Firefighting Activity Day

Like most boys I know, my kids look up to firefighters.  They alert me whenever they see a fire truck on the road.  Their shrieks of excitement are even more emphatic if the truck’s siren is on and the lights are flashing.  Preschool trips to the fire station are main highlights of the entire school year.

So, when I saw that our city was advertising a Firefighting Activity Day at the local fire station, I immediately signed the boys up.  They’ve been eagerly anticipating the event all summer.

Yesterday was finally the day that we got to go to the fire station!  I didn’t think Cutie Pie was going to be able to participate since the advertisement indicated that only elementary school age children could register.  I figured that he would be just as happy to watch.  We were pleasantly surprised to find out that there were some cancellations when we signed in and Cutie Pie would be able to participate after all.

The firefighters divided the children into three groups.  My boys were in the red group and got to put out a real fire for their first activity.  Wildman volunteered to be the first child of the day to use the fire extinguisher on a fire.

I was so surprised that they let the children do this activity since it involved actual fire.  But it was very well supervised and the children LOVED it!

Next up for our group was shooting down cones with the fire hose.

Cutie Pie did not want to do either of the first two activities.  He was happy to watch from the safety of my side.  He came out his shell by the time we arrived at the smoke-filled room though.

Of all the things the children got to do that day, this was the one thing I thought Cutie Pie would not do since it involved limited visibility and crawling around away from the security of my side.  But he readily volunteered to go into the smokey room and search for a boot, a ball and a glove.  He and his brother found everything!

FYI: the smoke they used to fill the room was not real smoke.  It was the stuff they use for night clubs and other events.  The firefighters called it “disco smoke”.  🙂

The children ended their time at the fire station by running around in the water screen.  We all had a great time and look forward to doing this again next year if it is offered.

The firefighters gave the children honorary Jr. Firefighter certificates, juice boxes and a goody bag filled with candy and cookies to take home.  Wildman and Cutie Pie were naturally over the moon!

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A Day in the Deep South

If you asked me to describe a kid’s ideal day in the south, it would look something like this:

A refreshing dip in the kiddie pool under the shady fig tree.

Followed by a turn around the backyard with the hose.

A watermelon snack.

No inhibitions.

Taking the riding lawnmower out for a spin with Dad.

Catching fireflies with Uncle Chris.

I’m so happy that our children got to experience a day of simple pleasures like this.  It reminds us that we don’t need to be plugged into television, video games or computers to have a good time.

We ended our family day in Alabama gathered around the glowing homemade lanterns we created.  I think they turned out beautifully.  The boys were so proud.  We left the tall one behind for Granny and Grandpa to enjoy.  The boys insisted on taking their smaller lanterns home.  I think they make a lovely addition to the back porch and a nice reminder of our fun in the deep south.