Anyway, I was really looking forward to this visit because I knew since the kids are a little older, they'd get more out of it...and they did!
Here is Madeline and her friend, Owen, shortly after we arrived and were waiting for the tour to begin. Madeline plays with her hair ALL the time these days. I have NO idea where she gets that from ;)
We walked by this blanket and I remembered taking a picture of Madeline standing by it last year. We were walking by rather quickly so I just grabbed a quick, not-so-good picture:
Then we went into the Call Center Room where all the calls from 911 go. While we listened to the firefighters explain the significance of the room, Ethan made himself comfortable:
Here are a few of the firefighters explaining what happens when a call comes in:
After a walk through the bedrooms, kitchen, exercise room, and some other rooms, we headed outside to see the firetrucks. First, one of the firemen showed us how they get dressed for a fire. If I remember correctly, the weight of all the gear they put on is 50+ lbs! Wow! As the firefighter was dressing, a friend of mine asked me if Madeline would get scared when he put on the mask. I hadn't thought about it and didn't expect her to get scared, but no sooner did I think that did Madeline start inching herself behind my back.
They explained each of the pieces of the gear and why it's important.
Ethan didn't budge the entire time! I debated bringing my camera because I thought he'd keep me too busy, but I decided to bring a little backpack to throw it in in case I needed free hands. Well, I never needed my hands free because he was so amazed by everything that he was so good!
He wanted to try on the gloves and helmet...but only briefly:
This was one of the biggest turnouts for our Mom's group. This is the first half of the Moms (and kiddies) that came:
Before we walked out to look at the firetrucks, we got to watch a fireman slide down the pole!
This year, they let each of the kids have a turn at using the fire hose. I think I was as excited as the kids!!! Madeline and Ethan both waited very patiently for their turn. I was a little worried that the reason they were being so patient was because they weren't actually being patient, but rather scared. I think they both were a little scared to try it, but Madeline is a pretty brave cookie and likes to try things, and her little brother is always reassured by his big sis.Here, the firefighter is showing her how to turn it on:
They got to shoot the hose at some cones to knock them over. It was so neat, and SO exciting!
I handed my camera off to my friend because I was quite certain Ethan was going to be too shy to walk up to the hose on his own, but he surprised me by walking right on up after Madeline was done:
He's such a big boy! I was so proud of both of them for waiting patiently for their turn, and then giving something a little scary a try.
Finally, they got to check out the truck:
Climbing on up:
It's quite funny that the 4 kids that all ended up inside the truck together, all live in the same neighborhood even though they're from 3 different families! They were too cute in there:
Before leaving, the kids had a blast playing around in the water that was left from the sprayfest:
One of my friends that toured the fire house at the second session saw this picture and said, "hey, the firemen didn't pose for pictures for us!!!" I said, "Did you ask??" I'm so like my mother.
After a VERY fun visit at the Martinez Fire Department, we headed out.
In the two years that I've been a part of this Mom's group, this definitely ranks up there with one of the most fun things we've done! The firemen were so good with the kids this year, even better than last because they were much better at "talking" to this age group. They really took a lot of time and had a ton of patience with the kiddies...even after returning from a call 15 minutes before we got there! I know both of our kids LOVED the visit, but it's been particularly fun seeing Madeline's response to it and talking to her about it. She's maturing so much and it's neat to have more "adult" conversations with her and to see what she thinks about things. If you ask her about her trip to the fire station, she'll tel you that her favorite part was spraying the water, and that the man in the mask is not a monster or Darth Vader...he's there to help us.
They got to shoot the hose at some cones to knock them over. It was so neat, and SO exciting!
I handed my camera off to my friend because I was quite certain Ethan was going to be too shy to walk up to the hose on his own, but he surprised me by walking right on up after Madeline was done:
He's such a big boy! I was so proud of both of them for waiting patiently for their turn, and then giving something a little scary a try.
Finally, they got to check out the truck:
Climbing on up:
It's quite funny that the 4 kids that all ended up inside the truck together, all live in the same neighborhood even though they're from 3 different families! They were too cute in there:
Before leaving, the kids had a blast playing around in the water that was left from the sprayfest:
One of my friends that toured the fire house at the second session saw this picture and said, "hey, the firemen didn't pose for pictures for us!!!" I said, "Did you ask??" I'm so like my mother.
After a VERY fun visit at the Martinez Fire Department, we headed out.
In the two years that I've been a part of this Mom's group, this definitely ranks up there with one of the most fun things we've done! The firemen were so good with the kids this year, even better than last because they were much better at "talking" to this age group. They really took a lot of time and had a ton of patience with the kiddies...even after returning from a call 15 minutes before we got there! I know both of our kids LOVED the visit, but it's been particularly fun seeing Madeline's response to it and talking to her about it. She's maturing so much and it's neat to have more "adult" conversations with her and to see what she thinks about things. If you ask her about her trip to the fire station, she'll tel you that her favorite part was spraying the water, and that the man in the mask is not a monster or Darth Vader...he's there to help us.
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