I took Howdy and Posie to Western Days yesterday.  We started out at the parade.  Bubba was with us during the parade and then went with his friends for the rest of the day.  Scooter was with Hubby on a trip.  Sis was working at the feed store until the parade started.  But, she had to stay close to the store for those that would come by after the parade.  It was a nice parade.  It lasted almost two hours. 

The Harley's were EXCEPTIONAL!    I WILL have one some day.  And, there were several floats from various towns with their queens and princes and little misses and misters.  We loved the Wildflower Assoc. float and the one that carried Ruby Begonia.  Some fine looking antique cars and tractors were a hit with young and old.  The clowns passed out lots of peppermints and bubble gum throughout the parade.  Only one band performed that I recall.  And there were fewer horses than I expected.  Tragically, there was an accident involving one of the riders and his horse toward the end of the parade.  We're praying for his full recovery.

After the parade, Howdy and Posie walked with me (okay, Posie strolled in the stroller most of the time) all over town.  We went to the petting zoo first.  It took us quite a while to find it.  There was, of all things, a wallaby!  It was precious!  It's fur was so soft.  Posie just fell in love with it.  We found out that there was one at the auction that Hubby and Scooter went to at about the same time we were at the zoo.  COOL!  The little goats and sheep and fallow deer were adorable. 

The playground was Posie's favorite place to visit throughout the day.  Howdy loved the fishing pond.  The two of them each caught catfish in the early part of the afternoon and Howdy caught another later in the day.  We went back and forth between the zoo and the pond quite a few times.

The wild west show was on our list of things to do, but every time we got there, it had either just finished or had a long time 'til it would start again.  So, we wandered through the carnival and the booths.  At one point we decided to pack up and go to DQ.  It gave us some time to sit and rest, eat a bite, and decide how we wanted to spend the rest of the day. 

Back at the fairgrounds we went fishing again, played at the playground, and then went to watch the Indian dancers.  Posie joined them for a dance that required volunteers.  Then, they asked the parents of the child volunteers to join in the fun.  So, I danced two Native American dances of friendship.  Howdy watched from a bail of hay.  He said we looked like we had fun, but that he thought we were silly.  He took a chance on a shooting gallery at the carnival, but it didn't work out.  He evaluated it as a "rip off," but it was still fun for him.

Next, we again went fishing and wandered around the grounds looking at handmade furniture, canned fruits and veggies, rubber band guns, and pretty pencil drawings.  Howdy especially liked the pencil art.  He thinks he'd like to do that when he gets better at drawing.  I'm hoping he'll want to take lessons next year.

We made it to the final wild west show.  It was so funny!  Posie kept yelling at the sheriff and the "bad guys" to tell them where each were hiding.  She played along so well.  But, she did actually believe that one of the bad guys was dead when he fell in the wash tub and didn't move anymore the rest of the show.  She was relieved when he got up at the end to take a bow.

It was a full day!  Howdy remarked when we crossed our cattle guard, "Mom, we were there all day!  You said we'd leave right after lunch."  He smiled when he realized that I had actually let the two of them have a whole day of fun and only had to help them through a couple of cranky times by finding a place to sit and just watch the other people having fun.

Howdy wanted to go again today, but I'm wiped out.  So, we'll have to just plan on going again next year.