Rodeos & Friends

 I kept saying that after the fair our summer would slow down and I was looking forward to that. We still manage to be busy. Monday, we took both dogs to the vet, Tuesday, Spillman's invited the kids and I over to swim in their pool. It was a hot day and the kids had a blast. That night, Jayden and I had our ISU barrel racing, Wednesday, we had serpentine practice. The practice was in the rain and it continued in a light rain all night. It made for a soggy unpleasant time. I got to practice the entire night in my original position, and it felt so good. We also carried flags for our first time and it went great. I sure hope I don’t have to be in an alternate spot. Mark stayed with the boys each night while we were running and Thursday he took them out to eat and to the Minions movie. 

Thursday was a Tuff N Nuff rodeo in Cherokee Iowa, we left home at 3 and got back home at 12:30. Jadyen hauled her horse with Spillmans and rode in the truck. She sat in the back with Makenna AND her boyfriend. L I think the girls would have so much more fun without. Michelle and I lagged behind about an hour and drove separate. It was a little over two hour drive.  It was dreadful hot, humid and no breeze. The air just stood still and the humidity made you feel sticky without even moving. The rodeo was long with mutton busting and a pro rodeo barrel race. The ground was wet and sticky clay and the arena was quite small. A pro barrel racer ran a 11.9, The youth fastest time was 13.8 and Jayden ran a 15.0. Jayden was out warming her horse up not in ear shot of the arena when the announcer called her name. I panicked as I was afraid she would miss her turn. I didn’t even know where she was. I went out hollering for her. They said her name several times and there was a  long wait before she came running to the gate. She ran in and had a decent run, but slipped at the third barrel nearly going down. With the sun going down and the humidity the ground was getting slick. Makenna won her age group and the open. After the rodeo they had fireworks and the sky was filled with thunder and lightning. I wanted to leave as soon as the girls were done, but Spillmans wanted to wait until Makenna could get her $ check at the end. Jayden got a 3^rd place check. It poured down rain once we were on the road. The lightning filled the sky the entire trip home. Michelle and I talked the whole night. The girls have a good time together too. I look at the pros and cons of the situation. It bothers me that Makenna always has her boyfriend along and I am pretty sure she joined the bTMRA association when she saw how well Jayden was doing, when her plans were to run IRCA.  She is winning each time taking any chance Jayden had. Yes, that is upsetting.  However, I see Jayden laughing, smiling, and having so much fun. She never complains about any of those things and is just happy being able to go with her friend and compete. She is an exceptional kid!