River City Rodeo

A few weekends ago Brian, the kids and I headed out to the River City Rodeo to check out the sights... and smells. It just so happens that the second largest rodeo in the world is held in Omaha every year and we have never been out to see it! There were tons of free activities for the kids and in true rodeo fashion, the kids and I even shared a turkey leg for lunch. Yep, we're that family.

We didn't really know what to expect when we arrived and this is what we walked in to. There were calves, sheep, pigs, chickens, and other livestock lined up from wall to wall. The animals were being ushered from here to there by all the 4-H kids, so we even had some close encounters with animals. And our strollers might have gotten caked with manure too. :)

In my attempt to get a picture of the kids in the Qwest Center "barn", I squatted. The kids decided they should too. :) Can you see Abby's new cowgirl boots? She loves them.

Levi's favorite part: the lights. As we were sitting back and admiring the livestock, the man on the left asked us where we were from. We told him Omaha, chatted a bit, and then he asked if the kids would like to see a calf up close. Nebraskans are the best, I tell you. So nice!! Anyway, we said sure and he brought his calf over to this holding pen and let the kids have a turn at grooming her. The kids were so grateful and loved pretending to be a cowboy/cowgirl. Although you can't tell, there were all kinds of studded leather for purchase. I always had wondered where some of these cowgirl items were found. :)
Upstairs they had a special area with all kinds of educational agricultural activities. We don't have any pictures of those (daddy was on the phone working and mommy was attempting to not lose any of the children at this time). There was also face painting and since everything else was free, we indulged the kids. They loved getting to choose what to have painted.
We couldn't leave Levi out of all the fun! What a cute little cornhusker.
After lunch they gave a free tour of where the rodeo actually was being held. It was so cool to get behind the scenes info about the rodeo and we learned a lot about this sport. We would love to get tickets to go next year! By the way, this is the Qwest Center arena, where Brian actually played Creighton at. In this picture we are standing on 8 inches of dirt. Amazing!