Rodeo Fun!

When we got to the hotel the kids insisted on going IMMEDIATELY to the swimming pool, seriously... I had barely even sat my bags down in the room and they were already in their swimsuits and standing by the door!  BJ and I hung out by the pool with our laptops and took advantage of the slow but free wi-fi.

Once alex figured out that the arm floats allowed her to cruise all around the pool on her own, she had a blast swimming "all by herself."

BJ and I soon got bored with the poolside internet so we decide to play pool.  Some of you may not know this, but in our younger days, BJ and I spent quite a lot of time in the pool hall and became pretty good at the game.  Let me just say that that is no longer the case... we now suck!  Of course it didn't take long before the kids were over there playing with us.

When I mentioned to the people who organize the rodeo that I was bringing our exchange student from Germany, they invited us "back stage" to meet the rodeo stock.  This particular bull was hilarious!  The whole time we were trying to get a picture with him, he was pawing the ground and snorting, threatening to charge at any minute.  When the girls stood too close to his pen he even tried to reach through the bars and hit them with his horns!

After our meeting with the previous bull, they took us to meet this one who is a complete puppy dog!  He was super friendly and loved to be petted.

BJ and the girls rode the mechanical bull.  The guy controlling the bull spun sam pretty good but she managed to stay on.

He started out easy with Clara but didn't stop until she fell off!

They went pretty easy on Alex at first but when they sped it up she got a little worried so Dad came to her rescue and got her off!

They showed no mercy with BJ from the very beginning!

Although he did manage to stay on well over 8 seconds, eventually the mechanical bull prevailed and he hit the mat!