Rodeo King and a Daredevil

This past weekend we were able to get away to the cabin to celebrate the 4th of July with Ron and Becky. We always look forward to cabin trips. Especially now that there is air conditioning at the cabin! Wahoo! Friday morning we kicked off our festivities with a pancake breakfast in the park. We walked around to all the "Mountain Man" tents to see what they had for sale. Later the boys went fishing and the girls went shopping and for ice cream/Icee's. Stella spent all of her hard earned money on some cute accessories and the boys didn't catch much.

That evening we went to the Mt. Pleasant rodeo. We had entered Tristan into the Mutton Bust contest. He, being raised a city boy, had never rode a sheep before. He was so excited and nervous I could tell. As soon as Bill said he had 5 minutes until we went back to the chutes he got his game face on. Pure seriousness. I love that look of focus he gets. We walked back by the sheep and waited for instructions. He pet a few of the sheep and watched all the rodeo preparations going on. 

Bill was with him to help put him on the sheep and I stood outside in the arena to get some video footage. I have to admit  I had a feeling of nervousness for him right before. Especially after seeing the little boy right before him get trapped for a few seconds under the sheep. Scary. He was fine though. 

They announced his name and out he came on his sheep, 'High Flyer'. He sat up tall and held on. The sheep circled around pretty much the whole arena before Tristan eventually started to tip over and he fell safely on the ground. The announcers said, "He made that look easy!" Tristan was escorted by the clowns and waved to the crowd. Bill and I were beaming with pride! We couldn't stop smiling the whole night. It was so much fun! We didn't really hear his score. I thought the one they had announced as his score was the one after him. When we got back to the stands Calder and his friend said that he got a 94. He won first place out of about 30 kids! He kept saying, "I couldn't believe how slow that ram was going. I didn't expect that!" Mr. Cool Guy.

There was some confusion while getting the trophies. Another mother thought her son had won first place instead of Tristan. I'm still not sure if the announcers had said the other boys name with Tristan's score. It was the kids right before him so I can see how that would happen. They figured it out and gave the boy a trophy for all the trouble. I was glad because the little boy looked heartbroken. We watched the rodeo and they had an awesome big firework show afterwards. It was great! What a fun night!

The next day we helped clear out a lot of dead tree's from the cabin property. Amy, Jason and their families came down to help. We got quite a bit done. Many hands make for light work, right?

That afternoon we went down to the pool. Bill and I had forgotten to pack our swimsuits, but the kids brought theirs. It was so hot so it was a great day to play in the pool. Stella, feeling brave, decided to give driving the 4-wheeler another try! It's been about 2 years since she fell off the kids 4-wheeler and scraped up her arm and got poked below her eye with a branch. I was so proud of her for wanting to try again! She did great driving around the cabin property. This morning she and Bill decided to venture out on the road. Apparently she got going pretty fast and then stopped too quickly and the 4-wheeler tipped over. She was fine. Scared mostly with a few minor scratches. I hope it doesn't deter her away from trying again next time. I tried to explain that at least now she knows another thing not to do from now on! A learning experience.