Fire Prevention Week {Word-FULL #WordlessWednesday}

This is Fire Prevention Week and/or Month (depending on who you ask.) We visited our fire station for open house this past Saturday to learn about fire safety and, of course, check out the cool fire trucks! Oh, and check out the last couple of "artsy" pics at the bottom (no, no naked people!) I happened to capture two scenes that turned out amazing! (Sorry it's so long!)

 Little Guy was lucky enough to find his own, personal tour guide!

He got to try out the seat belts, which also have breathing apparatuses ready to strap on in a hurry. He was also able to try out the "hose gun". When I visited the fire station as a kid, they were still using the old (and heavy!) brass nozzles!

Have to try out driving the truck. He kept trying to push buttons whenever I put the camera up to take a picture. He was looking for the lights and siren. I'm glad he didn't find them -  can you imagine?! I finally talked him into just making the sounds like he does at home.

I love that they have this mannequin fully decked out in fire fighter gear. I was able to tell Little Guy that if someone shows up at our house dressed like this, he shouldn't be afraid. Can you imagine how shocking it would be for a little kid to wake up in the middle of the night to this and NOT know it was just a fire fighter?

And, while we were there, they received a call. Little Guy and I went outside to get out of their way as they prepared to leave, which took all of thirty seconds!

 

 Oh, and there was A LOT of touching! He knows that he is never supposed to touch vehicles of any kind while we're out and about (it keeps him from setting off alarms and from being behind a vehicle and out of sight of mirrors if someone is backing up.) Well, he had his fill of touching at the fire station! When we got home, I noticed his hands were BLACK.

Did I mention that they had refreshments, too? Donuts, cookies, and fresh apple cider! We were also given a brand new smoke detector, lots of informative coloring books, the hat & balloon, and even some crayons! Oh, and one more thing before my "cool" pictures - I made that shirt for him. The fire truck on the chest and badge on his sleeve came from some PJ's that he outgrew. I just sewed them over the printed junk on the shirt that I picked up at a garage sale for a dime.

Check out the rainbow effect on the web! This photo isn't touched up, except to sharpen and crop. I watched this quarter-sized spider (I wish it's colors had come out - red legs, black/brown body) make the web, then took the photo as soon as she (I'm assuming) settled into the center.

First Outdoor Concert of the Year! {Music in the Park #1}

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Last night was the first concert at St. Mary's Park in our town. Every Thursday, throughout the rest of the summer, there will be live concerts featuring different genres of music. On the list this year are fiddlers, acoustic guitarists, blues, and lots of impersonators: Rod Stewart, Elvis, The Blues Brothers, and (my personal favorite) The Beatles!

Last night, as a kick-off, there was a DJ playing oldies. The 50's and 60's oldies, not stuff from the 80's which has somehow gained the label of being "oldies", too, making me feel... well, old. We're talking about Fats Domino, The Beach Boys, Sha Na Na... you know, great dancing music! Unfortunately, the first half hour was rain-filled. It was just one big cloud, and the sun was still shining down on us. Quite a few people packed up and headed home, but we stuck it out. Those of us who weren't afraid of a little rain were rewarded with a nice rainbow and a beautiful scene of downtown,afterward:

 
The DJ was located at the tennis courts, making for a great place to dance. Little Guy loved it and was amazed by all of the people who were all doing the same dance (the Twist, for example.) He really got into it and had a blast - even got me (a huge introvert) to dance with him! At one point, everyone cleared out of the way and gave him his own little circle to dance in, with cheers and applause for him when he was through! How cool is THAT?!


**The really good photo of him doing his "moves" was, of course, "server rejected". Thanks, Blogger!





In addition to the music, there were a few classic cars on display and even a few artists, caturing the evening's activities on canvas. The cars, though only a handful, were really nice to look at. I'm proud to say that Little Guy knew the make and model of just about all of them. And it was fun for us to watch an artist painting the dancers! Little guy just loves painting (his medium of choice for its messy qualities!) and I was happy to show him what people can do with a set of paints and some brushes. I wonder if he'll try to apply what he saw to his next painting...

And, finally, there's the playground. I have been taking him to this playground nearly daily to get him ready for the tons of kids who will be running wild during the concerts. He's not all that steady yet and, when older kids get into games of tag, he could easily get pushed right off of the raised platform. So, I've been teaching him to hold on to the railings and to just get familiar with the slides and other components. Since a lot of people left early, it was a good day for him to get acclimated to having more kids around. There were only about 15 kids, rather than the usual 50+ that will be there next week!

When it was time to go home, sticking it out through the rain was, once again, rewarded. There were lots of puddles to splash in and we had a beautiful sunset to end our fun!

"No! Stay out of the puddle... please?!"

Finally! {Wordless Wednesday 5/25}

We FINALLY got some beautiful weather this weekend! And it ended with a storm that left us a great surprise!

Chalk Painting while I pulled weeds

Finally figured out how to swing by himself!

Had I not been busy taking pictures, I probably would have freaked out over the air Little Guy was getting!

DON'T LET GO, BRUBBER!!!

Throwing pine cones into the river

I finally gave up trying to get him to go up the slide the right way... Why do kids LOVE going up the slides like this???

We had a late afternoon storm that resulted in THIS! If you look closely, you can see a second rainbow on the right.

This was Little Guy's first rainbow where he actually knew what a rainbow was!

***Don't forget to enter my Etsy giveaways! They're ALL Low Entry and I could use some entry-love!!!

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