It's summertime and your town is probably abuzz with all the kiddos excited about your local county fair or yearly summertime festival. We live just an hour from the Del Mar fair grounds where every summer the San Diego County Fair is held. The fair brings thousands of people to enjoy shows, animals, rides and of course crazy food concoctions like peanut butter filled deep fried pickles, what?! We visited the fair just a few days ago and had a blast. Before I share some of our fair pics here are a few tips to help you enjoy your day.

Tip #1 If possible I would plan to hit the fair during the week. It's less packed and parking won't be as crazy as during the weekends. I remember one year we were at a standstill in freeway traffic forever waiting for our chance to search for a parking space. No fun!

Tip #2 Check out your local fairs web page and look out for special discount days. Our fair has certain days of the week where kiddos get in free, military discounts and so on. We hit the fair on a "Pepsi Pay-One-Price Ride day. This meant we were able to purchase a wristband for Penelope to ride all the rides to her hearts content. It beats dealing with tickets and then hearing your kid whine because you are all out.

Tip #3 Pack light! You don't want to be lugging around your purse or bag all day. Especially when you will probably end up leaving with more then you walked in with anyway.

Tip #4 Don't forget your sunscreen, hats, sunglasses. Even when the sun isn't shining you still have to cover up. We learned this the hard way when we assumed there was no way we needed sunblock on a cloudy day. Wrong! We all came  home with sunburns despite the sun being covered up.

Tip #5 Stick to a budget. We hit the bank beforehand and took out cash. The plan was too spend only what we took out and once the money was gone so were we. It actually worked! Despite the fact that there were ATM's all over the grounds, once we spent our cash we headed out. You can end up spending a lot more then you planned if you don't stick to a plan.

Now go enjoy your day at the fair!