surrounded the arena and sitting on the top rail.

It was a fun adventure!