Houston Rodeo 2008

We went to the Houston Rodeo and Livestock show. It goes on for about a month at Reliant stadium and boasts that it is biggest rodeo in the country.

Jonathan and I went twice to check it all out.

We saw pigs.

Bull riding!

We saw part of the miniature Hereford cattle show.

Chuck wagon racing.

Two great country concerts: Brad Paisley and Dierks Bently.

Barrel racing.

And the craziest of all: Mutton Bustin'

All the contestants were very brave boys and girls that weighed under 50 lbs and had parents that were willing to sign the waiver.

The kids had to hang on for 6 seconds and make it look good. Contestants with the best score make it to the finals and get to compete for the prize money and the glory of a win.

This is how the real cowboys and girls get their start.

And best of all....they had corn on the cob!

Roommate Reunion

Derk and Rachel Blanset are pictured here with their pups Charlie and Sota. They drove down from Dallas last weekend for a visit. We all went for a walk along the bayou and enjoyed the sunshine. Rachel and Derk also just moved here from Florida for Rachel's new job with Johnson and Johnson. It is nice to have friends not too far away. We all teased that they are following us!

Lauren Hughes was down from Iowa the same weekend for a medical conference. It was a good excuse to go try out a new restaurant in Montrose and have a mini college reunion.

Lauren was my college roommate freshman year and Rachel was my college roommate sophomore and junior year. It was fun to be together again. Go Cyclones!

Buffalo Bayou Regatta

UPDATE !! The results are in....

Emily got 2nd place in the Women's Solo Unlimited Division with a time of 2:33:36 !

Jonathan finished in 2:29:17 and placed 20th in the Men's Solo Unlimited Division!

Remember that crazy kayak with the cameras pictured below? Here is a link to his YouTube video of the race. You can see us briefly around minute 5 and 6:10 in the video. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5nudsRvkNs

We pulled up along the street with about 200 other canoe and kayak racers to unload our boats last Saturday for the Buffalo Bayou Regatta running, or I guess I should I say paddling, 15 miles through the heart of down town Houston.

After picking up our registration packets we donned our racing numbers and moved to the starting area by the bridge.

We had a great time talking to people and taking in the sights.


Many serious racers came with their long skinny carbon fiber kayaks. The one pictured above had a GPS unit and two digital cameras attached to it. I ended up paddling behind this guy for most of the race. At one point I asked him about the cameras. He shared that they automatically take a picture every five seconds. Yikes, that means he must have about 40 pictures of me gritting my teeth trying to keep up!

We also saw some of the most interesting water shoes I have ever seen.

We bonded with more of our fellow racers standing in the line for the port-a-potty.


Jonathan happened to stand next to a guy named Rob who had just moved to Houston from Shelton, CT....what are the odds? They are pictured here getting ready to head to the starting line. Rob was one of the only other people there in a big yellow sea kayak.

There was an official "Texas Ranger" look alike firing a cannon to start each heat.


This is a shot of the starting line from the bridge. Many people were new to kayaking and canoeing and fell in at the start. It was a little crazy for the first few miles, but then it settled down.


This was the scenery for most of the trip. Jonathan spotted a beaver swimming around while he was paddling. We were warned that there might be alligators, but we didn't see any.

We reached the finish line in just under 2 and half hours. There was live music, lunch, and some free give aways waiting for us at the end. It was a fun day and nice to be out in the sunshine. Eventually our race results will be posted on this website with more info about the race:

http://www.buffalobayou.org/regattabayou.html