Dallas,TX

If you are taking your family to the Texas State Fair, it would behoove you to plan ahead. The complete schedule can be found by following the link to the website. You can go to the date you plan to go and print out the schedule if you wish. If you plan for the shows and exhibits you want to see, you can keep the family moving, avoiding as much as possible those money - drenching side trips.

Our family is planning to go this coming Monday. My wife and I have picked out all the shows we and the boys want to see. They are spaced out such that there will be little time to do anything else. I usually let them play a game or two on the Midway. It does not take them long to realize how impossible it is to win big.

When the boys want to do something that will cost extra, I always let them know that for each of us to have a corny dog and drink costs about twenty-five dollars. Since eating is high on their priority list for the day, it usually slows them down a bit. I also point out that they had an opportunity to earn their own money. Since they did not do their chores they are empty-handed.

Riding rides has never been an issue. Our boys have never been excited about riding the rides at any fair or event with rides. For one thing, we let them know what they could have and do if they used the money elsewhere. They usually opt for the alternate plan.

With Conner, the oldest, beginning to get into cars now, the automobile shows will keep them occupied for a while. The events we have picked out alternate between things Cyndy and I want to see and would like them to see with us and things the boys want to see and we can live with. Then there are the ones just too fun to pass up. I mean, who would not want to see pig races - at least once?

I have known families who blew their family budget - and their diet - by going to the fair. They tried to see everything and do everything and pay out the wazoo for the experience (they never really see everything or do much of it at all). Mostly, people succumb to the sights and sounds of unique foods, obviously most of which is fried.

But if you plan ahead, a trip to the State Fair can be thoroughly enjoyable without emptying your pockets. Our plan? Get up, have a good breakfast, and head to the fair. After parking (the first $10) getting in (buy advance tickets at Kroger), and getting a map, we head to the first event. After the first couple of events, we get lunch and head to the next one. We’re through just before dinner time. So we head back home for dinner.

Only one meal out, and we had an enjoyable time seeing shows, exhibits, and activities at the State Fair. If we are in a good mood and they act fairly decent, they may come home with a souvenir. It did not cost us an arm and a leg. And if we did not see it, we probably did not need to - we saw what we came to see.

Have a good day and Peace be with you.