That Famous Preston Night Rodeo

Will - cowboy in training... more on this adventure later.

For three days and nights every summer, the little town of Preston fills up with visitors and returning residents for the biggest (only really) event in town - That Famous Preston Night Rodeo. Three nights of parades, which conveniently pass right in front of my parent's house, three nights of rodeo, and of course three nights of carnival, not to mention the sidewalk sale downtown, the big Chuckwagon breakfast on Saturday morning, and other various festivities. Sounds like a fabulous time right? I guess you have to be from Preston to really appreciate how fun it is, and to overlook the absolute small town-ness of it.

Growing up, it was the highlight of the summer, but also the beginning of the end. I remember wearing new school jeans to the rodeo, which meant we had already gone school shopping and started preparing for summer to be over. When we lived in Arizona, we never made it back to Preston for the rodeo as we had always started school, so last year was the first time Nate had ever been here, and the first time I had in 5 years - I have to say in this instance, absence does make the heart grow fonder... But on to the present day... We took Will to the carnival - first on our own, and Nate and I each took him on a ride, and then let him try one on his own. He loved the carousel, but cried on the little roller coaster with Nate, and also the little cars on his own. So the next night we enlisted my niece Lauren, and he had a great time on all the rides - and so did she, finally getting to be the "big sister" since she is the youngest in her family.

We also took him in to the rodeo for a few events but it starts later, and he was tired, and the grumpy man next to us was not very kid friendly. We stayed long enough to watch the little kids get thrown off the sheep in the Mutton Busting event, then took Will home to bed. Nate and I got to sit over the chutes (right above the action with all the bucking broncos and bulls) the next night, and so we got our fill of the rodeo experience - hopefully my brother will get me some of his awesome shots of the bulls from that night so I can post them.

All in all, it's a great weekend - and as an added bonus, I got together with my 3 best friends from high school and we had lunch and caught up and it was so much fun. We are all still the same, but so different too - comfortable in our skin and happy with our lives, and happy to still be in contact - so thanks ladies - it was really awesome to see you. Can't wait for next year's date.

And to finish off, a little action shot from the rodeo - you're all invited next year, and you can get a front row seat to the parade too!