Big Machines

There was a fun little citizen appreciation fair tonight at the park across the street. It was a kick-off for the completion of the renovations that have been taking place over the past two years. Have I ever mentioned that I love living less than a block away from a park?? If I haven't already, I absolutely love how close we are to such a fantastic park! There's a playground, but also an open area along with walking trails. The outdoor water park is right there, too. Best of all, we live on a side street, so we don't even experience the traffic!

Anyway, back to tonight. The city put on this event and had hotdogs, chips, cookies and drinks for dinner-- my kids' favorite meal. Even better, the city invited different "big machines" for kids (both young and old) to explore!

The helicopter was the first thing we visited and was certainly the coolest thing of the evening.

Exploring the firetruck...

Playing around in the digger...

While I was snapping photos, Jackson ended up pushing the horn and it scare the you-know-what out of me!! Not just because it was loud and caught me off guard, but the thought of "oh dear, did my child just break this giant piece of machinery!?!?" went flying through my head.

The police motorcycle (Belle wasn't invited to participate in this photo because she hasn't mastered the skill of "not touching" and I didn't want to pay for the damages.)

The kids also got to climb in this ladder truck thing. We got to see a guy get in it and go way high, so Jackson wanted to go high too, but had to settle for ground level.

The city had this cute idea to have different concrete squares out for the kids to put their handprints and/or initials! The slats all had 2013 in the middle for the grand opening of the park. There wasn't much space left when we got there, so I just squeezed in their initials. 

It was fun evening! I think the kids would say that the coolest part was seeing the helicopter take off. And by kids, I mean Derek and I too. :) 

A story about firetrucks

My mom tells good stories. Growing up, she would always tell us stories about our childhood and we ask for her to tell us more and more. Note: the asking stopped upon the teenage years, even though the stories kept being told well into college. Like, seriously. On one college visit, my friends flocked around her like children at story time to listen to her dramatic retelling of my childhood years. However, I guess that goes to show that she's just a good story teller. But I feel like I should get some credit for giving her material in the first place. 

Today, you're in for a treat because Mom has a story to tell. I was merely going to paraphrase, but decided to ask her to write because it will just be better. Turns out, she had already put something together. She's writing today as "Grammy Hat." 

Here's Mom.

And this is Mom, too (the mature one in back photobombing this cute picture...)

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Look, it’s a bird, it’s a plane, no, it’s a…a…a fire truck.  

I am very fortunate to live near my grandchildren. At times Amy will call and say, “do you want Jackson or Belle?" Other times I have to call and say, “I’m coming to get them.”  Either way, I am thrilled to have my grandchildren with me and I take them at every opportunity.

So awhile back, I took my darling little girl to the community center with me to get information about a family membership.  The ladies in the office were nice enough, but the paperwork was endless.  Suddenly an alarm sounded along with the announcement that the building was to be evacuated.  Men and women came bursting out of the gym.  Moms ran down the hall to rescue their children.  The office ladies scurried about.  I realized my little girl wasn’t by my side. Frantically, I started searching all around. I found her in the hall – right next to the fire alarm!  Loud sirens filled the atmosphere.  In mere minutes, three huge fire trucks and five police cars descended on the community center.  

Oh, my.  

Thinking this was going to cost me my entire life savings, I slowly made my way back into the office.  “Do I need to stay around in case we have to pay for all this?” I asked.  A kind lady responded, “No, you may go ahead and leave.”  As I was leaving, I think she may have added, “And don’t come back," but I can’t be sure. 

When we got buckled into the car and headed home, I asked why she pulled the alarm. Her reply, “Because I wanted to see what would happen." Well, we all found out. 

And by awhile back, I mean 25 years ago. This wasn't my granddaughter, Belle. It was her mother.

Fast forward to this past weekend.

Belle went with me to Trenton to visit Great Grandmothers. While visiting Grandma Dryer, I was sitting down with a cup of tea and a cookie, working a jigsaw puzzle.  In other words, I was experiencing a little slice of heaven.  Grandma, who lives in a senior citizen apartment complex, walked to the window then said, “Come look at this big truck outside.” I didn’t want to get up. I didn’t care about seeing a big truck. However, I could tell she was excited and wanted me to see what she was seeing. I looked out the window and saw, yes, you guessed it – a fire truck.  

Suddenly a wave of deja vu came upon me. I knew my little Belle was responsible for this fire truck. 

Just a few moments before, on our way up the elevator Belle had pushed the alarm. At the time, I wasn't certain she actually pushed it all the way. No alarm sounded. I thought I was being overly anxious so we just continued on so I could deliver the armful of groceries we were bringing to Grandma.

But seeing the fire truck was pretty good proof that something has happened.  

I rushed down the steps, but not before I grabbed Belle for evidence. I asked the kind firemen if they’d come in response to an alarm on the elevator. After they acknowledge that they had, I thrust her forward and apologized on her behalf.  I mean, she’s much cuter than me. They c didn't hold a grudge and they even let Belle climb on the truck. At least there was only one truck this time. (And no police. No senior citizens frantically evacuating their apartments either.)

So, what can I say?  My girls are full of life even if they take years off mine.

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Upon hearing the story from my youth, ad nauseum, I couldn't help but laugh uncontrollably after hearing about this story about Belle. There hasn't been one visit with my parents that they haven't said, "Belle reminds me so much of you!" And I am certain there was a point in time that Mom might have thought, "oh I just wish your daughter would do some of the things that you did.".... only that instead of it happening to me... it happened to her. Again.

I'm still not done laughing.

Fire Station Tour

Last week, Jackson and a few friends took a tour of our local fire station. It was on my list of field trips for the summer and it was super fun!

To start the tour, we watched a short cartoon.

And then we took a tour of the facility. We got to see the bedrooms, weight room, dining room, the TV area. Of course our kiddos were most amazed by the THREE refrigerators.

 

And then came the REALLY fun part—checking out the fire trucks! There are so many compartments on the truck and lots of big tools and gadgets! 

The kids got to climb up in the trucks

And practice driving!
 

They LOVED playing with the gadgets and levers! 

The got to explore the back of the ambulance too! 

Jackson was super excited to wear his fire helmet that day. But then he got to try on a real fire helmet! It was really heavy! And it had a flashlight—Jackson’s favorite part!

And right after we took this picture of the kids on the truck…

  

They got a call about a brush fire. So the kids got to watch the fire fighters suit up, load up, and take off!
 

And in case you didn’t notice the kids in the above pictures… this is what they looked like. The sirens were very loud.
  

The idea of touring a fire station came by a local cable guy who was very friendly about Jackson oohing-and-aahing over his work truck. {all you mothers of boys—you understand this!}. The man was a former fire fighter and he told me just to call and set up an appointment to go visit! That was almost 18 months ago. I was super nervous, but it was totally easy. I didn’t have to have a group {though we did go with a few friends} and I didn’t need a specific reason or anything. They were happy to do it… and apparently they do it often enough because they were total pros at letting the kids look/climb/talk. This would be a fun birthday party idea. {I read somewhere that October is Fire Safety month so it fills up quickly.}

Destination: Fire Station
Location: Local
Cost: Free!!
Pros: High interest!! It’s educational, introduces kids to the people who might need to help them, and a way to discuss fire safety.
Cons: There is always a possibility that the team may be called out during your scheduled appointment.
Time: We spent about an hour at the station.
Bring with you: camera!

Jackson still talks about going to the fire station. I’ve checked out several books about fire trucks/firemen/emergency vehicles from the library and so he’s really learning about how they can help people. I’m so glad we set this up! You should too!