God Bless Texas!

I'd like to share a little culture with those of you who may not be from around these parts. It's rodeo time here in Texas and I couldn't be happier to be a Texan!

To help you understand, I give you 13 things I love about this rodeo season:

1. This is the one of time of year when you do actually see horse-drawn wagons on the roads. I realize (because I've met them before) there are people who think this is how Texas is all the time, but believe it or not we do have cars!

2. At the rodeo not only can you see calf roping, barrel racing, and bull riding, but also mutton bustin' where (I'm not kidding) kids ages 5 and 6 years old attempt to ride a "mutton" or sheep the longest! At least the parents who allow their babies to hang on the back of a running, bucking sheep have the good sense to put helmets on them 1st, or maybe that's just because the event coordinators require it!

3. Rodeo season gives us all an excuse to wear western clothes and is there anything cuter than little cowgirls and cowboys?


4. Not only do they serve BBQ at the rodeo, but fried Oreos.

5. And funnel cake sundaes (because a regular funnel cake is not fattening enough, you must add ice cream and chocolate sauce and whipped cream!)

6. And chocolate dipped cheesecake

7. And all kinds of food on a stick that you never imagined could be served on a stick!

8. The livestock show is the only place I know where you can see pigs worth $140,000 and steers worth $300,000. Here's my daughter a couple years ago staring at the grand champion steer that would later auction for around $300,00. She decided she liked it so much, "Daddy, can I have him?"

9. At the livestock show my kids can see real milking demonstrations -- "so that's where our milk comes from!"

10. They also have a birthing center where you can see baby pigs, cows, sheep, horses, etc. that are just days old! So cute!

11. You can cheer on your favorite pig in the pig races!

12. The petting zoo provides all kinds of opportunities for strengthening your kids' immune systems!

13. And if all that were not enough, there is a huge carnival, too, with rides and fun houses and games that are nearly impossible to win but grown men pay tons of money to play over and over again in order to win a cheap stuffed animal!

Find more Thankful Thursday, Thursday Thirteen , Things I Love Thursday & A Thousand Words Thursday.