Rawhide

I bought a Groupon to this Western theme park several months ago thinking we could take the kids and have a good time. We had enjoyed visiting Goldfield, Arizona, so much and this seemed a lot like that, so I figured we couldn't go wrong. Luckily, even though we started our evening at 103 degrees, I was right!

We saw two different shows by the same group of guys--I think they call themselves the Arizona Rough Riders. We saw a separate show by a Miss Kate and her rescue animals. Her horses could do amazing tricks and she could use a whip like a pro (she won some national title associated with the horse tricks she does years ago). We also ate steaks, panned for gold--they make sure each child gets a little bag full, rode burros, petted llamas, baby goats (3 weeks old), a miniature horse, sheep and pigs and had a band play us "Long, Tall Texan" and we didn't even do it all! We left after 9 pm and we got there when it opened. It was so much fun and I'm hoping to do it again when it starts to cool back down.

Acting scared of the stuffed Rattlesnake

Sad to be captured

At first those baby goats were friendly...

Then they started jumping on us... (Owen thinks this is pretty funny since he's not the victim!)

Then they were eating pieces of our hats!!!!

See how tiny that horse is?

This shot (ha, ha) is from the Billy the Kid show (see the guy falling?), we also saw one about Wild Bill Hickok

A picture with the whole cast. The bad guy tried to get Owen to shake his hand, but Owen was having none of it telling him, "You're a bad guy! You killed that guy who cheated at cards."

Strike it rich!

Riding off into the sunset...

How Time Flies!

Last night we went to a Diamondback's game. We had tickets behind left field along with the rest of Derek's firm and their families, but the firm also reserved the picnic area of the field, so we never even went to our seats. Instead we filled up our plates and ate at the picnic tables and watched the game from there. It was fun to be there--especially to see the home runs that came into the stands right by us. It was also nice to not have to entertain the kids while keeping them in one seat the whole night. This picture is terrible, but as you can tell, I didn't take it.

And a picture of our family at the same ballpark in September of last year.

And, two Sundays ago Ryanna insisted she was not tired. She sat down in her green chair and promptly did what she hasn't done in a couple of years...

Here she is in the same chair in September of 2005.

Time flies doesn't it?

We've Got Lots in Common Where it Really Counts!

We went to the Maricopa County Fair yesterday afternoon. It was our first venture out to the fair in these parts since we've lived here. Since the weather is finally getting too hot (it's supposed to be 94 degrees today) to be comfortable, we figured we'd better get out and enjoy it while we can.

My main purpose in going was to show our kids all of the animals. They both really like the zoo, so I thought this would be fun too. Plus, these would be animals they see in books all the time. There really were tons and tons of animals. Both Derek and I went to fairs in our own home towns growing up and we compared the experience to our own.


First, I don't remember any llamas at my fair growing up, but there were lots at this fair. It was really neat to see them, but the way they would watch you with their eyes...and knowing that they spit...it really made me think of those dinosaurs in Jurassic Park. And, apparently, it's fashionable to cut their hair like a poodle.

Second, I can talk geese. I would make this honking noise to this one goose and he would immediately answer me everytime. I just figured he was noisy like that, but when I walked away, he stopped doing it to anyone else.


Third, the food didn't look as appealing to me as the food growing up. I'm pretty sure the food growing up was sold by local vendors. Most of this food looked like carnival food--pizza by the slice, funnel cakes for $5, lemonade, etc. There was one stand that sold Mexican food (where we ate) and another that sold BBQ.


Fourth, the kids who were in 4H didn't look all the same. Most of the kids that participated in the raising and showing their animals would wear Wranglers (boys) and Rocky Mountains (girls) and lots of these kids had on regular looking clothes. There definitely were kids dressed like I remembered, but I guess I had figured things don't change--that's how I know I'm getting too old.


Fifth, I remember being enthralled by the rides. The colors and lights were so intriguing. Now, I look at them and see all the grease, grime and germ potential. My daughter, however, still views them in the same favorable light that I did. She begged and begged to ride on them.

Sixth, our bunny is big. Seriously, I looked at over 100 different rabbits and we only saw about 4 that were bigger than our chubby bunny. There was one rabbit that was so large it was shocking, but mostly, these bunnies made me realize we own a very large rabbit.