We had such a blast on Saturday night. No pictures, as I always have the most fun when there's no chance of a photo being shot. Go figure! We were driving in the car last week and heard an ad for tickets on sale for EXTREME BULL RIDING! Luke decided that would be a fun thing for us to do for his birthday. Jarrod and I agreed.

We picked up his friend Preston(who lives in town), went and ate dinner at Runza with ALL the kiddos, dropped the two younger ones off at Grandma and Grandpa's. We went to the Lancaster events center. It was brutally cold and windy out, the forecast said no precipitation in sight for the next ten days, yet here we were in a freezing rain advisory and down it was coming slicking up all the paved roads. Jarrod took us all the way there on gravel, drove probably only two miles on pavement. Totally besides the point, I digress.

We got there, boy that smell hits ya. Love dung! Oh I'm sorry I was later corrected, "its not cow poop that smells mom, its bull urine" says Max my little cowboy. I turn to look at Jarrod and laugh with him at this absurd thing, my son had said with some authority. But Jarrod rebuffs me and nods at me seriously, like what Max said is true. Unbelievable. I relive the moment, the rare moment, we took the three older boys(when it was only three boys) to Famous Daves to eat. They have mounted animals hanging on their walls. Max was three(and no I'm not exaggerating) the waitress pointed to the animal heads and said "Do you like the deer?" Max looks at her and says "That's not a deer, that's an elk." She looked at Jarrod and he confirmed it with a nod. An impressed waitress went off to do her job. I didn't know the difference back then, and was thoroughly floored by him. Again I digress.

The show finally started, and we saw a lot of short bull rides. Cowboys with fancy chaps and facemasks. More than a few needed them. I found watching on TV is much easier than watching it live and in person. It is brutal, these BOYS put themselves in a very dangerous position. I just imagined being one of their parents. Nope, no bull riding in my boys' futures.

Luke's eyes were all lit up. He's been dabbling in belt buckles from various people. He likes to dress like a cowboy. Wants wrangler jeans for his birthday. Would kill for a pair of cowboy boots. But there were like REAL cowboys there. Swagger, jeans, hats, giant belt buckles, etc. He's always been a keen observer.

At "half-time" the rodeo clown called out all kids ages four to twelve. Luke and Sam jumped up and ran into the arena. Luke was so hoping there would be mutton bustin' (sheep riding), but they had all the four to eight year old line up and run across the arena, take a shoe off(if you're not gasping yet, you should be) run back, run back to their one shoe and put it back on and run back. Sam was in the middle of the pack to begin, took his shoe off and ran back. Ran back slipped his shoe on, when most of his counterparts had boots to put back on(heee heee). He ran his little heart out, but slowed down to watch a girl running next to him. She won. What a guy.

Luke on the other hand didn't have slip-on shoes. He ran hard. Took one shoe off, ran back, and back to put his shoe on. Didn't get it all the way on and tripped, fell face first in the "dirt?" . Jarrod and I were laughing so hard. It was hilarious. He didn't win either. It was worth a million bucks in memories.

I think it would be a blast to run a ranch with numerous animals. I know Jarrod dreams of a Montana mountain life. I think that would be great too. Someday maybe. Tomorrow is my Luke's 10th birthday! He wants spaghetti and meatballs and apple pie for dessert. Ten years already. whoa! It goes by in a blink.