Happy Birthday Party, Samuel! He didn't turn three yet, but we sure celebrated it. Samuel's mom arranged for everyone to tour the Fontaine Street Fire Station: The first new station in Charlottesville in the last 50 years.
Shane was too excited to let me take a picture.
When we stepped through the front door, we walked into a small memorial.
There was a girder from New York, concrete from the Pentagon, and a rock from Stonycreek Township.
The little ones were too young to understand the significance, but they enjoyed looking at the memorabilia.
I found some fliers shaped like fire trucks. Instant toys.
When the rest of the party arrived, the captain started the tour.
We walked through the kitchen, dining room,...
...and into the lounge.
Once there, the firefighters talked to us about fire safety plans. The captain asked, "Who has talked to their kids about a safe fire evacuation route?"
No one raised a hand.
I remedied that later! I'm sure many others did, too!
When continued on the tour by going up to the third floor. We got to look down into the entry hall,..
...and see the training room. The station acted as the region's fire college. It could also be used as a command center to coordinate during extreme weather or taken over by the secret service if the president visited.
Behind the training room, were the dorms. Firefighters work 24 hour shifts, so they have rooms where they can sleep. Four firefighters lived in the station full time.
Each fighter gets a small room with a twin bed. There are red lights and a speaker on the wall to wake them up if needed.
If they are called, the fighters need a way to get downstairs in a hurry.
We got a demonstration later. I wish I could have slid down, too.
I'm glad Shane didn't get a chance, though.
The stairs between levels were long and straight to run down in case of a backlog at the polls.
Next, we peeked at the offices on the second floor, but the engine bay was the real exciting part.
The captain let everyone take turns in his seat.
The kids explored the office of the haz-mat engine, too. Shane tried to crawl on the desk.
Another firefighter geared up for the kids to see.
Firefighting has always held an allure to me. I briefly thought about as a career, but never was serious. I ended up where I'm supposed to be, but it's fun to think about in retrospect. My sisters started training to be volunteer fighters once upon a time, as well.
Shane and I are none to wander (like my thoughts). We found a map of all the fire stations and their service areas while everyone else was still checking out the engines.
After the tour, everyone rendezvoused back at Samuel's house for cake and pizza.
The kids were hungry.
Then they got to take out their energy on Darth Vader.
A pinata seems like the perfect way to get rid of excess Halloween candy (If Shane's candy lasts until his birthday....hmmm)
I took a video of everyone singing Happy Birthday.
Last but not least: Presents.
We wanted Shane's gift to be heartfelt, so he picked out one of his garbage trucks to give to Samuel (he only had one). Now Shane and Samuel can both play with garbage trucks on community group nights! Carrie stuck an amazon gift card in the truck to make it heartfelt from us, as well.
My wrapping....was a little rushed.
Samuel liked the truck. I'm glad we're down one (until the next time Nana visits, at least).
I was wiped by the end of the party. Shane didn't want to go! Happy Birthday, Samuel!
That's wonderful that Shane gave Samuel one of his garbage trucks. Please tell him that Nana and Pop are so proud of him for being generous! And good for you not caving into peer pressure and wrapping the gift -- so much better for the environment to not waste paper. Your blog was so much fun to read. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteLove,
Nana