Where I post about the adventures we have, both close to home and far, far away

So we did the stampede for the first time with kids this year.

We decided to wing it, show up early and just see how it goes.

I was really planning on being prepared, but somehow things got scattered and I really showed up in the morning without my full mom-arsenal of supplies and goodies.

No matter. it worked out anyways... but I do think I will be better prepped for next year.

1) Going all day was not that bad

I honestly never expected we would stay all day. But we made almost to 11:00 pm for fireworks. We were too tired to stay up for them, but I think if we planned it right we would do that next year. For us it was a good idea to put all our eggs in one basket and just do ONE, very long, very full day. I think for me, dragging it over the full week would be too much and this way we can throw everything into that one day. (minus pancake breakfasts of course!!)

2) drive down and Park your car on the Stampede Grounds.

If you are going for the full day, you can get there early enough to just drive in and get a spot. It costs $20 but at the end of the day when you can barely walk, trust me, that $20 will be the best money you spent all day. When you are going for a marathon day you have to plan the last few hours the best to avoid melt-downs. So, yeah, I'd say pay the money and give yourself a break.

3) Plan well for the shoulder-hours

We arrived at 8:00 and that was a good idea, although the rides didn't open until 9. The first hour is a nice, cool, relaxing time to plan the day, eat breakfast, scope the grounds and make a game plan for which foods to indulge in. The end of the day is also a tough time with kids. The last hours between 9-11 I'd carefully plan to avoid crisis burn-out. Probably rotate between kids rides, watching a show at the coca-cola stage, and lying under a blanket on a grassy knoll to people watch and star gaze.

Next year Mark and I plan to go on a separate night, just us, for the Grand Stand show. I don't think that would work well for us with kids.

4)Bring Breakfast

I recommend bringing a hearty, healthy breakfast. The food busses don't open until 10 and the pancake breakfast line is long, and if you want to last until midnight you'll need good fuel. Also, if you're packing food until lunch it can really suck, but getting out the door and eating a big breakfast first thing means you don't have to eat it in the heat, the grounds are still not crowded and you don't have to carry it all day. I think I'd make some whole grain pancakes, yogurts, smoothies and hard boiled eggs for the kids, and crockpot stew in a thermos for me. (I like dinner-for-breakfast)

5) If nothing else, bring some vegetables...and water.

The one thing I DID remember to pack was a huge bag of chopped carrots and celery. Which was a great idea. The kids ate them between deep-fried-chunks-of-sugar-cake-madness. And I ate them to avoid indigestion from the bizarre foods I really wanted to try. It curbed cravings to eat too much and I honestly didn't feel too sick or awful after a full day of eating pretty much crap. Like I said, next year I'll pack breakfast, and chopped veg. If I do any more than that it will be the bonus plan.

6)Basement of Big four for food that isn't healthy, but will feed your family.

Also, we were told to eat at Weadickville because its cheaper. And it WAS, but there was very little selection. Um. yeah. only hot dogs or slurpees. SO. you can get a hot dog for $2.50 and slurpee for $2 which was pretty good. But if you want to eat ANYTHING else, you'll have to go somewhere else. Also, if I was looking for regular food-court food I would have gone to the basement of the Big four building. That was a good place for quick easy "real" food, that was air conditioned.

7) Get EVERYONE a ride pass (early passes at Safeway)

We got early ride passes at Safeway for the boys. I think, honestly, next year I would splurge even more on these and get one for everyone. The kids like rides and thats really what we are there for. The one thing I never expected is how sad the baby (almost age2) would be not going on any rides. There were a ton of rides for her and if I had a pass I could take her on them. Next year we will all have passes.

8)) Get Express passes

ALSO, while on the topic of rides, it is a toss up whether we will get express passes or just time ourselves better For $20 extra you get express passes for rides which means you get to go in a separate line-up and almost always never have to wait for a ride. This seems totally worth it for the boys. The big rides have the biggest line-ups and thats what they enjoy the most.

9) TIME the rides!

ALSO, timing is key. Next time we will do BIG rides in the morning (teens don't get out of bed before noon) and the little kids rides after dinner. Yup. all the little kids rides were empty after 7. All the NORMAL people went to bed already. Getting a few runs of a ride with no line ups is worth its weight in gold. You could spend an hour in a half in a line for just one 5 minute ride. Its not worth it.

10) Enjoy a few shows

The shows are different every year so its hard to plan ahead. We really enjoyed the three shows we saw. My kids do not enjoy sitting and watching so this is a big deal. BUT the extreme show was super hot as it was outside in the heat of the day. I'd try and do this earlier or later... or bring ICE. That said it was a heart stopping show and worth it. The Indoor show was the best thing we did. It was the Peking Acrobats and we went to the 2pm show when the grounds were scorching hot. It was in the air conditioned Corral building which was awesome and the show was spectacular. All the shows we saw were free. Only the super dogs required tickets.

11) Only do super dogs if you don't have to wait TOOOO long

We didn't expect to do super dogs, but we happened to pass the line up right when it was at its shortest and only a 1/2 hour wait. I was able to wait in line while the boys did rides and they let me take tickets for all of us. This show was shorter than I remember and they didn't do as many tricks as last time I saw it, but the kids liked it, especially petting the dogs after. Since it wasn't too big a deal to get tickets it was worth it, but I wouldn't have waited any longer in a line for this show.

12) Not sure if I'll go on Kids day again... suggestions?

so we went on kids day because entrance is free. Mark took the day off work. I didn't have any way to compare the numbers of people. I assume there were more kids than normal - especially in the morning, but I think its a great idea to go midweek. Its debatable whether the free entrance was worth the higher kid volume. Im open ears on that one.

13) Budget to spend some money

There are ways to save on going to the stampede and you should take advantage and prep what you can, but the truth is, its going to cost some money. Its stressful if you haven't planned to spend the money to go, so hubby and I both agreed to put this into our yearly budget, so when the time comes again we can spend what we need and save on the stress. I'd say budget $10 for every food item purchased. Deep fried cookies can add up!

14) THE PACKING LIST FOR NEXT YEAR!!!

Hats. (yup. I forgot the HATS!! of all things!!)
sunscreen (yup. forgot this too. Luckily I met a lovely friend who let me borrow hers!!)
cut veg (and probably a few more snacks)
breakfast
5 Safeway ride passes
2 express ride passes
waters
tylenol
stroller
picnic blanket
phone charger
sun umbrella
baby wipes
more diapers
band aids
CASH - food trucks don't take credit or debit.

13) Last but not least, I'd recommend sleeping the week before ad the week after to prep and recover.... Looking forward to it next year, but glad I have a year to recover!! :)