Another Year, Another Rodeo

The Houston Rodeo just left town again, but not before we had a chance to go this past Saturday.  I never thought when we first moved here that we'd look forward to going to the rodeo every year, but we do.  I don't know if you have to live here to appreciate it or just attend once, but it's a lot of fun, especially when you have a little kid. 

We began our Saturday morning by watching what is called "Coon Jumping."  After watching it, I can tell you it's a bit of a misnomer because the coons aren't really the ones jumping.  The mules jump.  I guess it started in the backwoods of Kentucky when they were hunting coons and needed to jump fences.  Apparently horses need a running start, but mules don't.  Since it was dark and there wasn't room for a running start, mules were the animal of choice.  One day a bunch of fellas were bragging about how high their mules could jump, and now you know why the competition began.  Don't worry, if you're like me, you didn't have a clue that any of this stuff goes on.  But now you know, and I'm sure you consider yourself that much smarter for it. :-) 

After the coon jumping, Eli was dying to try out some of the rides, so he rode on a flying pirate ship (if you know how much he loves pirates these days--particularly Captain Hook--you know how much he loved it) and a dragon kiddie roller coaster.  I tried to convince him to no avail that he probably wouldn't enjoy the roller coaster.  Why did I think that?  We were at the park the previous day, and some older kids were on the seesaw.  Eli wanted aboard, and so they obliged.  At first he started saying, "Woohoo!"  Then, as they began going faster and higher, he looked at me with fear in his eyes and said, "Mommy, I'm scared."  That was why I was pretty sure he wasn't going to like the roller coaster.  But he insisted.  "It's scary," I said.  "No, Mommy, it's good.  Please?"  Well, I relented.  Sure enough, he was quite scared.  The first couple of times around, he was crouched down low with a look of terror on his face.  On the second to last time around, he turned to me and said, "Mommy, I want to get off."  Of course, there was not much I could do until the ride ended, but I couldn't help laughing just a little bit.  After all, it was kind of funny.  In fact, one of the kids in his nursery class showed up right after, and he too begged his parents to ride.  His parents told us he wanted to ride the big roller coaster with his daddy and older sisters and was quite disappointed when he couldn't.  But his ride on the kiddie roller coaster did not meet his expectations.  He was screaming and crying through the whole ride.  His parents laughed too, so I don't feel so bad.

After the rides (which Eli did not want to leave), Eli got to play pretend farm and see some of the animals.  Included in those were a ride on a tractor, which he wouldn't miss for the world, and petting the animals in the petting zoo.  Everything wore him out because he was quickly asleep in the stroller when we were standing in line for some yummy pecan cobbler.  Some of his first words upon waking when we got home were, "I want to go back to the rodeo."  I think that pretty much sums it up.  We had a lot of fun!

This is Eli watching the coon jumping.

This Is the coon jumping.

 

 

Can you tell he loved the flying pirate ship ride?

This is when the roller coaster first began.  Can you see the look of fear on his face?

This is near the end of the ride.  Can you see him mouth that he wants off?

The rodeo would never be complete without Eli sitting on one of the tractors.

The petting zoo

Why?

Eli has now entered the questioning stage; "Why?" is becoming his favorite phrase.  He also likes "what?" questions (particularly "What did you say?" even though he knows exactly what I said), but "why?" is definitely his favorite.  I can't get through a story now without him asking a bazillion questions.  In fact, as cute as it was in the beginning, it is now quite annoying.  Here's a typical exchange:

Me:  (reading from a story) "The man went to find his animals."

Eli:  "Why, Mommy, why?"

Me:  "Because he needed to take them back to his circus."

Eli:  "But why, Mommy?"

Me:  "Because they were lost."

Eli:  "Why?"

Me:  "Because that's how the story goes."

And so on and so on.  Many times I just have to say, "Let's read the story and find out." 

Of course, it's not just with stories, it's with everything.  Gone are the days of simply telling him something and having him be content with it.  He wants to know why for everything.  I know it's good because it shows his development, but it reminds me of when I was a young girl and my brothers would ask why after everything I said just to tease and annoy me.  In fact, though it's usually sincere, sometimes even Eli does it to tease me.  He'll ask why, and I'll respond, "I told you why."  Then he smiles that mischievous little grin at me and says, "Why, Mommy, why?"  Sometimes I respond with, "Why not?"  Unfortunately, that has now backfired on me and he uses that when I genuinely ask HIM a why question.  I think he's trying to prove he can outsmart his mom, and it's working.  I'm not sure how much smarter and more creative I can get, and he's only three (well, in a month anyway)!

Visiting Grandpa and Grandma Grant

It's been two weeks since we came home from visiting family in St. George, but I haven't had energy to blog about it.  We had tons of fun, but unfortunately, we brought a bug home with us, and it was particularly nasty.  I'm just now beginning to feel better, though I still have headaches, dizziness, and feel very tired.  I haven't been in that much pain for a long time, and nothing the doctor gave me relieved any of it.  Josh managed to evade the illness, which is typical for him, but Eli got it too.  He's had several doctor's appointments canceled for weather-related reasons, so I have to call again on Monday and hope he can get an appointment.  Nobody knows what to do down here when there's snow and ice, so everything gets shut down.  Josh was supposed to fly to San Fransisco last night, but his flight was canceled, so he's leaving tonight instead.  I get four days and nights alone with Eli.  I can't wait.  He's been tired, sick, and cranky; I've been tired, sick, and cranky.  It's been a rough couple of weeks.

However, we did enjoy a fun-filled week with the Grant Family before we got "attack of the nasty."  Here's some of what we did:

*We were expecting cold weather while we were there but were blessed with warmer temperatures, so we spent some time outside.  We had an enjoyable picnic with the family at a local park. 

*We tried to go hiking in Zion National Park, but because of the previous cold temperatures, there was a lot of snow and ice on the trails.  I think it's the first time I've heard Eli complain about hiking.  It was just too cold for him.  It was still beautiful, though, and we did enjoy a nice picnic there. 

*We went bowling.  It was Eli's first time since he was a baby, and he helped me knock down nine pins! 

*Josh and I went to the St. George temple, which we always love visiting since that's where we got married.  

*We had lots of fun talking, playing games, and meeting the new babies in the family!  Eli especially enjoyed the company of his cousin Sophee, who is just 5 1/2 months younger than he.

         

Christmas and New Year's

Much to Eli's dismay, Josh went back to school today, and I took the Christmas tree down.  We all enjoyed the holiday season, especially Eli, who got a lot of "Daddy time."  I wanted to post some video footage of Christmas, but for some reason the cable from the video camera to the computer is not working too well right now.  Unfortunately, most of it was video, not pictures, so there's not a lot of visual.  You'll have to take my word for it--Eli loved it!

On Christmas Eve, we read some Christmas stories, including The Night Before Christmas, and re-enacted the nativity.  Since Eli loves pretending, he really enjoyed dressing up as Joseph, the shepherds, and one of the wise men (when you have a small family, you get lots of parts).  He also enjoyed writing a note to Santa and giving him a plate full of cookies.  Although, Eli is convinced that his Grandpa Grant is Santa, so he really just thought they were going to him. :-)

On Christmas morning, Eli was as excited as ever to open his stocking.  In fact, we could have ended right there and he would have been the happiest boy in the world.  He had read the book and watched the movie The Polar Express, so he kept asking for a bell from Santa.  He was quite pleased to get one in his stocking, and I was pleased to note that a bell, some Toy Story bubble bath, and pistachios are all that's required for big smiles and lots of excitement!

Of course, we opened the rest of the gifts too.  Each one was the best thing ever!  In fact, I think Eli was a little unsure of which to play with first, so we put his train sets away in the closet until we took them out yesterday.  That way his new-toy-playing experience wasn't so overwhelming. :-)

For New Year's Eve we had some sisters in the ward come over and play dominoes with us in the evening.  Josh and I aren't big on the late nights though, so we ushered in the new year an hour early so we could go to bed.  The next day we took Eli to his first "big" movie.  He'd only been to a theater one other time--on his birthday we took him to see the 3D whales movie at the science museum.  This was the first time he saw a full-length cartoon movie in the theater.  We watched Tangled, and we all thought it was a really good movie.  Okay, Josh and I probably enjoyed it a little more than Eli.  He liked it, but it didn't hold his interest as much as some other movies do (I'm thinking it was a little more "girly" than he likes).  He really enjoyed the preview for Cars 2, and we'll probably take him to the "big" theater for that when it comes out.

Anyway, thanks to everyone for Christmas gifts and cards.  We enjoyed them and hope you have a Happy New Year!