the Andrews Family: Fort Worth Parade and Stock Show

Saturday we got up bright and early and headed downtown to the Fort Worth Stock parade - the largest non-motorized parade in the world. And surely it was

We saw more horses than I new could fit in one state. (Hint to criminals - if you are looking for a great time to rob a house, this would be it. There were hundreds of sheriffs in the parade!).

Our favorite paraders were the little girl in the old timey clothes being pulled by the dog! Joseph and Lemuel were just dying to hook Toby, Kyle and Kelly's dog, up to a wagon.

After the parade, we headed over to the stockyard for the Stock Show. Just in case you aren't familiar with stock shows, this was JUST LIKE the fair that they took Wilbur to in Charlotte's Web. Really, it was.

There are these giant barns set up, with little areas marked off for the animals to be kept. The first animals we saw were some goats. They even had baby goats that had been born just the day before! They were so cute. Then we went into another barn that had sheep. . . and they looked just like the goats. They cut off their horns, and shave and bathe them, and we got so confused, now we don't know what we saw! I'm sure you are laughing, but I dare you to identify a sheep without wool!

We were quite sure about the cows though. I'd never actually been quite this close to a cow before. These guys were as big as the area they had to stand in, so much so, that they nearly came out into the aisle. It is more than a little unnerving to walk 12 inches behind a line of 100 cows!

Then, we came across this giant bull that you could take your picture with! Of course I jumped at the chance, dragging Lemuel in with me. Finally Joseph and Kyle decided to join us. If you can't tell from the picture - Lemuel and I were terrified! This bull weighed more than a ton! And his horns were bigger than Joseph. And he kept shifting around with only a small rope to hold him in place. So I know you are thinking you would have been much braver, but I dare you to give a 1 ton bull a giant hug!

After we looked at all of the animals, we went to the fair grounds. The man working at the roller coaster was hesitant to let Joseph on - he had to stop the ride a few minutes before for a much older little boy who left in tears. But he didn't know my little daredevil. Joseph hopped on and him and Lemuel took off. It was only after the ride that Lemi shared her fear of roller coasters!