Megan’s Take
Today we had extra time in the morning, so we decided to check out the Benson Sculpture Park.
We were really pleasantly surprised with how fun it was, and we only realized as we were driving away that we actually missed half of it, which had been across the road from us! The park is quite extensive and has a variety of abstract
and realistic sculptures –
many of which invite interaction (such as the ring of children with an empty space where a visitor could stand to hold hands).
The landscaping of the park complimented the sculptures and added a 4th dimension.
All of us (including Emilia and Emmett) enjoyed walking the paths to see what we could find. We only had about an hour, and I wish we had had more time for it. I would come back if/when we’re in the area again.
The rest of our day was spent at the Greeley Stampede. This is its 103rd year, and Phil compares it to a large county fair. We included it in the itinerary because it seemed like a Western cultural experience and I wanted to see a pro rodeo. The kids nagged us about doing rides, which we declined since they’re just so expensive, but there was plenty else to keep us busy. We saw a car show,
ate food, petted goats,
played on a big extra fun playground,
dug in a sand box with construction toys,
walked quickly through a Western art exhibition while Emmett had a meltdown about XYZ, rode pedal tractors, got Emilia’s face painted,
and cooled off at the splash pad at the end of the day.
(These kids drive us crazy with their lack of executive function skills. I told Emilia that if she got soaked in the splash pad, the face paint would wash away. Then she went in the water, and when I told her it was washed away, she cried about it. I had taken a picture of the face paint beforehand, but that wasn’t good enough. She wanted her new rainbow unicorn stuffed animal to see her rainbow face paint “in person”. )
Of course, the main event was the PRCA prorodeo which was a lot of fun! The rodeo started at 1 pm, and Emmett was really wiggly and tired after about an hour. Emilia was fidgety but more interested than Emmett. Phil was interested, but I was probably the most excited about the rodeo. (I even got a Greeley Stampede rodeo T-shirt so that I can rep the official merchandise.) Bronc and bull riding were the most exciting events to watch since you can’t predict what will happen.
Of course you don’t want anyone to get hurt, but those guys are a bit crazy. It’s fun to watch the explosion of energy. The roping and race events
were also interesting with the exception of breakaway roping, which I found to be somewhat boring. Mutton busting with little kids riding sheep was funny and cute. During the rodeo, Emilia told me, “when I grow up, I want to be a cowboy.” I told her that she can be cowgirl. I seriously hope, though, that my children never want to get into any extreme sports. We tried to explain to Emilia that the rodeo events (e.g., Bronc riding) were fun to watch but actually dangerous.
We could have stayed longer to play at the event park, but we needed to get the kids back for dinner and bedtime, aiming for 7 am Mass tomorrow. Overall, we had fun at the Greeley Stampede, and it has us primed and ready for county fairs when we return to Indiana.
Phil’s Take
I think Megan covered the day pretty well, so I’ll leave you with the gallery of today’s pictures.
