The Fair! 2008

We went to the fair yesterday & it was perfect! The weather was perfect fair weather!  The children wore hooded sweatshirts with a shirt underneath them and a pair of jeans. No one complained about their clothes & all sweatshirts stayed on! On the ferris wheel, they all put on their little hoods!!  The clothes are in the washer now & are almost all clean! I even throw their tennis shoes in there, though this year's fair did not feel dirty.

The day was perfect. We had bought tickets in advance & did not use them all, but the children still rode plenty of rides. Most were 3 tickets each.  We arrived around 11am & they rode several rides before lunch.  Lunch for 9 people was only $30!!  We shared fries & the children shared 2 sprites between the 5 of them. Footlongs were only a quarter more than a regular dog, so we bought 3 footlongs to split between the five children! Pretty smart! My mama was the price checker on that one!

We bought 2 elephant ears & all shared them. Two of the girls bypassed the elephant ears (fried dough) to wait on ice cream.  We spent about $22 total on treats. One favorite is the spiral apple in the Village of Yesteryear for just $1.  I carried 2 regular bottled waters & one small one & came home with the 2 big ones. The children did not beg for drinks or lots of food. They were GREAT!  

We even sold our 5 leftover sheets of tickets, so I left with $50 in my pocket! PERFECT!!!  Since we are moving, we are sad we may not be back next year. I may sneak back out there on canned food day on Thursday for some more fried dough! Shh.... don't tell anyone!!!

Tips for the FAIR!

The fair is an expensive endeavor.  Where we live, you can buy your tickets online early and  you will save almost half of the price for ride tickets and $2 on admission. Every little bit counts! If you live in my state, go to __statefair.org  Fill in that blank w/ our state's initials. I know, I'm being weird, but who has time for a cyber stalker??  Especially when you look as good as I do first thing in the morning!  ha

So...more money-saving ideas:

-Bring a backpack filled with bottled water, some snacks, and a treat or two like bubblegum or mints.  Bringing a treat will cut down the number of treats you have to buy at the fair!

-My friend, E, brings small dixie cups to the fair & writes each family member's name on them with a sharpie. Then, they buy ONE sprite or ONE lemonade or ONE water & they all share it!  If you bring some bottled water in your backpack, you don't have to buy drinks.  Or, if you're selfish like I am, Mama gets her Diet Coke & the children share the water you brought!! :)

-My friend, C, uses a sharpie marker to write her cell phone # on her children's stomachs. Another friend writes the number on their wrists. This way, if they are separated from you, they will know what number to call.  When you're scared or lost, it is sometimes difficult to remember the number!

-I dress all of our children in the same color.  Orange is an easy-to-spot color.  Sometimes D & I even dress in the same color. This way, when one person is ahead of the group, you can see them in a crowd.  The pictures are always cuter when you're dressed in the same color anyway!  It makes you focus on the faces, not the clothes!

-Go early. 

-If your budget allows each person to have a treat like a caramel apple or fried dough (my fave!), then tell everyone in advance how many treats they can have or how much they can spend.  We tell the children we won't play games, but we will buy or share 1 treat per person. 

-If you don't want to pay for food at the fair, go before or just after a meal.

-Bring your camera!! I love pictures from the fair!

-Visiting the stinky animals is FREE!! Who doesn't love seeing a big ole mama pig & all of her piglets? And the cute cows!! MOOO

-Children also enjoy seeing the produce. There's nothing quite like an 850 pound pumpkin that is in SECOND place for BIGGEST PUMPKIN!!

Now I am so excited! Have fun!!!!

The Fair!

October is my FAVORITE time of year... then again, I love each season for different reasons. I love Oct. because I was born in Oct, so it has always had special meaning. I also love THE FAIR. I know many of you are thinking, "Ooooo... gross... I can't stand the fair"! Well, I do enjoy it. I love seeing the children's faces when they ride the rides and try fried dough. I love watching them pet animals that then give them diarrhea for 2 weeks. I love hearing the man say, "Come on down to Cary Methodist. We've got ham biscuits, footlongs, french fries, hamburgers, and the best ham biscuits at the fair". They say the same thing every year. Every year I watch people stand in line for Al's french fries, even though I've never had them.

One of my favorite fair visits was before the children were even born. I was newly pregnant, and went with my friends, Q&A, and my brother & sister in law, A & A. Q was VERY pregnant & it was more fun!! She may not be happy that I am writing this, so now I am going back & changing initials! So, my imaginary friend Q ate her way through the fair. It was more fun. First she had a hot dog... but not just any hot dog. She had a footlong! with extra fries. Loved it. Just loved it. Then, we went outside & she saw the ears of corn. She had to have it. D loves to tell of how he heard her yell through the thick crowd, "Honey, make sure they put EXTRA BUTTER on it"!!!! And they did. She ate that big ole piece of corn w/ extra butter. Next we walked past a chocolate dipped banana. I was feeling sick just watching her eat the corn. But, oh no, she was GOING to eat that banana!! She ordered one & we laughed & laughed as she ate that banana!! The night continued like that. Who doesn't love the fair with that kind of entertainment??

So, get ready because the fair is in our state for 10 days starting on Thurs. I hope you'll go! Tomorrow I will post some tips on how to go to the fair & save a little mad cheddar!