Mutton Bustin' (Yep, that's what I said)

Today we had an unexpected treat. In the endless quest for Saturday morning entertainment, we ventured way out to the Goochland County Farmers Market. Little did we know what adventure awaited us.

Of course you had the typical farmer’s market stuff: the banjo-picking family band, the alpacas to pet/feed, tasty booths everywhere. We especially liked how the Goochland Fire Department had rigged up a mini-house with a smoke machine inside of it, and then let the kids blast at the "house on fire" with the fire hose...that was pretty cool. There was a craft tent with fun stuff, a story time, and the kids got to paint a planter box and plant some seeds to take home!

However, the big winner in terms of an event goes - hands down - to the Mutton Bustin' contest, which basically consists of kids less than 60 lbs donning a helmet and some type of anti-sheep flak jacket then riding some scared sheep rodeo-style out of shoot/launch-pen across a course. Yep, that's how we have fun out here in the country. We had thought it was going to be a simple race to the end of the course, but - given that it was rare that a rider/survivor made it that far before being thrown off - the basic event was essentially just to hold on for dear life for as long as you could!

The event appeared pretty intimidating. All the kids deserve credit for stepping up to the task for this one, there was no question about signing them up - when are they going to be able to do this again!?!?!

Ella bravely went first as older sisters are supposed to do, and she went a fair distance before being caught underneath the sheep hooves and being run over. In true Ella style, she stoically walked off the course with her head held high, no tears. Despite being trampled, I think she went further than any of the boys in the first round. Later little Olivia bravely climbed up to get on her sheep, despite there being a crying/scared girl ahead of her in line - she didn't get freaked out, and she got right on there and grabbed the wool as tight as she could. She got thrown off pretty quickly, but - don't worry - neither sheep nor girl was harmed. She went up to Amy afterwards and asked proudly "Mommy, wasn't I brave?!".

The real surprise was Hannah, who got on her sheep and rode that wooly wonder all the way to the end of the course - becoming the Mutton Bustin' Rodeo Champion of the Goochland Farmers Market on 7/31/2010! She won a $25 cash prize, a T-shirt, and the healthy respect of the other competitors she trounced! After her prize-winning race, they took the 4 fastest riders from all the rounds and did a separate "Dash for Cash" race with all four riding at once (Don't think I'm trying to pull the wool over your eyes, ewe can just imagine the sheepish mayhem as they rammed along trying to bleat each other!). Hannah came in second for that race, because she slipped underneath her sheep and rode it from underneath for most of the course! The sheep banged Hannah's head into a barrel, knocking the barrel over (combo: hard head and helmet = one hurt barrel), but yet still Hannah stayed on the sheep (at least underneath the sheep), racing along! My video of that race was useless because I was cheering with both arms and my video is all yells and sky - but trust me, it was a sight to behold! Here is the video of Hannah's championship run, if you dare...