This is the third year in a row that we happen to catch our local fire station open house. The fire station is just a five minute walk from my house or a one minute drive if we are feeling lazy. Well, this morning my daughter and her husband along with their three kids and I, we all walked to the station.
The first thing we noticed this time was the ladder 172. This is an impressive truck. Firemen are known for the pride they display in keeping their fire engines and all their equipment clean and in good working condition. Some city workers that attended the event got treated to a ride in the cage as they erected the ladder some 90 feet up in the air. Unfortunately due to liability issues they could not allow for regular people like us to ride.
This is Diego posing by one of the small fire trucks. I took this picture as we got there, he was ready to start going up and down the fire trucks. He really enjoys seeing them and making believe that he is a fireman.
This is "Ducky", my grandson number two. He too loves to go see the fire trucks and enjoys spending a couple of hours at the open house. I am sure the imagination of these kids goes free as they pretend to be firemen.For the past three years the entertainment is handled by "The Singing Fireman". A real fireman that happens to play a synthesizer and signs songs about safety for the kids. Each time he is going to do a song he asks for volunteers to help him carry the safety message. Kids line up next to him and dance ala "Wiggles" as he sings. The kids have a great time performing for the audience and then when the song ends they are entitled to go and pick a gift.
They usually serve hamburgers and hot dogs, chips actually this year they had pretzels instead, and bottle water or sodas, and once you ate all the good food they serve they treat you to a choice of ice cream, with six different kinds in their popsicles menu I think it's safe to say the kids and grown ups alike were all happy.
For the kids but specially for Diego the highlight of the event is when he gets to dress as a fireman. This is a slow process as kids are shown how many things firemen have to wear while on duty. They start with the pants, then the boots, next come the jacket, then the cloth mask, followed by the gas mask, a pair of gloves, and like icing on the cake, to top it all off a fireman hat. They even get a radio so they can keep in contact with their team mates. This is just such an awesome experience. Last year all the clothes were big on Diego, this year it all fit perfectly. What a difference a year makes.
So, it is our experience that sometimes the best times are had in the most simplest ways. Take a neighborhood event like this and invite as many family members as possible and a good time is guaranteed each time. There were fourteen of us in attendance, and to me it was priceless to see the kids pretending and or wanting to be firemen. If your neighborhood has such events, make sure to go and visit and you will have a really good time.
The Duckworth clan.
