She's a Texan, Now

I have no excuses for my blogging absence over the past week. I took a week off from work, and tried my best to stay away from the computer. I am getting more acquainted with my BlackBerry, but I wouldn't even think about trying to post a blog with it. Heck, I'm just now getting comfortable with texting.  Thus, I have a lot of catching up to do.

Last week, I accompanied Abigail on her first field trip. You might imagine that this would be to a museum such as the State History Museum (which I've been wanting to check out and am unable to get anyone to go with me). 

...Or, the class could have gone to one of the local scientific attractions, like InnerSpace Caverns just a few miles from the school.

But, let me remind you that this is Texas. Thus, her first field trip EVER.... (drum roll, please!)... was to the rodeo.  Nevertheless, to say that she was excited about the event, is an understatement. Though, I think she was more excited about her first bus ride than anything. 

The day was packed with events on the fairgrounds, but we never actually saw a rodeo event. Abigail is familiar with the rodeo and has attended a few times, so she was disappointed that the trip turned out to be just a fairgrounds visit, but she still enjoyed the day. 

Her favorite event was our first stop, the pig races.

The pony ride was another much anticipated event. I'm hoping it was more memorable than the bus ride she was so excited about.

This donkey was much sweeter than the deer in the petting zoo. Many of her classmates had their name tags viciously ripped from their necks and eaten by the deer, and I had to pry both mine and Abigail's shirts from a deer's teeth. 

This brief tee-pee visit was actually more interesting than the preceding history lesson on the invention of the Chuck Wagon. (There were many times throughout the day when I wanted to remind the speakers that the audience was just four to five.) 

Another great moment of speaking was the dairy farmer who told the kids that eating a bowl of ice cream was just as healthy as having two glasses of milk. As long as they got their dairy servings each day, it didn't matter what form they came in. But, I was reluctantly happy to be able to discuss ice cream instead of the milking process going on as the man spoke. 

We rounded out the visit by trying out a few tractors...

Then, we closed the memory book on Abigail's first field trip. Hopefully, there will be more educational trips as she progresses in school, but for now, she's comfortable with cow milking, pig races and longhorn viewing.