The Fair v. My Wallet

If taking a two and a half year old and an eight month old costs this much to go to the fair now, I am scared for how much it'll cost when the boys are actually old enough to ride the big rides, play the games, and want to buy all the ridiculous crap really awesome treasures the fair offers! 

Before we even made it into the fair, we emptied our wallets to the parking attendant. It seems so unfair and overpriced to charge $10 for my car to sit there. But, whatever, they get to make their own rules.

Parking: $10 Total $10

Surprisingly, the fair offers a discount entrance fee on Saturdays and Sundays between 10-11am. How sweet of them. Sixteen dollars gone before we even set foot in the gates. Oh, and I should mention that everyone and their mother gets there before 11am on the weekends.

Fair Entrance: $3 Total: $16

We went over to the Centennial Farms first. Landon loves animals. He talks about them all the time. When we saw the cows and enormous pigs, I think he was a little shocked that animals came that big! He wasn't as interested in the garden that was growing or the oddly shaped produce.

Next we headed to the kiddie ride section and quickly learned that any rides or games required your first born or your retirement savings. We opted for the lowest priced tickets since nothing holds Landon's interest for long. It's $5 for 10 tickets. Landon loves slides so we thought he would enjoy the enormous one you sit on potato sacks to ride down. 5 tickets...wait for it...per person!! Are you kidding me? It just cost us $5 to go down a slide.

Enormous Slide: $5 Total: $21

Lunch time!! This is the best part of the fair, right? The food!! The fried food! After surveying the options, we settled with a giant turkey leg, fried vegetables (artichoke hearts, zucchini, and sweet potato), and a soda. We found a "secret" courtyard for wine tasting with comfy patio tables and chairs. There was also a booth for Safeway handing out a fruit and nut bar (Score! Landon's lunch!). Shane gobbled his turkey leg, Austin had a fruit pouch and some puffs, Landon enjoyed the fruit and nut bar and shared my fried veggies. Shane and I had a precautionary pepto shortly after. Our bellies were happy...Our wallets were hurting...

Turkey Leg: $11.25 Fried Vegetables: $8.75 Soda: $5 Total: $46

We took the boys through the livestock. Austin was exhausted from being off his normal schedule and passed out in the carrier. Landon loved the horses and was shocked to see the camels. The little baby was so cute. We checked out the chickens and roosters, sheep and goats. Landon was fascinated by them all. And a little scared of the goats.

We passed a little gelato stand and got two shakes - Mint chocolate chip and caramel pecan. Far too watery and over priced - of course. Landon didn't care and sucked them down!

2 Gelato Shakes: $14 Total: $60

I'm not sure who won this one - the fair or my wallet. Landon had a great time and loved seeing all the animals. Austin was less impressed and took two days to get back on his sleeping schedule. I think next time we will search for some farm animals that won't cost us $60 to see!