stick horse rodeo

August 18, 2010- It was another birthday blowout for Pecos.  Earlier in the summer Pecos started talking about his birthday party and said he wanted a cowboy party at our "ranch".  And he wanted to rope.  And ride Brownie.  And have a rodeo.

I was less than excited about the possibility of an outdoor party in August.  We did one for him when he turned 2 and it was extremely hot so I tried to talk him into something indoors.  Like a party at the bounce house place like he had last year.  Nope- been there, done that- he wasn't interested.  I figured he only turns 4 once and if this is what he wants we'll make it work.  So the makings of Pecos Round Up began.  A stick horse rodeo at the Worrell arena it would be.

We borrowed banners from the local western store to give the arena some authenticity.  All the contestants had mop ponies but Pecos kept with his usual mount- Brownie.  Casey even built a bucking barrel contraption so we could have bull riding.

And every good rodeo provides contestant numbers for the riders.  Here's our champion getting his number pinned onto the back of his shirt.  We suggested he wear the number 4 in honor of his birthday but he insisted world champions wear number one.  

Here's a close up of the contestant numbers (with an obvious similarity to those of Pendelton Round-Up).  These have 2006-2010 and 'Four Years of Western Tradition' on them.

First up was the grand entry, led by Pecos, to the tune of the national anthem sung by Lee Greenwood blaring from the speakers of the iPod-compatible portable player.

(photo by tori)

Then it was barrel races, flag race and calf roping.  

(photo by tori)

In the days leading up to the party Casey was running out of time getting a few things done and considered scrapping the bucking barrel bull idea.  Good thing he didn't...it was a huge hit with the buckaroos.

 (photo by tori)

Here's Pecos getting instruction from Casey on the proper form.  

And here he is riding it like a world champion.

Following the rodeo events we had an awards ceremony and distributed trophies and prize money to everyone.  The prize money was a last minute addition...it was a paper tablet of enlarged $100 bills direct from the U.S. Mint in Washington D.C. from Pecos' godmother.

This was how Brazos spent the majority of his time at the party.  As if to say "are you kidding?  isn't this a bit much?"

Gold buckle birthday cake.  It looks like a belt buckle, right?  Please tell me it looks like a belt buckle.  The lady at the HEB bakery wasn't quite sure what I was explaining and my description may have been lost in translation.

More party fun.

Even though Pecos had a blast at his rodeo party and playing with his friends, this is what REALLY made him happy.  This area toy set has been on his wish list for quite a while.  When he opened it he declared "I've been needing this!"

We take an annual photo with the birthday boy.  Maybe this year we should have done it at the beginning of the day.  Oh well, it is a sign of a good birthday I guess.

This one is much better because of the smile and because Brazos joined us for it.  Uncle Duke was taking the picture and said something that Pecos thought was funny so he decided to give us one last smile.  

Here's a few other birthday highlights.  Pecos requested whoopie pies on his birthday since we wouldn't have the cake until his party two days later.  He generally isn't much of a sports fan but nonetheless requested a tee ball set.  Not sure why he has decided to bat as a lefty.  

Overall Pecos has really grown up in the past year.  It has been a year of maturity for him especially when Brazos was born.  He's becoming a little more independent, growing taller and looking forward to pre-k this year.  He's been wearing 4 slim pants for most of the last year but those are beginning to be too short.  He's still wearing a size 9 or 10 shoe and believe it or not has made his boots last all year, but it is time for a new pair.  He tops the scale at 37 pounds and is 3'7" tall.