Firefighter appreciation

Today was our first field trip that I've organized for the summer.  When I say organized, I mean I had the "difficult" job of contacting our friends and calling the fire department to schedule a time we could visit.  Easy Peasy and the kids loved it!  I've had the song that I used to hear on Sesame Street as a kid about the people in the neighborhood stuck in my head all day.  "A Firefighter is a person in the neighborhood, in the neighborhood, in the neeeeiiibooorhooood.  A firefighter is a person in the neighborhood.  A person that we meet each day."  Anyone else remember that song?  A few Saturdays ago I heard it on Plaza Sesamo in Spanish for the first time.  It was rather entertaining.

Yesterday we were going to bake cookies for the firefighters, but I neglected (as in my memory failed me) to pick up the chocolate chips and M&Ms at the store the day before.  So we didn't have what we needed.  The kids were so busy anyway, I'm not sure we would have had the time to squeeze that in.  Fer helped me out by hitting the grocery store on his way home yesterday evening for the last minute supplies so that we could make them bright and early this morning!  The boys had so much fun camping last night that they slept a little later than usual, which was great because it gave me a little extra time to get some things going this morning.  I decided to mix up the cookies myself so that it would save us some time.  After the boys got up and had something to drink, I had them wash their hands and join me.  In the meantime, Belle enjoyed some morning sun time gazing out of the glass storm door.  I scooped out the dough and the boys added extra M&Ms to the cookies.  I used a family recipe with a Castaneda twist.  I can't tell you or I'd have to kill you.  Anyway, the boys enjoyed doing this and then had some breakfast while watching some morning cartoons, none other than our beloved Phineas and Ferb.  Before we headed out to visit the fire station we did one last thing for our local firefighters.  We made some homemade "thank you" cards to express our thanks for all they do for our community.  All this before 10 a.m. 

We met up with lots of friends at the fire station.  Even Papa took an early lunch to join in on the fun!  We enjoyed spending time with our friends and learning all about what our local firefighters do for us including coming to our rescue to put out fires and quickly responding to any medical emergencies.  We got to see the kitchen where they make their meals, the media room for their entertainment, and the classroom where they consistently undergo continuing education and training.  We got to view where they sleep and were given the opportunity to hear the type of announcement that is made to indicate to the sleeping firefighters that there is an emergency. 
After that the kids were allowed to see the firetrucks.  Max thought the ladder truck was really cool!  The kids were able to get into of a firetruck and check it out inside.  One firefighter showed the kids the "jaws of life" and other gear on the side of the truck.  Then a really awesome firefighter showed the kids how they get dressed during a fire emergency.  He talked the kids through each article of clothing and explained why they use each piece.  He put on his mask and another firefighter explained to the kids that if they ever saw someone like this trying to help them out if the house is on fire to not be afraid.  I'm glad they made that point because I can see how a kid might be frightened by it.  Even after Max had just seen a person get into the outfit, he was nervous and very hesitant to approach the firefighter.  I thought it was wonderful how the uniformed firefighter asked the kids for high fives and tried to make them comfortable with him.  We got a group shot and then one firefighter got into a truck and turned on the siren for the kids to hear.  Fernando and I spent a little time in the end talking to our neighborhood firefighters and thanking them for giving us the opportunity to come take the tour.  (And I secretly tried to find out if there were any young single firefighters for my single girlfriends.)  I know I enjoyed the learning experience, not only to see what these particular members of our community do for us, but I think it was a great opportunity to teach the kids about being thankful for others and what they selflessly do for people like us.     
When we got home, the boys were starving so they had a popcorn snack and played with Jack's Leapster while I took care of a few things around the house, got Belle settled, and began getting lunch together.  I had promised a pizza party to the three boys for lunch so that's what we did.  I was going to order pizza, but I found that we had a frozen cheese pizza in the deep freezer.  Yay!  However, they requested pepperoni pizza.  I quickly fixed that by adding turkey pepperonis and they were none the wiser.  They had worked up an appetite on our outing I guess because they scarfed down their pizza, celery sticks, and blueberries like there was no tomorrow!  We saved a few cookies from the morning baking session for their dessert.

The afternoon was full of all kinds of play, more train sets, more balloon ping pong, car racing, etc.  At one point the boys told me, "We've played all that there is to possibly play...now what?"  Well, I'll tell you what.  I got the "Just Dance" wii game turned on and I made a fool of myself just for their entertainment.  Besides, I figured it wouldn't hurt me to burn a couple of cookie calories.  But that didn't last very long...one song in fact, and then they were done with it.  I think they were actually getting more tired than bored because they play so hard when they are together.  It was almost time for Fernando to get home, and he had told them that he would take them swimming again so we took up time getting their swim suits on.  The two older boys helped me keep Nico awake so that he wouldn't miss out on the swimming.  He typically doesn't nap, but he's been so busy lately that the poor little guy can barely keep his eyes open late afternoons. I know that if he falls asleep at 4 o'clock that he'll sleep for a good two hours at least and never to get to sleep at bedtime.  I assigned Max and Jack the task of entertaining him in any kind way possible.  They did all kinds of silly things.  While they did this, I gave Belle a bath because she too was so ready to fall asleep.  While I was bathing Belle, I was listening to the boys,  and getting a kick out of their silliness.  Those older boys succeeded in keeping Nico too occupied to fall asleep and Papa arrived shortly after Belle's bath was complete.  All the guys went swimming again while I finished up with Belle's nighttime routine and put her down to bed.  Then I got some things straightened up and dinner started...okay, okay I got leftovers reheated.  And now after another long, eventful, fulfilling day, the kids are all tucked in their beds.  Jack and Max are sharing the top bunk tonight.  (Don't worry sis, we've got rails and he's against the wall.  Very safe!!!)  These past days having our nephew here has been so much fun.  I won't lie and say I knew it was going to be amazing from the start.  I honestly started to get nervous right before we did this.  Not necessarily because I thought the kids would be bad together, but because I was beginning to question my stamina for something like this.  But it has been wonderful!  I feel very blessed to have gotten this time with these three little boys and my sweet Belle.  She's been my silent partner in crime the entire time.  I'm so proud of her for being so patient and I know she's enjoyed this time too.  
Favorite Parts of the day:
I hate to say it, but with it being such a busy day and evening, I neglected to find out what everyone's favorite part of the day was.  I did however have a wonderful conversation with Nico after dinner while he was waiting for his turn at bath time.  During this conversation I found out Nico's favorite part of the day and realized my favorite:
Nico: giving the Firefighters cookies
Mama: snuggling with Nico after dinner.  He was so sleepy I didn't know if he was going to be able to make it to his bath.  He did in fact make it through it, climbed into bed, stared into space during story time, and completely fell asleep during prayers.  Such a sweetie!
Jack:  told Fernando before I put the boys to bed that his favorite part of the day was the fire station visit and swimming

Yes it truly was a "BEST DAY EVER" for all of us.  Thank you God for the blessing that was this day.