Texas State Fair: Dinner Date with the Family

Each year we've gone to the fair, we haven't really had a chance to make a day of it. There is so much to see and do there, you could spend an entire day taking in all of the sights and experiencing all of the events. Not to mention, you'd be spending quite a bit of money, too! Last year, we had coupons left over from our visit, so I wasn't going to make that mistake. (We ended up trading them with Primo for a good meal and well, I think we got the better end of the deal!) We weren't quite able to do it as cheap as we did in 2008, but then again, there are 4 of us, one of which is all too eager to ride rides (thank goodness for half price ride night, which is actually 2 tickets discounted from the rides I ride night).

We didn't have to pay entrance to the fair and like I mentioned it was half price ride night. (Thank you teachers who don't go to the fair and are generous to share with a family who has an expensive tradition!) I had budgeted $60 for food and rides, and we opted to purchase $50 to begin with. Tickets are valued at 50 cents, so we had 90. I took 40, I gave Don 40, and I tucked away 10 in the bag for later. Right off the bat, we hit up Fletchers.  Priced at 9 tickets a piece ($4.50), it cost 27 tickets. Man were they delicious!

Next up, we went inside the food pavilion (as if there aren't food vendors every where!) for fried banana pudding. They make it like an empanada. The outer shell is almost like a pie shell. They fill it with the banana pudding, fry it, then top it with whipped cream, and powdered sugar. 8 tickets, I think. Amazing!

Our stroller broke last week. I was devastated to say goodbye to the red stroller. We replaced it with the same type of stroller, but in a blue model. The plan was to have Mari walk and Tesla to ride in the stroller. Well, the Sugarbean wanted to ride, so I wore Tesla. Because of this, I had difficulty eating anything that wasn't easily held. I spilled the insides of my banana pudding on her head. I can say, not only did she smell and taste sweet, but her hair was well-conditioned! See how comfortable Mari is in the stroller. Such a little lady!

Next, we wandered over to the petting zoo, but boy was it a madhouse! I bought $2 worth of the feed and we didn't use any of it. I repurposed an abandoned larger feed cup to house my two smaller cups and poured it all in there. Unfortunately, we didn't use any. If anyone local is going to the fair, I will happily give you my feed cups so they don't go to waste. Seriously, it was so packed in there, I couldn't even grab a photo! Awful! We scurried out of there and went to stare at the large pig. It was just being stinky and lazy.

We headed over to the craft building to see our friend do a cooking demo. We stopped just to say hello and browsed the photography entries and the other handmade items. I would like to enter something next year! Before we stepped out, we marveled at the butter sculpture. Yes, that is all butter!

Then we headed to the Midway. First stop, Tornado Taters. I don't like them crispy like chips, instead, I ask them to lightly fry it. I top with spicy seasoning, hot sauce and ketchup. 9 tickets.

Then it was time to ride the slide!!!!! 10 tickets (5 tickets each) I have to tell you that the slide was quite popular. We even had to wait in line towards the top. I nearly threw up my tornado taters with the fear welling up in my belly. I kept hunching over so I wouldn't look over the edge. I don't know how many times I was barking at Mari to keep her hand on the side. And on the inside, I kept thinking, but that's silly if the ramp dislodges off of the slide and we fell. No amount of holding on would matter. And then we would sway. Ugh!!! But we made it to the top.

The Sugarbean REALLY wanted to ride alone, but I wouldn't let her. Oh no! I couldn't imagine her flying down the side. Maybe next year. Maybe. She still had a whole lot of fun. I was laughing the whole way down, as was she. Here's a video I shot of halfway down.

Then we went on to let Mari do some more rides. We did a fun house, a car, and a mini roller coaster. When she was riding the car, Tesla was quite upset. So much so that she was actually crying tears. I think she was afraid for her sister. She is not the little adventurous one like her sister and that is fine by me! I calmed her down and she ended up sleeping most of the remainder of the evening. Here is a shot of Don squeezed into the mini coaster. What Daddys do for their girls, right?


Then we stopped by for Fried Upside Down Pineapple Cake. (6 or 8 tickets)

We'd had enough of the Midway and said our goodbyes until next year. We escaped without playing any games, too!

I really wanted our pineapple whip (12 tickets...6 tickets each), so off we went to grab some before the car show. Lucky for me, I ran into a friend while in line. Literally, ran into her. (Hi Nan!) After going through the car show and realizing that we liked the Ford Flex (albeit out of our price range), we were ready to go home. But we FINALLY found the fresh squeezed lemonade stand. 10 tickets each. We had 7, so I had to buy 13 more.

 

Then, while we walked out, we saw the fireworks that accompanied the video and music montage. It was indeed a wonderful end to a terrific date night! We were all ecstatic!


 TOTAL SPENT: $58.50 RIDES & FOOD + $10 PARKING