I Love Firemen!

Yesterday was our MOMS Club field trip to a local firehouse, and I have decided that I might want to be a fire woman when I grow up! Ok, probably not, but it was so cool! The kids had a blast, and I was just in awe of the coolness of the trucks and all the stuff we saw.

We started our tour with the call room. Lots of buttons everywhere! Gabriel wasn't too thrilled with the computers, but he LOVED the great big boots that were all over the place. They were seriously almost as big as him! Then we got to see where the firemen ate and relaxed (Gabriel wanted to know if they had chips and popcorn), and where they slept. The bunk room was pretty cool, Elliott and her friend Emily couldn't stay off of the beds - they pulled right out of the wall. We also got to see a cool demonstration of this nifty infrared light thing...it was awesome. The kids all lined up and put their hands on the wall. Then the lights were turned off and when the special lamp was pointed at the wall, you could see the hand prints. It picked up the little body heat that was left on the wall. Cool! We finished the inside tour with a look at the exercise room. There was so much equipment in such a small space. And of course Gabriel wanted to go in and work out.

We went out in the garage to look at the trucks next. The men leading the tour were all so nice, and they didn't care that Gabriel was touching everything and asking lots of questions. They even let the kids sit in the cab of the truck!

After the kids checked out the driver's seat, they checked out the tires. Both Elliott and Gabriel thought it was neat that the tires were as big as they were. And they liked that they could put their bottoms in the tire itself.

The best part of the trip was the ladder truck...or was it Erin's locking her keys in her car? Either way - both were awesome! The dude leading our tour brought the ladder truck, and extended the ladder to it's full height of 104 feet (thanks, Erin for asking how high it went). It was just so cool. Then he lowered the basket to where we were all standing, and the kids got to get in a look at the controls. Elliott really didn't care, but Gabriel was in heaven. He loves things that move and levers/controls/buttons are almost as much fun as trains in his book. So, Gabriel being Gabriel asked if he could climb the ladder or work the controls...the controls won out.

So while all of the cool truck stuff was happening, Erin was realizing that her keys were safely housed in her coat pocket...which was safely housed in her car. I know I'm a terrible friend for laughing, but it was humorous! The firemen were already there, and then the cops came. I documented the ordeal for her on film. It was awesome! It might have been the highlight of my day!

The trip ended with the kids all receiving a Junior Firefighter badge and coloring book. Then some of us went to McDonald's for nuckas and fry-fries. It was the best field trip I have ever been on!! And the two older kids loved it, too! Janna's opinion of the day?