Pre-Independence Day Festivities

On July 3rd we packed up the family and Terrence and met up with some of our friends for an Independence Day celebration in a nearby city. We've gone to the same event on July 3rd for most of the last several years, the exception being 2 years ago when it was postponed and eventually cancelled due to weather. They have a park where the kids can play, a live band with family friendly music, free snow cones, train rides, water activities, a rock climbing wall, etc. Dickies BBQ even caters the event and offers a very reasonable BBQ sandwich, chips, and a drink for only $2 per person. They offer shuttles to take you from the parking areas to the area where they host the event, and at the end of the evening there is an impressive fireworks show.
*Note to parents - Make sure your husband locks the double jogging stroller before he tears off ahead of you pushing the stroller, with both kids in it and decides to pop a wheelie...your kids might not like it if the stroller collapses and folds them over inside it. Just a thought. ;)

I got a snow cone for LittleMan, thinking it was the least likely to stain his shirt, but he ended up tipping half the juice on himself anyway. Tyson suggested that if we poured out some of the juice it might be easier for him to eat it, so I "borrowed" the snow cone and went around the corner to get rid of some of the syrup. I figured Tyson would keep LittleMan entertained while I did it so he wouldn't see what I was doing, but I guess I wasn't specific enough in my instruction, because he let LittleMan pad off after me. When the poor guy saw what I was doing he screamed bloody murder for a full five minutes. Our friends could hear him over the band and all the way across the park. He didn't fuss a bit when I took off his shirt and rinsed it in the fountain, he just didn't want me messing with his snow cone. Lesson one about coming in between this man and his food, I guess.

Here is a video of LittleMan dancing along to the live band's music.


LittleMan still wasn't a fan of the fireworks this year, they were too noisy for him and he spent most of the show in Tyson's lap cringing every time he heard the explosion from the fireworks. At least he didn't cry this year. BittyBit however was relaxed and right at home for the whole process.LittleMan's vocabulary has exponentially increased during the last month or so, and on the ride home he kept saying "Fireworks go BOOM!"