Our Memorial Day Weekend

We started off the weekend with a Graduation Party Friday night for our cousin, Grady Douglass.  It was alot of fun!  And the food was delicious!  We got our boots out for the requested "Western Attire."  Fun!  Grady's going to Texas A&M this fall!  Gig 'Em!  Good Luck, Grady!!!

Then we got up early Saturday morning for Kenedy's first rodeo!  I cannot describe how excited she was!  She actually woke John and me up very early telling us to get up and get her ready. She has been practicing at the ranch almost everyday after school with PawPaw. I'm pretty sure this will last for at least for another 15 years. She absolutely loves horses and especially getting to spend so much time with PawPaw. He's the best coach in the world! Thanks, Dad!

Kenedy's first event was the Goat Pulling.  They ride their horse down to a goat tied to a stake in the ground.  They jump off, grab the ribbon off it's tail and run past the flagger.  Here she is intently studying the goat before they started.

Here's her run:

This is a timed event.  Meaning the fastest time wins.  I'm not sure Kenedy understands this just yet.  (Or maybe hanging her bat on her saddle horn just perfectly is more important to her!)

Just after that it started raining, and then pouring!  They put the rodeo on hold for about a half hour.  We were in the covered stands, but it seemed to be coming in sideways, so we were having trouble keeping dry.  Luckily, Tana had brought a towel and it kept Hudson warm and cozy!

Here are John, Kenedy and Dad waiting at the gate.  Kenedy was praying they wouldn't call if off!  She couldn't wait to run around the barrels!

But they did.  She was pretty disappointed, but they get to do all the events twice at the next one, and that was good enough for her!

Other than the party and rodeo, we pretty much took it easy, enjoying the three-day weekend.  The girls washed the dogs,

And then we went swimming.  This was Hudson's first "real" swimming experience.  He loves the water!  All three of the kiddos will be starting swimming lessons in June.

They call John, "Shamu" at the pool, which means he gets to pull them through the water and throw them up in the air.  But he's trying to think of a better term for it, for some reason.

I'm hoping the water warms up enough for me soon, because this just doesn't look safe!

Hudson warmed up with me and a snack on the sidelines while John, Kenedy and Hadyn burned off some more energy.