Monday, October 12, 2009

The cost of good memories

Danny got some real spoiling during fair week. On the second day he ran up to G-Pops and said, "Hi G-Pops! Can we go buy stuff now?" Grandpa had already treated him to ice cream, a wagon ride full of cousins, carnival rides, and a new toy sword. Danny caught on a little too quickly.

It never ceases to amaze me how expensive EVERYTHING is at any sort of carnival or fair though. Once you enter the gates everything seems to cost at least twice as much as it should. For example, when else would you pay $3 for a slice of homemade bread with butter and jam? Most of the carnival rides cost between 3 and 5 tickets. Each ticket costs $1. So, for a 1 minute ferris wheel ride you're shelling out $4. Ridiculous, right? Sometimes an outrageous expense is worth it for the memory and experience though. Here is our memory.

Grandma Hong decided to take her grandkids on a few rides at the fair one morning. We chose the ferris wheel. The man said Danny was too short though, and he ended up in tears (Danny, not the man) while his cousins rode. Grandma let Danny choose the next ride. He'd had his eye on the pirate ship fun house all week. Interestingly, this ride had the same height restrictions, but Danny must have grown an inch between rides because they let him enter. Grandma handed over the highly overpriced tickets, led the crew in, and then the crew quickly led themselves right back out. "Too scary!" they shrieked. The tickets had already been purchased and handed over, so there was no other option but to force the kids through the scary pirate ship so they could have a good time. Mindy held Kaya by the hand and Grandma took Danny and the foursome made it through the "fun" house while Olivia and Lacy waited outside.



After that we decided to take a break from fair rides and explore some other venues. The kids had SO much fun. There were no tears of sadness or fear. Just smiles and fun.

Tractor rides. Free.Playing in the beans. Free.
Digging in the beans. Free. Playing in the hay. Free.
Walking around with family at the fair. Priceless.

Maybe next year we'll just head straight for the beans. Thanks again for a fantastic 09 fair G-Pops and Granny! What is the most outrageous thing you've spent money on to create an amazing memory?

2 comments:

Mary Jane said...

That is so great that you got to go out to help again this year. How awesome. I love the picture of Danny riding the bull and I love the cute pictures of Kaylee. WHat fun memories you are making for your family.

Jenna said...

What an awesome tradition! This makes me want to go find a fair. :)

We took a trip to Maui (I lived there when I was younger) when I was pregnant with Bryce. Once we got there, we found that the hotel rooms did not have refrigerators or microwaves. We were forced to eat out every meal. We were lucky if we could find a meal at $15 per plate. Most food was in the $20-40 per plate range. The most expensive was a French restaurant for Kevin's birthday (he served his mission in France) ringing up to about $120. But hey, we ate real French Cuisine on Kevin's birthday on Maui.

We also paid $5 to drink coconut water out of a fresh coconut. It was chopped open with a machete and then presented to us with a straw. It was warm and a foreign taste, but we did it!

Good times!