Money Pit

Wasn't there a movie by that title a LONG time ago? Well, I have decided that kids are the real money pits (lol). The other day was "Fair Day" for our ISD, so, of course, where did the kids want to go? You got it -- to the State Fair. I've always liked the fair so it wasn't a hardship for me to take off work to take the kids. We got there about 11 am and sat in line for 20 minutes to get into the parking lot. Last year I had missed the turn in and then found an odd little lot by a back gate and a rail-road to park. Don't remember what it cost, but it was less than the $10 it cost to park in the 'official' lot. Unfortunately, that parking lot was behind a bunch of buildings and not in a good area and I felt very uncomfortable walking to the fair so I decided to go official this year. The kids had tickets that the school had given them so I didn't have to pay for their tickets or I couldn't have afforded it at all. My ticket cost $14. Granted, I could have gotten one in a grocery store for $1 to $1.5 less, but I didn't think of it and didn't see any the last time I went grocery shopping. I did remember from last year that everything in the park cost tickets - not money (except the stuff in the shopping areas) and the price of tickets was the same as I remembered it. So we did a bit of shopping, had lunch (2 sausage on a stick. a small drink and one turkey leg for $22). Then the kids wanted to ride some rides. Aidan had loved the sky lift (or something like that) the cable-car like ride from one end of the Midway to the other so we headed over there. They wanted 14 tickets per person - that's $7 per person! I don't remember it being nearly that much last year - maybe I'm just getting old and forgetful but $7 for a short ride? Ridiculous!!! We walked, needed the exercise anyway. Rides in the midway were 10 tickets - $5 per ride! I had bought the kids each $10 worth of tickets (like I did last year) and expected they'd get some 3 or 4 rides for that price - not this year, no way! We did find some rides for more like 8 tickets and I bought each one more tickets so they did get their 4 rides but boy was it expensive. On the way out, we wanted something cold to drink - the weather was wonderful this year, warm but not too hot. Last year we melted and this was a lot more comfortable, but we still wanted something cold. So I bought still MORE tickets and STILL didn't have enough for a drink for each of us. We were there for 5 hours, I spent over $200. Kids still wanted to ride more rides and wanted more junk to eat and I didn't play the balloon pop or water race games that I usually do because I always end up spending much more than I plan because, of course, each child has to have a medium-size stuffed animal and I pay a lot for them. This time I held firm and didn't play as I am TRYING to save money for the trip to Vietnam. I think the kids enjoyed them selves even without all the junk (food and toys) but I'm wondering if I will be able to afford to even go the fair next year. I need another job.