Ute Stampede Weekend 2014

It's that time of year again!  Thursday morning I took Tyke to the park to watch the cowboys run the wild horses and cows down main street to the fair grounds.  It was supposed to start at 8:30 a.m. but by the time they finally ran in front of us it was nearly 10 a.m.!  Tyke had fun playing with his cousins and teasing me.  He started getting a little sassy and turned his ears off and kept running towards the road so I pulled out the stroller and strapped him in.  He was pretty excited about that, really.  He was a good boy the entire time he was strapped in and he thought we were leaving so he kept telling Aunt Jo and Grandma Cheryl "lay-da!"  When the animals finally made their way down the road this little boy had a grin from ear to ear!  He moo-ed (for the cows) and made a clicking sound (for the horses) and just giggled and waved at that cowboys.  That right there made it worth it to miss work for a couple of hours to take Tyke to see them!

Later that night we ventured out to for the horse parade.  It started at 6:30 p.m.  It was chilly and windy and thundering and lightening but we only got sprinkled on a little bit surprisingly.  By the time the parade was over it was pouring rain!  Tyke had fun watching the horses and collecting candy.  He had more fun throwing the candy back!  He could have cared less for it and had a blast tossing it into the road or at the other kids.  He was a happy little camper to be playing in the street with his cousins.  He eventually found a puddle to play in and splashed and splashed until he was soaked from the knees down.  We had a hard time controlling the kid when it came to water, as usual.  We had plans to take Tyke to the carnival but it was raining so hard and it was so cold we canceled and went to dinner with the fam at One Man Band instead.

On Friday both Chad and I were able to get off work a little early so we could take Tyke to the Mammoth Parade.  It started at 4 p.m.  We sat at the park with Aunt Jenny, Uncle Cody and the kids.  Tyke had a blast playing in the road, catching candy and throwing it back.  Quade was super good to hang out with Tyke in the street.  Chad and I took our turns with him too.  It was so hot and muggy but we survived.  Tyke was so fun to watch, between catching/throwing back the candy and touching the hot pavement and yelling "hooootttt!" to us while shaking his hands like they were burnt, he kept us laughing.  Chad and Tyke ventured across the street to 7-11 for a free Slurpee (since the date was 7-11).

After the parade was finished we went home and relaxed for a few minute before the big rodeo.  It's tradition every year to go with our Kay fam on Friday nights.  We got ourselves freshened up and changed and headed down to the fairgrounds.  Chad and I grabbed some nachos and a carni corn dog before heading to our seats.  Tyke enjoyed helping us eat our yummy carnival foods.  The rodeo was good, a little repetitive of years past, but the we enjoyed ourselves.  Tyke had the best time wandering around between aunts and uncles and cousins, eating yummy rodeo food and licorice ropes, and screaming and clapping for all of the livestock and cowboys.  He kept yelling at me, "Mom!  Mom!" and I'd ask him what and he would point at the horses with the biggest smile on his face and click his tongue to imitate their sounds.  It was adorable and it was non-stop all night long!  Around 10 p.m. our little guy fell right to sleep.  He was one worn out little boy after such a long day full of excitement.  He was so tired he missed the motorcycle stunt riders and the fireworks, and all without flinching from the loud noises.  It was such a fun night and we're glad we get to always spend our Ute Stamped Friday nights with the family!

Saturday we had a lot planned to fit into our schedule.  We slept in until 8:30 which felt so good after the fun night we had had.  We had plans to meet the girls at the pool at 10 a.m., swim for a couple of hours, grab some Reed's food for lunch and go to the car show and craft fair.  A busy day for sure!  Tyke had a ball playing at the pool with his cousins.  He was obsessed with the little crocodile in the splash pad area and kept sitting on it and making it spray us.  He also kept giving it kisses.  He played so hard!  It was fun to watch him splash his little cousins and giggle and play.  He is such a happy, fun little guy!!  After about an hour and half we decided to get out of the water and dry off for a while.  Tyke wasn't too happy about it but we were all exhausted.  Once we were dry we ventured out through the car show.  Uncle Allan (Grandma Cheryl's brother) had his old Ford mustang entered in so that's what we went looking for.  We visited for a while and checked the car out before heading across the street for some lunch.

We went to Reed's and got some food to go and then picnicked a the park.  Grandma Cheryl and Great-Grandma Jean joined us.  It was fun and relaxing.  Tyke slept through most of lunch but woke up as we were finishing and had some chicken strips and tater tots.  Afterwards we went and played on the playground.  Tyke had fun swinging and thought it was especially cool when his Daddy twisted the swing up and let go, letting Tyke spin around and around.  I sat in the shade on a bench with Grandma Jean and watched lazily.  After about half an hour we decided to head over to the old court house and check out the craft show vendors.  Chad and Tyke walked over, while I drove the car over.  We got ourselves a Texas twister drink and Tyke thought that was pretty awesome, especially when we let him hold it.  There wasn't really too much to see.  We got the drink, some yummy salsa, and a new backpack for Tyke and headed home to relax for a while in the a/c.  It was definitely a hot day!  

Chad took a nap, and I tried too but Tyke was way too wound up to rest.  Once I finally dozed off poor little Tyke came running around the couch trying to get my attention and slammed right into it.  He screamed an awful scream and was holding his nose.  I just knew he had hit it hard, but he hadn't.  Once we got him calmed down we noticed blood in his mouth.  He refused to let us look at what the damage was but I caught a small glance and he had put his teeth threw his tongue!  It made me sick to think about.  Around 8 p.m. we headed down to the fairgrounds to check out the carnival and get some carni food for dinner.  Tyke enjoyed a corn dog and did pretty well eating considering his hurt mouth and picky appetite.  We ran into all sorts of family and had a good time visiting with them.  Tyke's tongue was still bleeding and I was getting nervous about what to do but I knew there was nothing a doctors visit could do to help.  We bought a sno-cone and shared with Tyke.  When he opened his mouth to take a big bite we were able to really see what the damage was.  He had stuck all four top front teeth through his tongue and boy did it look sore!  We hung out at the carnival for a couple of hours.  Chad took Tyke on the carousal and I took him down the giant slide (neither one of us enjoyed that at all!).  

  

All in all it was a great weekend and we had so much fun spending it together as a family, with our families!  We can't wait for next years Ute Stampede!