Yeeeeehaw!

It's Stampede time! If you're here in Calgary, I'm quite sure that you've noticed; it's hard to miss. I've been twice already; apart from the rain, it was great. (We went once with the kids, and once with the adults for the chuckwagon races.)
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How great? Well. Here's my top ten list of great things at the Calgary Stampede this year:
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10. I love, love, love women in hijabs with cowboy hats over top. (And jeans & cowboy boots too.) I vote them the most awesome cowgirls of Stampede. Totally trumps the tarts in cut-offs & tube tops.
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9. Speaking of tube tops, the chuckwagon that was advertising for "Busted". (A lingerie store in the Calgary area. I believe they said they stock up to a 52L.)
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8. Those little donuts. Mmmmmmmm.

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7. The fact that they use not one, not two or three, but FOUR tractors to drag the race track. Awesome. (Cell phone pic, sorry it's dark.)

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6. The girls' glee. I didn't get a pic of them in the double stroller in all their glory, so here's a substitute of them in the double Costsco shopping cart. This photo is from about a month & a half ago, when they had just started riding together. I'm glad to report that there have been no unfortunate incidents!

It was horse day in the barns - heavy horse & miniature horse competitions. "Look at that horse, it is big & strong & tall." "Yup, it's a Percheron." (And ENORMOUS. Hooves same size as my head.) "And that horse is lower." "Yes, indeed." (A miniature that's about the same size as Amoryn.)

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5. A little wee carved wooden bird that an artist gave to Amoryn.

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4. The fact that A_____ talked Z____ into riding on the slingshot. And the fact that her reaction involved screaming, and a video that I've posted on Facebook.

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3. My second place ribbon for my skein of yarn! This is the first yarn that I've ever spun using a wheel (thanks for the loan AuntyTink!), it's Cheviot fiber that I dyed using a pink & orange sunset as inspiration.

(It's not quite as impressive as it sounds; there were only two entries in that class. I'd entered my yarn just because I was so pleased with it, and I suspected that it would be a small category that I don't want to see disappear.)

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2. Amoryn's custom decorated cowboy hat - we got a pink foam hat & sparkly foam stickers & she & Z___ had a blast decorating it. It alternated between being a princess hat, a farmerboy hat, and a cowboy hat. She wore it the whole time though!
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1. My third place ribbon in the knitted accessory category - there's a lot of competition in this class, so I'm delighted by it!

(Mistaken, which I've talked about here here .)
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Hm. My writing - and thought processes - feel a bit awkward today. Could be because I haven't had my daily princess coffee yet; could be because we didn't get home from Stampede until midnight & I didn't get to bed until 2 am! Either way, I'm signing off now. Yahoo!