Firestation

We went to the North Chicago fire department with some friends for a tour. Back in September the fire department came to our building because someone on the floor above us burned some food. It set off the smoke alarms, and we all had to evacuate the building. Both boys were in bed, Parker asleep. So, I had to carry Parker and keep hold of Evan. Thankfully some nice neighbors helped me keep Evan close. Then it started raining outside. I made Thomas come home early from the library. The firefighter let us wait inside the lobby until the all clear. He was very official and by the book, until the other firefighters had cleared all the smoke out of the hall with their giant fans and we got the all clear. Then our friendly firefighter guard totally loosened up and told Thomas and me that we needed to bring the boys by the fire department for a tour. Any time he said, as long as it was after five, or was it four? Anyway, it took us several months to actually decide to go. We called some friends and planned it so we would go together. It was a lot of fun, and we got to see the fire trucks, an ambulance, and the fire station. It was also nice that we ended up with an adult for every child :) Evan loved it. Parker did too, but since he still had his cast on, he insisted on being carried.

The kids all got to try on a helmet to experience how heavy the helmet are. I love Evan's expression.

The ambulance! They're really exactly how they look on television. Not many things are, but ambulances are accurately depicted!

The kids all got plastic firefighter hats, along with coloring book calenders, stickers, and crayons. The hats didn't last long in our house before Evan sat in them and cracked them. ::sigh::

Evan loved all the knobs and buttons. The firefighters said that he wouldn't be able to mess anything up...hope they were right, because that little monkey can do things to my phone and computer that I can't figure out!

I'm not in the group picture because I took it! It was hard to get everyone looking in the same direction. The firefighters were fabulous. A truck that had been out actually returned as we were finishing up and honked at the kids...scared Parker a bit actually, but Evan loved it. We returned three days later (when the same group of firefighters were on--they have work a 24 hour shift, then have a few days off, then work another 24 hours. They have the same shift-mates, so they're all pretty close, like a second family) to deliver some thank you cards, cookies, and banana bread. Most of the people there were the ones who'd been on the truck, not the ones who gave us the tour, so they didn't recognize us at first, but once they did, they were appreciative of the cookies, etc. It was a fabulous experience, and one we'll probably have to repeat!