Fort Worth Stock Show

Today, after dropping CK off at the airport for a conference he is attending in Phoenix until Tuesday, the girls and I went to the Fort Worth Stock Show. We have visited on Martin Luther King day for the past few years, but this year it was much too cold out, so instead we went with Stacy and Antonio to the Fort Worth Science Museum that day. Since it would be in the mid-70s, I thought today would be the best day to go.

We arrived at the far side of the grounds and waited a while to park, but actually parked a lot closer than I usually do on the other side of the grounds. We started with a walk through the cattle barn and looked at all the steers and heifers that were being groomed for sale. We then stopped in the arena and watched a few minutes of the angus heifer sale and it brought back a lot of great memories from my 4-H days raising steers. I took a photo of the activities for CK and send it to him and he agreed that it brought back some great memories for him and his 4-H days. By then it was just after noon and the girls were asking if I'd brought snacks so we headed to lunch.

We ended up at the little food stand we bought our food from last year and Sofia stood in line for two lemonades while Olivia and I stood in the next line for a cowboy burrito (steak, cheese, potatoes and sautéed onions in a tortilla) and a grilled steak and cheese sandwich. We actually found a table and chairs to sit at outside that we shared with a couple who were really friendly. Sofia loved her half of the grilled steak and cheese sandwich and Olivia wouldn't eat it, probably because she drank nearly all of her lemonade just before we sat down to eat lunch. Once we were done eating, Olivia said she would eat a corn dog (I was a bit skeptical since she hasn't really had one before), so we stood in line for a corn dog which she proceeded to take one bite of and then dropped it on the ground. It didn't really get dirty, so I told her to eat off the "clean" side which she took one bite of the breading and was done.

We walked across the street to the State Farm exhibit and the girls stood in line to try to rope a metal calf from about 15 feet away. We watched as a few kids tried and couldn't do it and I explained to Sofia and Olivia to watch how the kids used their wrists when they tried to circle the rope and gave them ideas of how best to try to get the rope on the calf's horns. Finally it was Sofia's turn and she got close on the first two tries and then actually got the rope over the calf's horns and head on the third try! It was pretty cool. She got a little rubber sheep with "State Farm" written on it's back. Of course, Olivia really wanted one too. So, she went next and tried twice before collapsing into tears because she roped herself instead of the calf. I directed her away from the area and tried to get her to calm down, which she eventually did but after a lot of sadness. We noticed the mounted police were nearby as were the ladies on their palominos with their red, white and blue sequined outfits who carry the flags at the very beginning of the rodeos. We visited with the police and pet the horses and then went to the ladies and Sofia asked each one of them which flag they carried in the rodeo.

When we arrived to buy our tickets, I asked if there were any available tickets for the rodeo at 2pm, but it was completely sold out as I'd expected. As much as we love the rodeo, I'm not sure the girls would have it in them to sit through the nearly two hours. After visiting the horses, we headed to the petting zoo and pony rides. The lines were amazingly long, so we looked at the petting zoo animals and the girls decided they wanted to ride the carnival rides instead (thankfully). We bought $40 worth the tickets which would be 48 tickets. We started with one of Sofia's favorite rides, the dragon roller coaster. Sofia rode by herself in front of Olivia and I who had to ride together. It was really fun, although the roller coaster was a bit jarring on my back! I must be getting old. Olivia absolutely LOVED it and I tried to get pictures of her when we rode, but was afraid of dropping my cell phone. At the end of the ride, Sofia got off and said it was a little more bumpy and jerky than she remembered it being before. She enjoyed it, but I don't think as much as she has in the past. From there we went to the the Fun House and the girls were able to go together while I waited outside for them. They loved it! After they slid down the slide, we headed to the huge slide. Luckily, Olivia was tall enough to go on it without me because I'm not sure I could stomach going down it. The girls headed up to the top, with Olivia getting stuck on the ramps between the stairs and they soon had a huge backlog of people behind them. They came down the slide and were so happy! They loved it! Sofia said it felt like she was floating on the air the whole way down. Of course, the girls wanted to go down it again and we had enough for them to go down twice more, which they did and loved every second of it.

The weather was absolutely gorgeous and actually felt too warm at times. It was great. After the huge slide, we headed out of the carnival rides. Along the way, the girls bought a pink cowgirl hat with sequins and a light-up crown and a bow and set of arrows. As we headed back toward the parking lot, I asked if Olivia wanted to give it another try with roping the calf. She did and we stood in line once again. She tried it and again roped herself and was upset. I felt bad for her but I wanted her to try again and suspected she wouldn't succeed but wanted her to try. So, I spend the walk back to the car trying to comfort her and also tell her how around of her I was of her for trying again. Plus, she was obviously tired and I suspected she would be fast asleep within a minute of getting into her carseat. Somehow she stayed awake the entire ride, probably because Sofia was reading one of the Percy Jackson books out loud to me. It was a really fun day at the Stock Show and we had a great day. The next day I read in the paper that due to the warm weather, it was the highest number of visitors on a single day in the Stock Show's 120 year history! It felt crowded, but not that crowded!

Homemade bread and coffee while watching the sunrise. Perfect start to the day!

We made it! In front of the cattle barns

Petting a sheep

The Angus heifer sale

Olivia and her corndog

Sofia and her lemonade

Getting ready to ride the dragon roller coaster

Sofia by herself on the dragon roller coaster

Olivia is ready to go!

One of the few pictures I was able to capture while riding the roller coaster

Olivia on the big slide! She loved it!

Sofia loved it just as much!

With their new souvenirs - a wooden bow and set of arrows for Sofia and a pink sequined cowgirl hat for Olivia

Sofia with her bow and arrows

Olivia and her hat

Sofia learning the finer points of lassoing

Giving it a good toss!

On her third try, she got it!

Sofia getting her new sheep as a prize

All smiles before taking a hold of the lasso

Getting some tips on how to throw her lasso

Giving it a twirl!

Meeting and petting the police horses

Meeting and talking with the flag-carrying ladies

Showing off her sheep

The barns

We're all done, folks!

Sofia at 8 1/2 years old

Sofia is at a really fun age right now and we love watching her develop her interests and grow. She is now 4'6" (54 inches) and weighs 70 lbs and wears size 10 or sometimes even a size 12 clothes. She really loves reading and reads at every opportunity she has - during every meal if allowed, for hours before bed and at school. Other moms tell me that when they meet their child for lunch, Sofia's nose is always stuck in a book while she eats. Her favorite book series has been Percy Jackson for a few months now and she has re-read them all several times over. She is now reading them to me each night and she does a great job getting the right inflection when reading as if one of the characters is talking. She recently got into FableHaven, and tore through the first book, but said the second book is a bit boring. She has also developed a love for Star Wars after CK finally convinced her that she must watch the original movies and then see the new one in the theater. From the very first movie, she was hooked! She now checks out books from the school library on Boba Fett (her very favorite character) and books on the different characters and space ships from the movies! She honestly knows more than I thought you could know about Star Wars.

Sofia has always been one who loves to read as much as possible on a subject she loves and completely throws herself into it. She is drawn to science fiction, dragons, Greek and Roman mythology, unicorns, and anything fanciful. She has absolutely no interest in princesses, dress up or "girly" stuff. Right now she can't decide if she wants to be an author, marine biologist or a librarian. She loves books, reading, writing but also loves research and learning as much as she can on different subjects. For Mrs. Feaster's class she spends time writing stories and is a great story teller and writes in complex sentences. She's very clever. She still loves to play with her horses or other little plastic animals and create stories and can do so very easily. At night, before she reads to me she will often tell me a story that will go over several evenings and she is really clever and very quick at figuring out plot lines. Her most recent story was of two sisters who went with their parents to a museum of magical creatures and once they were given a potion to drink so all of the magical creatures came to life for the girls. Not only were there fairies and unicorns but also several creatures that she just made up. It was really a great story and I thought at first she'd gotten the idea from a book she's read, but she said she just thought it up.

She enjoys 3rd grade and loves her teacher, Mrs. Feaster, but is also bored in class. She often complains that Mrs. Feaster will explain something that she understands the first time, but there are several kids in her class who need Mrs. Feaster to explain it a few more times. She is learning basic geometry, multiplication and the solar system. For her spelling tests, she is in a small group of kids who has an advanced spelling list to study from, although we've never actually had to go through the words with her since she just knows them. Because of all of her reading, spelling tests are very easy for her and she almost always gets 100% on her Friday quizzes. Her favorite subjects are writing/spelling/reading and science. She doesn't love math and feels like it's a struggle, although she does well. We try to work on math and multiplication at home so she's more comfortable with it because it will only get more difficult as she moves ahead in school.

Sofia is not much for activities, although she did ask to be signed back up for the Pink Pirates soccer team, which I'm excited about and think it's a great way for her to have time with a great group of girls and get some exercise. Her season starts in a few weeks and she did go to the first practice (after much fussing) and loved it. She plays her piano and has a lesson with her instructor, James, on Tuesday evenings. She enjoys piano and plays and practices without prompting nearly every day. She sounds great when she plays and has improved so much in the past year. If given an option to stay home in her pjs and read or play or go out somewhere (the park, a museum, to meet a friend, etc) she will generally decide to stay inside. She still loves to ride her scooter around the neighborhood, although it's tough when it's so cold outside. She's not a fan of her bike because she's afraid of falling. Once it's warmer, I plan to drop her bike off at school so we can ride bikes home once in a while. Sofia does love to play with her sister and they generally play very well together. Of course, lately they have been pretending to be Jetis in training, using their light sabers (each $10 from Target that I'm surprised have lasted as long as they have). I also bought the girls their Halloween costumes from Amazon - Boba Fett for Sofia complete with jet pack and gun, and Queen Amidala for Olivia. I figure they can get a lot more use of them instead of just one night and both love dressing up in them! When they play Star Wars, Sofia dictates the story line, but thankfully Olivia goes along with it. They also like to pretend to be baby animals and create very detailed stories. Lately, Sofia likes to set up her stuffed animals to play "school" too, with Olivia as one of her students. This year Sofia joined the Girl Scouts, which has been a good experience. Her school doesn't have a troop in her grade, so she joined up with a troop out of Bransford with her friend Lucy, who she knows from soccer. All the girls seem to be very sweet and inclusive and Sofia convinced Shivani to join with her. Her troop has visited Grace and worked in the food pantry, made blankets for homeless shelters and visited Colleyville City Hall to meet the mayor and city council members. Soon we'll be selling Girl Scout cookies, but thankfully our troop is very relaxed about how many are sold.

Sofia remains a strong personality who will argue a decision she doesn't agree with. She's not a fan of "transitions" from going from one place to another or one thing to another. For instance, her frustration with soccer is getting dressed and getting there and she'll fuss over it, but once she's there she then doesn't generally want to go home after the practice or game. The exact situation happens when leaving the park or anything fun, despite giving her a 10 minute warning. It's aggravating, but also I appreciate that she has her own mind and would prefer to discuss something she doesn't agree with rather than go along with it easily. A few weeks ago I picked her up from her Girl Scout meeting where the girls were able to play for a bit and agreed to play a make believe game in which they were all teenagers or other people. Sofia declared she wanted to be a dragon. The girls told her there wasn't a dragon in the game and wouldn't fit in, but she was undeterred. She apparently ended up playing by herself because she wasn't willing to go with the flow. When I picked her up she got to the car and was really upset. Part of me wants her to go-with-the-flow and not get so upset by such things, but then I also appreciate that she has an opinion and is willing to stick to it. Such playdate issues don't seem worth getting so worked up over but we do hope this persistence serves her well in the future with bigger issues.

She's nearly too big for the photo chair!

Love this girl!

Close up of our beautiful girl

Reading on the way to school

At Grace with her Girl Scout troop

Our little Jedis

Sofia's drawing

Silly sisters at the park pretending to be baby chetahs

Our little indians

One of Sofia's My Little Pony drawings

Sofia as a teacher with her student teacher by her side

Their class

Darth Vader

Boba Fett

Sofia at lunch....with her book, as usual!

Sofia and her volcano project for school

Her planets

Sofia's class poem! Love it!

With her Papa and Olivia

With Olivia and me