Rodeo & Roller Skates

Spring Break started with a sweaty Henry.  He went to a junior high boys hangout at church.  They played a lot of games that involved kicking or catching a ball.  He came back to the car very sweaty, but happy.  The next day, Henry got to go to a friend's house for the entire afternoon.  It was a beautiful day and they played football outside.  There were light saber battles and VR games.  His friend's mom took them to Sonic and later to Chick-fil-a.  They had a very good time together.  

While Henry was hanging with friends, Josiah was working on a project with a friend.  Josiah and Bobby are doing their Shakespeare Project together.  It is a pretty open-ended project in that they can use any creative method to share something from Shakespeare's time period.  (They are reading The Taming of the Shrew in class this semester.)  Josiah and Bobby reinvigorated their Good Morning Greece set and went back to Shakespeare's time.  They have kept a lot of it secret from me, hoping to just share the final product.  I do know it has something to do with the character Biondello, because that is who Bobby reads for in class and he gives him a very unique accent.  While they worked inside the house, I got to raking the front yard.  It took several hours, but I raked the whole thing and got nine very full bags of leaves.  I also got a sore back and legs.  

To stretch my aching muscles, we headed to the Rodeo on Wednesday.  Josiah had two friends ride with us and we met up with more of his friends when we arrived.  Things were a little different this year - we had to pay to get in (usually Family Wednesdays are free, but only Caroline - under 12 - was free this year), and the rides did not open until noon.  We got there close to 10, so the kids scoped out the rides they wanted to go on, we got a good group picture, and then we headed into the livestock area to see a lot of pigs.  Not only were there rows upon rows of pigs, but they were judging a brown variety as well.  They were so much larger than expected.  Many pigs were napping in their pens and quite a few napped with their snouts sticking out of the bars.  Josiah was the catalyst to visit the pigs, so he got a picture with the backside of one.  We tried for a picture of Caroline, too, but the cage bars blocked the pig.  

At noon, they were ready to ride.  All the rides were fast and spinny.  I tried to film them while simultaneously not looking at the actual ride.  They hadn't gone on too many rides before they tried to meet up with another friend.  It lead to a lot of wandering and a lot of, What are you near?  

Henry and Caroline were tired of the endless friend search and were quite hungry as well.  One more ride and we had lunch.  No one had anything exotic this year - Josiah got his typical chicken tenders and fries, Henry opted for the giant turkey leg, and Caroline wanted a burger.  The best part was the fresh squeezed lemonade because we were hot and very sweaty from walking around.  

After lunch Josiah and his friends did more rides, while Henry and Caroline found the carnival games more fun.  They tried the balloon popping game because they thought it had the best odds and it had the prizes they wanted.  When Henry tried it, his first attempt only garnered him really small prizes (Christmas ornament size).  Caroline wanted a go of it.  You needed 5 pops for a large prize.  It cost 37 tickets for 5 balls to throw (!!).  Caroline took the balls and Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Miss.  She bought one more ball and Pop!  She got a large prize - an elephant.  Henry then wanted to show he could do it, too.  He bought 5 balls and got all 5 in a row.  He picked out a Squirtle stuffed animal for Josiah.  Later Henry tried it again when he saw a Texas Longhorn prize and he won that, too. He loves that cow.

 

We were looking for another booth with the balloon pop game so Caroline could get a second prize, but as we were walking, I asked if we could check out the pig races.  People were already filing into the tent.  In years' past, we've never made the pig races because the tent has always been incredibly packed.  We ended up being 40 minutes early for the next show, but we sat.  Within 15 minutes the entire tent was packed with people.  The pigs raced for an Oreo cookie in a dish at the end of the track.  They came out of the gate a little slow and curious of their surroundings, but when one decided to run, the rest followed.  They were very cute and I was very happy we got to see them at last.  They also brought out an eight week old piglet, Swifty, that was going to swim across a water tank.  They are taking it up to Sioux Falls next week to compete in the Guinness Book of World Records.  When they put the pig on the platform, however, it took the longest pee I have ever seen from such a small animal.  When that was over, we started chanting for Swifty, who then decided to empty her bowels as well.  When that was over, Swifty swam swiftly.  

By the time the pig races were over, we met back up with the boys and finished out our day.  We were all very tired.  Knees and feet were aching.     

Thursday was a far less productive day.  Josiah attended a boys high school hangout at church.  They only played basketball.  He said he played one game and then watched.  When we got home, Caroline very methodically filled the goodie bags for her very first birthday party.  Each sticker, each candy was picked just for that person.  She wanted to have a party with her friends before we move.  She opted for a roller skating party with her CC friends.  Her old CC friend who moved to Louisiana happened to be in town, so her family got to come along as well.  It was a great way to finish the week.

The party was at a rink we had never been to before, but it was the closest one for everyone in the party.  It was nice and big and had clearly been there for many decades.  All roller rinks look like a blast from the past.  There was pizza and cake and lots of skating.  Caroline had a good time with her friends.  The boys skated a lot as well.  They were happy they were able to rent inline skates.  At one point they had races and Josiah came in 4th in one and 3rd in the other.  

Henry wants a birthday party as well.  We tried to set up an Escape Room with his CC friends this week, but half his class was out of town, so it had to be postponed til the end of the semester.  It is hard to believe that this coming week is the final countdown - only six more weeks of CC for the boys and only four for Caroline!  The reality of Monday morning is going to hit hard.  

In the downtime, Henry made a beach picture using paint samples from our trip to Home Depot.  We needed an outside light bulb.  Henry came along.