Weekend options: Let's Rodeo!

Last update: January 31, 2008 - 5:15 PM

LET'S RODEO

We're not talkin' just any ol' rodeo -- we're talkin' World's Toughest Rodeo! Twelve of the sport's best and toughest cowboys will compete in bone-jarring saddle bronc, bareback and bull riding. There will also be girls' barrel-racing events and chuckwagon races. Each night will have a post-show "dirt dance," with country rocker Trent Tomlinson performing Saturday night. (7:30 p.m. today-Sat. $17-$47. Xcel Energy Center, W. 7th St. and Kellogg Blvd., St. Paul. 651-989-5151. www.xcelenergy center.com.)

BRIAN LEEHAN

Historical Winter Romp

Take a trip back in time and enjoy winter as it was on the Minnesota frontier at the Pond Dakota Winter History Fest. Take a dogsled ride and then enjoy some hot cider and cocoa in front of the fireplace in the Pond House. Or warm up with a bowl of wild rice soup for $1. Norwegian immigrant Ole Olafson will display and talk about tools and objects common to immigrant households in the 19th century. Visit a logging camp and try your hand at sawing in the lumberjack way, and take home your own fire-branded log cut. Traditional music on fiddle and mandolin will be performed all day. (Noon-4:30 p.m. Sun. Free. Historic Gideon Pond House, Pond-Dakota Mission Park, 401 E. 104th St., Bloomington. 952-563-8693.)

FOR THOSE FLAGGING NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS ...

Get yourself back on track, or get started with a healthier lifestyle by visiting the Healthy Life Expo. More than 180 exhibitors and guests will cover a wide variety of health and lifestyle topics including fitness, longevity, aromatherapy, alternative medicine, nutrition and hypnosis therapy. Exhibits and presentations will also cover "green" building and remodeling as well as alternative energies and energy-efficient products. Entertainment includes music and dance performances. (Noon-9 p.m. today; 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Sat. $6. Minneapolis Convention Center, 1301 2nd Av. S., Mpls. 952-238-1700.)