Rodeo Day

Last weekend was our annual town Rodeo, this is a big deal, it is the social event of the year.

For weeks the school kids have been talking about the Rodeo, How long till, it's on, Who's coming into town for it, What they are wearing (NOT skirts and dresses Mum...how embarrassing!) and what's going to be there. The local Rodeo happens the first weekend in May and hundreds of people come into town for the weekend. They come in on Friday night from the outlining stations (large cattle property's) and towns around the area, camp in the showground and make a weekend of it.

Kids dressed and on their way for the day
(note no skirts or dresses)

 

Most of the action takes place on Saturday, which is where we were all day.

I fed the kids a huge breakfast of healthy cereal, juice, eggs and toast, knowing that it was going to be the only food with any nutritional value they would eat for the whole day and then we took off. Once there I gave Miss 5 and Miss 8 their boundaries (don't go through any fences, sit back from the arena, stay in front of the food stalls and don't go near ANY animals) and some money and said goodbye, it would be hours before I would set eyes on them again. They watched a little of the action, ate, went on the jumping castle, ate some more and mostly socialised with their friends. I love small town living because the freedom these kids are getting to experience out here is so different to the life they could have at an event like this in the city.

 

The Action

 

 Now this year being our second ever Rodeo Master 2 had a little more of an idea, he didn't try to climb the fence to pat the bulls, he even seemed wary of the broncos (horses not the football team) as they bucked in the arena and he got the whole idea of the Rodeo, calling out "Hold on" and "stay up there" as the crazy men tried to out last each other on the animals. One of the events is Steer Wrestling where they let a steer go in the arena and a person (men usually because women have more self preservation) try to grab the steer by it's horns and wrestle it on the ground. Master 2 was concerned because  he wondered "are the cows dead Mum?".... "no they are just stunned mate" "that looks like fun then Mum" arghhhh here lies my concern that he will end up wanting to have a go at it or be a Rodeo Clown one day. The Rodeo clowns that  distract the beasts in the arena are insane... absolutely crazy, I'm not sure how much they get paid but I'm sure it's not enough to be playing with huge, crazy, furious animals.

Boys checking out the action

Now I'm not sure of the whole ethical side to the Rodeo circuit, yes I'm vegetarian, but Rodeo's are a huge part of the country life and part of our decision to be out here is to not only share new experiences with the kids but ourselves as well so for the Rodeo weekend every year I will be there watching the action with the rest of the town.

We came home for a rest (okay I rested while the kids played, high on sugar) then went back for the nights action. The school kids took Master 2 with them to sit on the side of the arena for the night, he now knows more about Rodeo than me and came back with pockets filled with lollies and a can of coke.

 

Ready for Round 2

 

 

 

When the Rodeo part finished the band started then at 9:30pm after Master 2 had fallen asleep on my belly I had to locate Miss 8 on the dance floor and take three tired kids (and one huge exhausted pregnant Mum) home. Miss 8 was a little sad because she was having so much fun dancing..... ummm I wonder who she gets that from!!

 

Miss 5... this is what I took home x 3

 

So that was Rodeo weekend for another year, they kids are already asking how long to the next one, while I am still recovering from this....'beautiful day'.

 



My Kids Eat Ants.....

The other day Mr 'These Beautiful Days' came home from work

 "where's the kids" he asked, "out the back eating ants" was my response. Now 18 months ago this would have been met with horror, or at least a "kids stop eating the ANTS!!" but here and now it's a perfectly acceptable pastime. The ants they are eating are green  and they do bite but when you learn how to  catch them and eat them they are high in vitamin C and protein and they taste a little like lime. The kids learnt how to eat the ants where kids learn all sorts of things.... at school lunchtime. One of the loveliest things about living in a community that has a high Indigenous population is having our 'city kids' exposed to some of the threads of Australian Indigenous culture and eating ants is just one of them. Often the kids will bring a few ants inside for Mum and Dad to eat.... and we do. This is our way of encouraging them to keep accepting and exploring the experiences that life here is offering them.

 

 

 

The other bush tucker they have 'got in to' while here is to suck the nectar from the Red Bell shaped flowers that grow at the post office. Whilst I collect the mail they scatter collecting the 'good flowers' then run around eating them and comparing tastes. The nectar from these flowers is super sweet and like having a drop of watery honey or sugar water. There have so far been no reactions and the kids are always careful to check for bees first before picking the flowers.

 

      

 

I love that the kids are learning that not all food has to come from the shops and are experiencing a life here so different from their city life.

On the down side we have recently had two snakes in our yard eeek!! The first one was an Eastern Brown snake.... you know only the 2nd deadliest snake IN THE WORLD!! Our beautiful almost 10 year old dog was found to be 'playing' with it under the trampoline by Miss 5. Now Miss 5 reacted beautifully she ran inside and got help straight away, it was comforting that she knew what to do.

 

 

 
The snake was almost dead and we called the dog away..... a nervous night awaited us while we waited to see if she came down with any symptoms but we are so thankful that our dog didn't, and managed the encounter bite free. You see with animals its at least an hour and a half to the nearest vet and a bit over 2 hours to the nearest after hours vet, so a snake bite is almost guaranteed to be the end for any animal out here. The town has recently lost 3 pet dogs to snakes so we were incredibly lucky!!

A week later Miss 5 was playing outside when she screamed and ran inside "Mum there's another snake!!" she screamed as she stood there terrified and shaking, (I later discovered she had stepped on it with the rubber thongs). I put on boots this time to investigate and found a very dead python with beautiful markings. It seems our canine snake catcher had struck again! This time I was sad to see such a beautiful snake come to its end.

 

From these snake experiences we have all learnt a lot. I am proud that the kids are reacting well, coming and letting us know as soon as they find the snakes. I feel worried that we have had 2 snakes in out yard in two weeks after never seeing one here before. I feel worried for the kids and dogs playing in our yard, but I know that the chance is that our big dog will seek the snakes and I am proud of her for protecting her family, I hope that she continues to be lucky with it. I am surrendering to the environment we are in, and controlling what I can by, educating the kids, being a little more careful (without freaking everyone out), and we have our snake response kit handy with pen, bandages and hospital number. I was so happy Mr 'These Beautiful Days' was around when we had the brown snake and I really need to 'get my snake on' so I know what to do in case there is a next time. There is not always help so close by.

I am continually thankful for the experiences that we are being exposed to the good and the bad and I love watching us all grow (hopefully with more of the bush tucker and less of the snakes) from....'these beautiful days'.