Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo x2!!

This has been another annual event for us, ever since Grayson was a baby.  We first took him to the rodeo at 11 months old, and he was curious about everything.  We've been back every year since!  Oh, wait, actually he first went to the rodeo in my belly, just a few weeks before he was born.  He was in there dancing during the Brad Paisley concert after the rodeo! :)  We always pick a Saturday, so that we can make a whole day of it....we can spend the day at the Livestock Show, see the animals, exhibits, enjoy fun food, etc, then sit & enjoy the rodeo and concert at the end of the day.  The last few years, Brad Paisley has performed on one of the Saturdays, so we've seen the same performer several times.  Consequently, Grayson is a huge fan of BP!  When we started talking about the rodeo this year, Grayson immediately started talking about BP, except he was performing on opening night this year, a Tuesday!  We'd picked a Saturday already, and knew he'd have fun a different concert.  But the day before opening night, there were still some cheap seats available and our schedule was open, so we made a last minute decision to head over on Tuesday evening for opening night (first time at opening night!) and let Grayson hear BP performing again.  It was a rainy evening and of course the kids were up past bedtime, so it had the potential for disaster, but fortunately it turned out to be a fantastic, spontaneous evening.  We were nearly the only people in our section, which meant the kids could wander around without disturbing people, our section was directly across from the stroller check-in place (woohoo!  the things that make a mommy happy...), and all four of us had a great time.  Harrison was more into the animals and Grayson was more into the music, but they both enjoyed the whole thing.  Grayson understood the point of the rodeo events a lot more this year than previous years, and he got into cheering when the cowboys weren't bucked off, etc.  He was also a particularly big fan of the barrel racing!  So, enough words, here are the pics from opening night at the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo this year!

Harrison is waving to the horses in this picture! 

Love how into it Harrison was! 

Both boys particularly like seeing the old firetrucks drive around the arena during the opening ceremony! 

Harrison is pointing & exclaiming over things, even while he eats! 

And then it was concert time... 

That is a happy little boy! 

I was surprised Harrison stayed awake for the whole thing, but I did get some double snuggles during the last song or 2, when they were starting to get groggy! 

End of a long, fun evening!

Then a week and a half later we loaded up the 2 cutest cowboys EVER, and went back on a Saturday to spend the whole day at the livestock show and rodeo!!

Seriously.  How cute are they???

Unfortunately, it turned out to be raining AGAIN that day, so we were not able to do the outdoor stuff that we usually do.  Grayson REALLY wanted to ride the ferris wheel, but when we told him the fair would be coming to Beaumont soon and we'd try again there, he managed to not throw a fit about not getting to ride due the rain.  There's a fun outdoor interactive farm-to-market exhibit that the kids usually enjoy, but we skipped that due to the rain as well.  Despite the rain and missing out on a few of our regular activities, it was still a successful Saturday at the rodeo.  The kids thoroughly enjoyed all the animals and tractors inside the exhibit hall, as usual.  Grayson had asked to bring his camera this time, and I got a kick out of watching him take his own pictures of whatever interested him most.

After he took their picture, he was talking to these chicks and asking to them come closer so he could see them better... lo and behold, they actually did!  His grin was SO big!

They are so cute in their cowboy duds I just about can't stand it!!

Showing Daddy a "bu-fwy" 

The John Deere's are always a hit with these boys, 

the pretty backdrop was a nice extra touch on this one though!

longhorn

 The kids are baaing like a sheep in this one:

They like the soft bunny!

 Can't get enough tractor time!

They also made some new friends on the model swingset over in the shopping/vendor area. 

And before heading over to the rode, Grayson wanted to be a performer, 

and if Grayson wants to then by default Harrison wants to as well.

 

At the rodeo, Grayson happily whipped his camera back out to take picture of everything from the animals, to the speakers, to the trucks that carried things around!

Not bothering to include any actual rodeo pics, since I already put some in from our first trip.  The concert this night was Hunter Hayes, and it was our first time to hear him live.  We thoroughly enjoyed his concert.  His live singing was fantastic!  And I also loved that he mixed it up and played the drums and piano, not just the guitar.  Grayson noticed too, and commented on HH "playing the piano like me".

Harrison was tuckered out after a long, exciting day at the rodeo, and he fell asleep during the first song.  I spent the whole concert snuggling this sweetie and watching Grayson thoroughly enjoy himself!  Don't really have any good pictures of Grayson - he was moving too much & it was too dark - but he had such a good time.  He was singing, dancing, playing air guitar, air drums, air piano, and spent at least half the concert turned around facing our section (we were in the front row of our section)...pretty sure he was pretending they were his audience!!  He had such a blast.  Hunter Hayes has a brand-new pint-sized fan!

 

Drums!

Piano!

Grayson noticed people holding up their lights on their phones and said "Daddy, can I use your phone?"  Totally cracked me up!! 

Afterwards, we were thankful the rain was only a light drizzle, so we didn't get too soaked on the walk back to the van!  And that wraps up another year of the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo!