Visiting the Ft Worth Stock Show

I decided to take the girls to the annual Ft. Worth Stock Show on Martin Luther King day, since I knew the weekend would be crazy and with CK's travel schedule we wouldn't really get a chance to all go together. We arrived around 930am and it was COLD and windy! As I pushed Olivia in the stroller while Sofia and I braced against the wind, I was beginning to think it would be a very short day - and we hadn't even reached the ticket booth yet! Once we got inside, the barns did a great job at blocking the wind and we spent a lot of time walking inside the barns to stay just a little bit warmer. On previous visits, we'd never really explored anything other than the cattle barns. We walked through the cattle barns and ended up watching cows getting milked. It was fascinating and Sofia and I couldn't believe how much milk one cow produces!

From there, we decided to go into the horse barn since it was still fairly cold out. The horse barn was pretty empty but we did find a horse being shoed and watched that for awhile. After, we made it out to the petting zoo where we spent a good deal of time. Both girls loved petting all the animals and Olivia wasn't shy with any of them, and especially liked the bunnies and chickens and followed them all over. Sofia was busy feeding her grain to the small horse and donkey. We finally left and Sofia had a pony ride next to the petting zoo.

It was starting to warm up and we decided to visit some of the rides on the midway. It was set up exactly as the previous years we've been there and Sofia went on the teacups - Olivia and I had to watch since Olivia is too small. She also rode on the Merry-Go-Round and the Dumbo ride and then the three of us got into the rotating bears ride which Olivia could go on. She loved it and it was fun to go on a ride all together.

We were getting hungry so we headed back toward all the food stalls. Olivia actually fell asleep in the stroller, so Sofia and I ate and saved half of a grilled cheese for Olivia since I knew she would wake up and want to eat. We walked through one of the cattle barns and Sofia pet a few of the cows and steers that were friendly and we watched Longhorns being lead around in a halter - I'd never even thought that was possible!

We went back to the horse barn and watched the cutting horse competition which was really interesting! While watching, our friend Lyla called and she and her girls had arrived at the Stock Show, so we left and met them on the midway. The three girls rode a few rides together and they shared a huge cotton candy together - I'm sure this was Sofia's highlight of the day - before we had to say goodbye and head home for Sofia's piano lesson. It was such a fun day!

Sofia learns how a horse gets his shoes


Olivia at the petting zoo....we spent a lot of time here chasing around animals


Sofia and Olivia feed the calf


Visiting the chickens


Hanging out with the chickens


Olivia and one of many goats


Sofia and a goat


Sofia saves the best part for the horse


Pony Rides!


The Teacups - Olivia was too small for us to all go unfortunately


Dumbo!


The three of us on the bears ride


Sofia and the Stock Show Steer


Olivia naps while Sofia and I eat lunch


Watching the cutting horses warm up


Hanging out with one of the friendly steers


Cotton Candy! Yum!


With Chloe and Lily on the swings