Ok, I lied. AP parenting stuff maybe tomorrow

It's nearly July. In Calgary, that means that it is nearly Stampede time. Now if you have never been in southern Alberta during this special time, you are really missing out on something. What I'm just not sure, but something. The Calgary Stampede is a weeklong party oh and of course a world class rodeo.

In my 22 years of being, I have never missed going. Not much really changes, yet every year I don my cowboy hat and drag as many people down to the fairgrounds with me as possible. I love everything about the Stampede. I love how all the city folk throw on blue jeans and cowboy boots, even if for the other 50 weeks of the year they wouldn't be seen dead in anything other than designer duds. At the grounds I love the swarms of people, the free concerts and of course the mini donuts (oh my goodness the donuts!). The rides are also a big highlight. There are no adult sized amusement parks within driving distance of here so having one show up on our doorstep once a year is a great thing.

This year I am going on as many rides as possible as for the past two years I've been pregnant and not allowed to go on even slow ones. Torture I tell you! I love rides, the ricketier the better, as the added fear that the car you're riding in is going to shoot off the track gives the ride an extra thrill. Luckily, although Hubby despises the idea of the Stampede, he likes rides. It's nice to have a built in ride buddy. One of the many perks of being married.

I have fond memories of sitting up late with my grandmother, mother and sister and placing penny bets on the chuck wagons. It's something we still do now, minus the pennies. You get to know the drivers over the years and get a fairly good idea of who is going to win, but that's not the point. The point is having family around and having fun.

That's the really great thing about the Stampede. There really is something for everyone. There are children's activities for kids the Sprogling's age up and of course for the drinking aged group of people there are nonstop parties for the entire Stampede. If it gets too warm there is the indoor market and art pavilion to visit. You get to watch real live cow boys competing and then you can go look at prize winning animals.

Then at the end of the night you can experience all the lights and sounds of the fair winding down (or winding up as the case can be) and watch fire works. Who doesn't like fireworks.