I'm going to be a fireman in my next life

This week I signed us up for a couple of field trips since the big kids are on their Fall Break. Didn't school just start? Why do we need a break after only a month of school? Was fall feeling left out? After all, spring break is notorious, Winter Break (which used to be Christmas Vacation) is practically a month long and the summer break is an entire season long. I digress.

We joined our old group and took a tour of the firehouse. My friend Lilani’s dh is one of the firemen who works at this particular station. I knew that Tommy in particular would love to meet the fire-mons and touch the Engines.

There are three shifts of eight firemen at this station. They work 24 hour stints. The eight men who gave us the tour were absolutely hysterical. They, obviously, love their job and all have a wicked since of humor. One Australian fireman in particular had us in stitches throughout the day.

Our tour started in the kitchen. I wasn’t expecting granite counter tops, stainless appliances and a three huge refrigerators. We were informed that each shift has their own fridge. They had a gigantic dinning table so that their families could join them all for meal time. I thought that was really cool.

We then got to explore their bedrooms. I pictured one giant room with cot-like beds on a linoleum floor. They were surprisingly posh. There are eight separate bedrooms, one for each person each shift. They have their own locking closet, computer, desk, and radio. They are able to adjust the alarm lights and sounds to their preferences. Then they set off the alarms. The children loved it. They said it was nice to have their own private space, although, they seemed to really enjoy being with each other.

They led us to the rec. room. There were several game tables, a huge Plasma TV, 8 cushy recliners, a state of the art entertainment system and stereo. After that we visited their super cool workout room and then the map room.

We spent the next few hours in the garage area. I’m sure it has a fancy firehouse name but I didn’t catch it. We toured the brand new Hazmat Truck/lab and the Fire Engine. The kids took turns trying on the fire gear and boots. They really got a kick out of driving the engine and blaring the siren and horns.
The rookie of the group got fully dressed in his gear as the others narriated a funny story and cracked jokes. They were very successful in getting their messages across. The kids loved chanting “In a fire, GET OUT AND STAY OUT!!!” “DON’T HIDE FROM YOUR FIREMEN FRIENDS” and so on…

They concluded the tour by giving out safety cards and fire badge stickers. It was a huge success. :) I’m so sorry to have forgotten the camera.

We also signed up to visit Happy Apple Farm to gather bushels of apples and pumpkins but we had to cancel. I was really looking forward to it too. I think we might visit a farm North of Denver instead. We shall see.