field trip: fire station

This morning Cassidy woke up & said, "Mama - we go fire station? Whoowooo!" Clearly she was very excited for our field trip.

Each Friday the girls & I get together with a few other moms & kids of various ages to play. If the weather cooperates we usually end up at nearby park. If it doesn't then a church gym where the kids can run to their hearts' content works. A couple weeks ago I ran across this post at three pugs & a baby & thought, "What a good idea! I wonder if the stations around here would be up for a toddler invasion any time soon?" Fortunately the captain at Station 8 is either a really great guy or didn't know what he was getting into when he said yes.

We gathered at 10:30 & poked our nose in the door. No firemen to be found. Fortunately my friend Jess & I aren't too shy, so we waltzed into the office & followed the smell of bacon until we found the crew finishing up breakfast. They came out & gave us a tour of the place. Of course the highlight for the kids was getting to climb into the fire truck. And the fire engine. (Did you know there is a difference? Fire Engines and Fire Trucks perform significantly different functions at a fire scene and are very different. Fire engines are equipped with hoses and water so that personnel can aggressively fight the fire. Fire Trucks are like the firefighter's tool box -- carrying ladders, rescue equipment and other tools to enable personnel to support firefighting activities.) 

We also got a tour of the firehouse where the kids got to see where the firemen eat, sleep, watch TV & "do homework." After the tour they got to see one of the crew members dressed in his full gear - mask & all. I thought it might scare Cassidy but she just looked at him like he was a little crazy. I think it was a really good idea to show the kids since, heaven forbid, a fire actually happen, it might be a little less scary to see that large weird person coming at them in smoky darkness. They also talked to the kids about fire drills & smoke detectors. I don't really know that much of it stuck for the little munchkins, but we have a few school age kids that it may have. In all honesty Cassidy was more interested in the hat they gave her! 

 

At that point they got a call & one of the trucks had to take off. Cassidy was really sad, not that the fire truck had to leave, but because someone was hurt & the firemen were going to go help them feel better. She's so empathetic sometimes. However her sadness was short lived because she noticed that her new light up sneakers were "same as fire truck lights!" What a funny girl!