Boots, Bar-B-Q, and Tim McGraw

Its that time of year again in Houston.

That time where the traffic near Reliant Area is constantly at a stand still.

The time when the scent of smoked meat and manure fills the air,

and the time when you could see an amazing concert every night for 2 weeks straight.

Michael and I have only been to the Rodeo once before, and we didn't really know what we were doing, or what the must-see things are.

This time, one of our old youth kids came along with us.

Curtis goes to the Rodeo at least 5 times per year, so he was an excellent tour guide.

My first stop was at the food stand for a fried Pop-tart.

 Unfortunately, it was not nearly as good as I had anticipated. 

There was way to much fried batter, and way to little actual Pop-tart.

 Next, Michael and Curtis went on the Haunted House ride.

They said it was totally lame, but the guy didn't charge them their tickets, which meant I got to play a carnival game.

All I had to do was was pop a balloon with a tiny bean bag to win a prize.

On my first throw, the bean back bounced off the balloon and flew about 20 feet in the air.

It wasn't looking good.

But luckily, the lady let me and Curtis combine our hits and I got this huge elephant!!

I have never won a stuffed animal at a carnival, so I was pretty excited.

I did not consider the fact that I would have to carry the thing for 6 hours...

We spent time walking around the carnival, took pictures, and then went to the indoor booths.

 The indoor booths at Reliant Center were crazy!

There were crafts, clothes, and even cars for sale, as well as this huge area of candy.

There was a livestock show going on and kids were showing heifers.

There was a petting zoo for little kids.

A gigantic incubator with chickens hatching.

And, maybe the best, a pig was giving birth to lots of piglets.

And we got to watch.

It was crazy, and awesome!

After walking around a bit we decided to get some dinner and I chose Bar-B-Q.

YUM!

That was some good Bar-B-Q, and an amazing potato!!

After dinner, it was time for some rodeo.

Last time we went to the rodeo we had awesome seats due to the fact that we went to church with the President of the Houston Rodeo.

Since we haven't talked to him in 2 years, we decided to get our own tickets and they were not as good.

We still had a great time watching all the rodeo events though, and then it was time for TIM MCGRAW!

Rodeo

Setting up the stage

Tim McGraw

He put on a really good show!

He even spent half of it out in the stands with the audience.

And though Faith didn't make an appearance, and he sang a few too many new songs that I don't know, I still loved it.

I was amazed that he still looks and sounds like he did 10-15 years ago.

 It was such a fun day, and I'm so glad that we were able to make it this year!

Can't wait to see who the musical guests will be for next year!