4th of July Week
Independence Day was on a Wednesday this year, so we ended up having a whole week celebration: how fun is that? I particularly enjoyed it because that also happens to be my only summer vacation; so while Keegan is at school I have a couple of days for myself (and catching up).
We started the weekend before the 4th with our annual celebration at one of Clairmont’s churches. We discovered it by chance three years ago, and we have been coming ever since. This year we met Sharon and Jada there. It is great, because it is not crowded and it is free. We had hamburgers and ice cream, played in the jumpee, watched a magic show (Keegan was enthralled) and of course went up and down the water slide. Well, Keegan did.
There were also climbing structures and swings, and Jada and Keegan had fun with these.
On the way home, an Abraham Lincon impersonator even gave Keegan a penny for his piggy bank (which is pretty empty at the moment).
The school’s celebration was on Tuesday. We decorated the bike the night before with paper and flags and we were ready for the big day. Of course we needed to put the training wheels on. Keegan stubbornly refused to even try to use the bike without it, so he won this battle.
When I arrived, all the kids were anxiously waiting for the parents to show up. They were so cute with their patriotic outfits.
Ms. Jill, Keegan’s new teacher for next year…can’t wait (-:
We all headed to the back door, where all the bikes were waiting. The kids were so excited. Check out Keegan’s very patriotic shirt…bought in Italy. I swear there is more American clothing in Italy than here.
To celebrate my first Independence Day as an American, I got decked out too.
As always, the preparation is longer than the actual ride around the block, but it is still fun.
At the finish line with Julia
The best part of all: the iced popsicle waiting the riders at the end.
On Wednesday, we started the day with the Stanley Park Fourth Of July Celebration. Depsite having so much fun during his own bike parade, he refused to bring his bike along, so we just watched the other kids ride around. There was a nice stage with different groups playing or performing, and there were, of course the rides. We had to wait a little for them to be blown up, but then it was a lot of (expensive) fun.
After a quiet afternoon at home under gray skies, we headed out for the fireworks show. This is the first year we were keeping Keegan up to watch, and he was so excited. We went to a local church, Pioneer Ocean View United Church of Christ, thanks to a tip from Chrystal, Julia’s mom. It was great: you could see the whole bay, from downtown to La Jolla and up. The church had popcorn set up and welcomed everyone. There was no traffic, and a nice parking lot. The perfect place to watch the show. We meet Julia and her family there, so the kids had fun together, and I chatted with Chrystal.
Playing with glow sticks
glow sticks twirling makes great photography
From our advantage point we could see everything from north county, to La Jolla, Mission Bay and Seaworld and even downtown…if their well advertised Big Bay Boom actually worked. It was supposed to be one of the biggest fireworks display of the evening. As we were waiting for Seaworld show to start, we saw some huge fireballs over downtown: very spectacular fireworks…that lasted about 10 seconds. And then darkness. Well, it turned out that for a malfunction, the thousands of fireworks scheduled went off all together. The Fourth of July celebration was expected to last 18 minutes, but went up in smoke within 15 seconds.
We did get to see our normal fireworks as well, of course, and Seaworld did not disappoints nor amazed.
On Saturday, we had a playdate at the end of Mission Bay with Alyce and her friend Elin. The sky were gray and the sun barely picked out of the clouds, but the kids had fun anyway. They run around, played with the sand and even played in the water. The best part is always snack time.
We ended the week of celebration with one last bang. On Sunday we went to a Port Of San Diego Event: basically a large amounts of inflatables sitting on a pier over the water.With downtown as a backdrop it was an amazing sight.
The event also boasted the largest, inflatable, water-slide. Since we had a 2 x 1 coupon, I got a wristband too, so I could try it out. Keegan, bravely tried it twice, by himself, and on my lap, after which he decided he had enough, and it was too scary. I really think it was the splashing in the water he did not like. At any rate, I got my money worth, and rode it many times. It was really fun!
I can’t really say I win any award for gracefulness…
There were plenty of other things for Keegan to do, mind you, and he tired himself out going on every, single one. The T-Rex adventure and the Spider Man one were his favorites.
It was definitely a fun way to start our July!
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