Fort Worth Stock Show ~

We recently returned from the Ft. Worth Stock Show; overall it was a success. R came home with a 5th place ribbon out of 80 ~ we were thrilled. I believe it's best to go into it thinking you're not going to do that great and then when the judge motions you towards the scales the excitement builds.  When you get pinned a second time, you can hardly contain the excitement. :) This may sound like a pretty negative attitude, but I sat by some people in the stands who were very disappointed that their 'person' got 8th place. I just think when you have realistic expectations the victory is that much sweeter.

K and Homer right before he went into the show ring

K loves to get in the pin with the pigs. She sprays them with the mister (which they love) gives them drinks with the mister (more love) and brushes them. Our pigs are super spoiled at the shows and I gave up worrying about her getting pig poop on her a long time ago...

The morning of the show K woke up at 3 in the morning complaining of an earache. I gave her Tylenol and hoped for the best. She fell back asleep at 4 and woke up at 6 crying again. We had planned to be at the show barn about 8, so her crying just put us in high gear to load up and get out of the hotel. Honestly, I'm surprised management didn't come knocking on the door to kick us out she was crying (and screaming) so loud. This was one of those moments when all my patience was tested and I had to remember how painful earaches can be. We were out of there in record time, searching for the nearest Walgreen's on the Garmin and taking really deep breaths. Here's where the story gets good...

1st stop ~ Walgreen's. Closed.
2nd stop ~ Walmart. No ear drops.
3rd stop ~ CVS. No ear drops.
4th stop ~ Another CVS. No ear drops.
5th stop ~ Walgreen's. It's 7:55am and they open at 8. Big R tells me to go ahead and try to go in...I walk up to the door and the lady smiles sweetly through the glass, holds up 5 fingers and mouths the words "5 more minutes." So, I go back to the car...we sit for 5 minutes in complete silence (at this point both kids are asleep.) It was one of those moments where there were no words. I finally go in, buy the ear drops and we head to the show barn. It takes 20 minutes to get to the barn and I kid you not there is a Walgreens and CVS not two blocks from the Ft. Worth Stock Show and Rodeo. Again, complete silence in the pick-up.

Here's the kicker...we park, K wakes up and says, "My ear's not even hurting anymore."

There's two reasons why I'm telling this story:

1. There are just some stories in our lives I do not want to forget and
2. I love it when things happen that seem horrible at the time and then a few days later I can look back and laugh. (I'm pretty sure big R's not ready to laugh about it yet.)

R and Homer with a 5th place ribbon

We made it home and are looking forward to the next trip. I'll be sitting down to make a list of all possible ailments and stocking a medicine chest for the road...