July 4, 2009

Two years ago, we had a newborn and barely realized it was the fourth. Last year, we tried a destination for the Fourth of July. Tahoe had quite the fireworks display and all, but traveling on a major holiday means crowds and traffic and a hassle finding lodging. So, this year we decided to stay in Tracy and see what the local celebration was like. Survey says, not too shabby!

First we went to the parade going through downtown Tracy. RJ really liked watching the classic cars and other vehicles.



Then we went to the Fourth of July festival at Lincoln Park in downtown Tracy. It was just a small carnival, but RJ convinced us that he was old enough to get on a ride and he had a blast. It seems that RJ definitely has my adventurous gene!



During this jaunt into downtown, we rigged RJ's potty seat to attach to the back of the stroller using one of the straps that hooks his booster seat to a chair. It's quite amazing how many comments you get about hanging a potty from your umbrella stroller. But hey - life shouldn't stop because you have a potty training child and it's REALLY important to be consistent with children when they're going through this process. Putting a child in a diaper for an event like this might be more convenient, but in the long run, its better to show the child that you think they can do the pottying thing while out and about too!



Then in the evening we went to the local fireworks display at the high school. It was quite a nice local display (one of the few in the whole area not canceled for budget reasons)! Plus, RJ had lots of fun jumping on the track and field mat with some other kiddos and playing catch with daddy on the field when waiting for the display to start.



All in all, the Fourth of July was a really good day.