Pennsylvania Polka and Livemore Rodeo

When Aunt Amanda left at the end of May, Andrew and I went with her!  My job flew me in so I could conduct a training for my team, so although the trip back to PA was nice - working every day was exhausting and the week flew by very quickly! We did have a few fun dates crammed into the final days of our stay... starting with meeting new baby Keira Collopy!  Her fabulous Mommy, who happens to be my best friend, made a delicious dinner for Andrew and myself after work one night, and it was so nice to get that time with the Collopy Clan.  The next night we had an impromptu dinner in Doylestown with Petra and the 5 A's - Andrew, Amanda, Andrea, Allison and Anne.  Definitely a much needed girls night!  Saturday morning, we had a play date at Burpee Park with Juliette Tizer, Brianna Sisca, Sophie and Constantine King, and the Collopy Kids (and the Mom's - Karen, Kim, Lia and Jen). So fun to see them all interacting and getting so big!  And, no... I didn't get a SINGLE picture from any of that fun!  What was I thinking?!?

Here are the only pics I got from our PA visit:

Andrew in Mr. Lova's cat carrier... Mr. Lova was moved to Aunt Amanda's new house - for both Andrew and his safety!

Andrew giving Gram a run for her money... unfolding all of her neatly organized hand towels!

 

So I didn't have to do the long flight home with Andrew by myself, Gram graciously offered to fly back with us and stay for the week while Mike was in Denver for two nights.  She also upgraded us to Priority Class (not First Class, I wouldn't let her!) - so we got unlimited food and drinks, more leg room, and a 3 seat aisle all to ourselves... all of this is a HUGE blessing when travelling with a rambunctious 10 month old!   As a thank you, we outfitted Gram with a pink Cowgirl hat and took her to the Livermore Rodeo.  Although the rodeo was fun, I'm not so sure it really paid her favor back.

Andrew and Gram watching Dora

I loved the rodeo.  I must have been a Cowgirl in a former life. I loved the hats, the horses, and the sport of it all.  Yes, it's a little sad seeing the calves running for their lives before being lassoed and dragged to the ground.  But, I assure you that they weren't "harmed" and all ran back to the safety of the pens.  The events were the ones you may expect: Bull Riding, Bronc Riding (saddled and bare back) Roping, Penning, Steer Wrestling, and Barrel Racing.  And then, there was this one unexpected event... Wild Cow Milking. Yep, it's what it sounds like.  They would let the cow out of the pen, a rider would go after it, lasso it, jump off their horse and restrain the cow, while a partner ran across the arena to milk the unhappy wild cow.  After the runner was successful in milking the cow, he had to run back to the starting point with his vial of milk to prove he in fact got something.  This was a pretty hilarious event to watch, although my Mom wondered about the cruelty level.  However, it is believed that this event emerged from how Cowboys would help orphaned calves get the much needed colostrum in the first days of life... makes it seem a little less cruel, right? 

They wouldn't let us take pictures of the events, but here are a few we took before entering the arena.

Howdy Partner!



Yee Ha!



Lil Cowboy

The heat and the long day made for one tuckered out Cowboy

The Arena

In addition to helping with Andrew on the flight and while Mike was gone, Gram also taught Andrew the one thing that I have been trying to do for months - CLAP! Yaaaay!  (We have to say "Yay" to get Andrew to clap on command.)  Also, since arriving back in California, Andrew has gone from what seemed like a newborn foal on wobbly legs, to an officially walking and running little boy.  He is way more of a handful now than we could ever have imagined when he first started crawling... but it is truly fun (albeit exhausting).