Grab The Bull By The Horns

When we decided to move to Colorado one of the things I vowed to do was explore Colorado. I had really good intentions to get out there and see new things, and discover tasty food, and make myself a well educated local. But you know? There is something easier than exploring. Know what that is? Not exploring. It is way easier to sit on my couch and watch Netflix. Especially when you are carting a three month around who is on an eat-every-three-hours schedule. Especially when the high for the day is 33 degrees, but it really feels like it is 25 degrees.

{I never understood that...how can it feel a certain temperature if it is really another temperature, and how do they determine that. I know there is some scientific answer, but if you know it there is no need to share with me...those are what we call rhetorical questions.}

So when Ange mentioned that the National Western Stock Show was coming to town for the weekend, and they were kicking it off with a parade of the animals through downtown, my first reaction was, "Cool." As I fed Macy a bottle, started another episode of Parenthood on Netflix and checked my weather.com app on my phone.

But something inside me was pushing me to be more adventurous (it could have been Ange's persistent "we really should go this" texts), and I decided that I like animals and I like parades and I want to like Denver, so I needed to be there.

So Ange and I packed up my baby and some snacks and headed to Downtown Denver. We made it there with plenty of time to spare even though the GPS told us to get off and on the freeway at least six times.
Literally.
It would tell me to exit and then it would tell me to get back on going the opposite way. And I kept doing it because I felt like the ridiculousness of it all had to end us at a final destination  But I ended up having to go rogue, because I couldn't get on the freeway, go one exit, get off the freeway, and get back on the freeway one more time with out freaking out. And because that is what you do when you are an explorer....you go rogue, and you find your own freaking way to Seventeenth Street and Union Station.

Once we found a parking spot, we loaded up the stroller and bundled up that baby and made our way to the parade. But the thing is it was cold. Because even though I live in Colorado now, and I want to be all, "It's 30 degrees, is that all?"...I can't. So first I had to get myself a hot drink, and then I could watch a parade.

You know what guys? It was totally worth it. It was more than worth it. It was awesome, people.
From the very beginning with the hundreds of long horn cattle to the real cowboys on beautiful horses, and all the rodeo queens in between - I am not sure what that is, all I know is they have curled hair and wear cowboy hats with tiaras on them while riding horses.

That little girl was obsessed with Macy. She couldn't stop staring at her.

 It could have started and ended with the long horn cattle,

and it still would have been the best parade I have ever seen.

 Then there were hundreds of REAL cowboys on beautiful horses.

We're talking people who rope 'em and tie 'em when they aren't riding in a parade on Thursday at noon.

And of course the Witt girls' favorite - mini horses.

See...those rodeo queens are serious business. That is right. Perfectly curled hair, a cowboy hat with a tiara on it AND a fur coat. They are not messing around when it comes to mixing country with glam.

And that people is how you become an explorer.