Have your ever busted a mutton?

I've lived in Nashville or it's surrounding area for 18 years now and there is still plenty of stuff I've never experienced. I've never been to the Country Music Hall of Fame, never visited Cheekwood Gardens, never eaten breakfast at the Loveless Cafe and I've never seen Tim McGraw at Kroger. And until Saturday night, I had never attended the rodeo. Franklin's rotary club sponsors it every year and somehow I had managed to miss out on all the bull ridin', bronc buckin', tobacco chewin', mutton bustin' fun. I had no idea what I'd been missing. Our sweet friends Trisha & Eric gave us free tickets and invited us to attend with them. The only thing better than a night at the rodeo is a FREE night at the rodeo. We all dressed for the occasion; Handiman wore his boots and I donned my cowboy hat. The Little Ocho decked herself out in jeans, boots, a red bandanna and braids and we commenced to havin ourselves some fun. We had awesome 2nd row seats and except for the obnoxious and somewhat inappropriate humor of the rodeo clown, the night was fantastic.

There were a few moments that were less than "family friendly" much to my surprise. For instance, during the opening tribute to America, the solemness of honoring our nation's flag was interrupted by the voice of Toby Keith blaring through the speakers singing to our country's enemies about the intended placement of his boot. Was that necessary? I mean, I've known for quite sometime where Toby wants to put his boot as did every redneck in attendance. We didn't need to be reminded while sitting with our small children. Then there was the clown who talked about crack (both the drug and the body part) and flirted with women in the stands using less than gentlemanly expressions. It was also kinda weird watching Ocho and her friends clap and dance along to "Centerfold" during one of the roping competitions. Kinda gave me the willies.

All in all though we had a blast and no permanent psychological damage was done. The same can't be said for the poor kids during the mutton bustin' competition. If you're not aware of this little rodeo tradition, allow me to explain. Small children are given a football helmet and put on the back of a sheep. They are told to hold on to their necks and not let go. Then the sheep is released into the arena and it runs at the speed of sound until said child is thrown off. This causes adults like me to laugh hysterically at their misfortune because after all, it isn't my kid. They are then judged on their ride and given a trophy. Most kids fell off right out of the gate. One kid's sheep ran directly into a herd of about 8 more and dropped him in the middle. I'm here to tell you, nothing brings the funny like kids being trampled by farm animals. Absolutely nothing. All the kids were crying and freaking out except one little girl who happens to be the daughter of a friend of ours. She's always been somewhat of a "free spirit" and mutton bustin' turned out to be right up her alley. She even set a new rodeo record. You go Maddie Fly!!!

We didn't exactly explain what a rodeo was to the Ocho ahead of time so she had absolutely no idea what to expect. For most of the night she was on the edge of her seat clapping wildly. She loved the barrel racing and the bucking broncs. She was, however, slightly disturbed by the roping competition so I assured her the animals weren't injured. Whether this is true or not, I have no idea. She was eventually consoled by the healing powers of cotton candy which was provided by Trisha. She bought some for all the kids in our group. She did this because Ocho's BFF Abigail joined us and her mom's idea of an unhealthy snack is a granola bar with chocolate chips in it. Trisha considers it her calling to provide Abigail with junk food whenever possible. I support her in this and even contributed by giving her a few swigs of my Coke.

My favorite part of the evening was when "Sweet Home Alabama" was played over the loud speaker and Handiman dared me to stand up with my hand over my heart. So I did. Because it was the right thing to do.

Here are some photos for your enjoyment:

This is Ocho and her friend Colby. They both play softball together and were extremely proud that their team sponsor Molly Maid had a banner hanging behind them. They actually wanted to stand up during the rodeo when the announcer recognized Molly Maid employees. Their blond hair will continue to serve them well in the coming years, I'm sure.

This is photo I was trying to take of Ocho & Abigail with their cotton candy. Eric thought it would be funny to jump in the shot. Because of this, I told him I was posting it on the blog. And a promise is a promise.

This was our attempt at a family portrait. Ocho decided to be funny this time so I made her a promise as well.