500 Babies Go Back to the Rodeo

Believe it or not, not every American was watching the Super Bowl yesterday.  Some of us went to the rodeo instead.  Normally the rodeo is jam-packed on weekends, but I had a hunch that the crowds would be a lot thinner during the big game.  When we arrived at 5:00 and saw a steady stream of people leaving the grounds, I knew my hunch had paid off. 

Here's the pre-rodeo group shot from last year:

And this year:

                    
Aw, still as cute as ever!  All right, on to the fun!

We had front-row seats to the snake demonstration.  Here are the three big kids following directions by using one finger to gently touch a snake:

Here's Adrian at the snake show.  He did not get to use one finger to gently touch the snake because he is still working on the concepts of "one" and "gently".

Like last year, we packed our own lunches to save a little money.  (But the lure of fajitas may or may not have been too great for the adults to resist!)  Due to the light crowds, we had our pick of picnic tables.  Normally we're lucky to even find a bench to sit on.

                               

HEB had a fun "Farm to Market" area set up for children.  The kids get to choose a basket...

...plant and harvest pretend vegetables...

...and feed pretend chickens to receive a pretend egg...(These are live chickens in the picture.)

They were also able to milk a pretend cow to get a carton of milk for their basket and brush a pretend sheep to receive a baggie of wool.  When finished, they "sold" their goods at the market and then got to "buy" an item from the store.  By the time we got there, all that was left for them was celery, but as you can see they didn't seem to mind.  (And it wasn't pretend celery, either!)
                    

We also did the usual walking through the animal barns and petting area.

So there you have it, another successful outing for the 500 Babies!