The Range Roundup

We had a wonderful time at the Range Roundup over the weekend. It was the first time our kids had actually competed in the rodeo and the little whippersnappers actually held their own. As a mother and an aunt, it was extremely exciting and nerve-wracking to watch, and I only just stopped shaking last night. But the shaking was actually fun in itself; it was sort of a thrill for my nervous system, and besides that, it came in handy whenever I needed to use salt and pepper shakers.

I won’t take you through every single step of the two nights of the Roundup…I’ll just show you some highlights from my iPhone, since I managed to take my camera down to the city with a dead battery Friday night and no battery Saturday night. I’m organized that way!

 

My boys aren’t quite old enough to compete, but they definitely parked themselves in front row seats. They didn’t want to miss a thing.

 

At the beginning of the Roundup, all the teams are introduced and they ride out into the center of the arena. I don’t think we’ve ever had girls on our team before.

 

Oh, the times…they are a-changin’.

 

We were down two good ropers from last year, so the Stray Gathering event was not our strongest event since all four team members have to successfully rope an animal. Marlboro Man doesn’t consider himself a strong roper—that’s why he gets all the muscle jobs. He’s sort of like Russell Crowe in L.A. Confidential. Except instead of beating up suspects in an old interstate motel, he himself gets beat up by lifestock.

And, well, I think he gets all the muscle jobs because he has muscles. And what beautiful, robust muscles they are…

Sorry. Got distracted. What I was saying was that Marlboro Man doesn’t consider himself a strong roper. But he made both loops, both nights, and even though it wasn’t in record time…

Well, all I noticed were his muscles so I can’t really comment any more.

 

Hi, Paigie Girl!

I was so proud of them.

 

Here’s a nice group High-Five after the Team Branding event.

 

And here’s Marlboro Man and his dad after the first night’s competition had ended. They were going through all the events and laughing about who messed up where and commenting about how well the kiddos had done.

I just sat there and watched them talk. It made me smile.

 

We actually drove home from the city that night (and were in bed at about 2:00 am, which reminded me of college, except for my love handles and crow’s feet) because the next day was spent at a big football scrimmage in a town an hour away.

 

We went from the scrimmage straight back to the rodeo.

Here’s a beauty tip for you soccer and football moms who might have a rodeo (or party) to go to straight from one of your son’s or daughter’s hot, sweaty sporting events: When you leave the sporting event, brush your hair in the parking lot and roll your hair in Velcro rollers. Since your hair is dripping in sweat, it has just the right level of moisture to assist the rollers in doing their job, and by the time you get to your event (which was, in my case, two hours away) your hair will be smooth and bouncy and have really nice body.

Then, just hope nobody sits too close to you at the event.

I realize this beauty tip has probably grossed a few of you out. But I have to be me.

 

The Stray Gathering event went better Saturday night than it had gone Friday night!

Just a little better…but better nonetheless.

 

We won the Wild Cow Milking on Saturday night! Exciting.

 

And we did well both nights on the Team Penning event, which is always my favorite. The guys ride into a herd of steers and cut out three that have the same number (each team is given a different number right before the clock starts). Then they take those three to the other end of the arena and get them into the pen. So much can go wrong, but when it goes well it really is a beautiful dance.

 

When all the events were over, all the teams waited around until the results were announced. Some years, it’s obvious who’s going to win…but other years (and this was one of them), it’s almost impossible to know how it’s going to turn out. Lots of teams won different events and lots of teams got “no-times” in different events. It was anyone’s game!

 

We wound up winning the overall Team Penning award. Yay, team! We placed sixth in the Range Roundup, which we were just fine with considering no one got hurt and the kids got to have a great confidence-building experience they’d never had before. Congratulations to the Pitchfork Ranch for taking home the grand prize!

And okay, Tim got hurt. Friday night, as he was riding the wild horse across the finish line, the stirrup on his saddle broke and he fell. He didn’t hurt any bones or muscles, but the rope he was holding onto with all his might stripped the whole top layer of skin off both his hands. He competed Saturday night with a combination of tape, gauze, and finger shields…and guess what? He won the Tough Hand award for the whole Range Roundup! I was so proud of my pesky ol’ brother-in-law.

 

That’s all for us until next year! And you know what that means…

365 more days until I get another funnel cake.