4th of July - cruizin in the Zoo Choo

***I want to point out to my family that Ikaika is wearing the shirt we got at Mt Rushmore when we were there for 4th of July last year!***

For Independence Day this year we went down to the free kids fair at Waikoloa Queen's Shops then partook in a customary BBQ with friends.


Balloon Monsoon made "balloon sculptures" for the kiddos. Mr A requested a monkey for the boy, but when I got up to the front of the line I noticed they could sculpt me a Pikachu...so...you know. I don't think Ikaika had any clue what this thing was and he basically ate it - biting it until it was all popped.


Then came time for the Zoo Choo. This is a little train/car thing that I have seen at numerous kids events on the island. Despite the fact that there are seat belts and the boxcars come up to his shoulder, Mr A still believed that this wasn't exactly safe for someone as "small" as our son.


So, because I chose the nerdy balloon animal, I got stuck with being the only adult riding on the Zoo Choo. I saw a couple of our friends while riding through the market (I don't think we would have ran into them otherwise because it was hotter than Hades and we weren't about to be walking all over the place), but I still felt like a soccer mom. Ugh.

Ten minutes later, when it came time to exit the Zoo Choo, he got very upset. He tried to climb back in and finally broke down into a fit of tears. Of course, I wasn't about to forgo my dignity a second time, so we distracted him with the fish pond and made it out of there without further incident.

The BBQ was awesome. We ate until we were in pain and then watched the fireworks in the distance from our friend's porch because we were all too full/hot/lazy/drunk to drive the 5 minutes for a better view.