Howdy Partner!!!

Ahhh...the advantages of being in Oklahoma in May! That means being able to attend the annual Chuck Wagon Gathering and Children's Cowboy Festival at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum. To say that Jad and Danna were excited about this would be such an understatement!!! Jad definitely dressed the part since he has cowboy attire. Danna doesn't have any cowgirl clothes, but that didn't stop her from imagining that she was Cowgirl Alicia on her horse named Blueberry.

To get to the venue, we rode in a wagon pulled by a tractor. Cousin Christopher was with us and his job was to make sure Danna didn't fall out! And she didn't!! (Well done, Christopher!) Upon arriving at the outdoor venue, Aunt Deborah and Uncle Michael joined us and Uncle Michael had 2 lassos for the kids. They were thrilled and Jad immediately started trying to rope his sister!! (At this point, I had to step in and a create some 'lasso rules'!)

Loaded with lassos, it was time to ride a pony!! What a thrill! Christopher accompanied Cowboy Jad and Uncle Michael was with Cowgirl Danna (aka Alicia).

Next, it was time to rope a steer!! Yes siree, both Rubesh cowhands took a turn roping some cattle!

By now, it is time to visit some horses and feed them some hay. Since the horses wouldn't mosey on over to our side of the corral, Christopher took Jad and Danna over to the horses and taught them the proper way to give a treat to a horse -- palm open and flat!!

A children's author read her "Cowboy Camp" book which was so good that we had to buy a copy! As you can tell, Jad and Danna were thoroughly engrossed in the story! After the story, she did a little bit of a magic trick and when she asked the kids for a good cowboy magic phrase, Danna blurted out "Yee haw!!"And that was just the phrase she needed to finish off the magic trick! The kids also did a cowboy craft with this talented Cowgirl Author.

We were getting hungry from all of this activity, so we found some cowboy beans and chuck wagon stew to appease our appetites. Dessert was homemade peach cobbler that was absolutely delicious!! All of the food was made outside over open fires using the ingredients and utensils from 100 years ago. It was rather impressive and very tasty!

We followed up lunch with a quick game of horseshoes. Then it was time to check out the museum. The National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum was very nicely done, however I didn't get to read one single plaque since Jad and Danna raced through each room touching as many things as they could. I did get a shot of Cowgirl Danna on a saddle though!

If you happen to be in the Oklahoma City area during a Memorial Day weekend, be sure to check out the wonderful annual Chuck Wagon Gathering and Children's Cowboy Festival at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum!