Firefighters Pancake Breakfast

This morning we went to a pancake breakfast hosted by the Mountain View Fire Dept. This is an annual event to raise funds for the Alisa Ann  Ruch Burn Foundation (AARBF) .  There was a huge turn-out for this event.  It had a great community feel.  Bode enjoyed the fun, and so did the rest of his family!

The firemen served delicious pancakes, sausage, and fruit salad.  They had three fire trucks on display.  An old fire truck was available for the children to climb on, sit in, and "drive."  Bode got a helmet, some stickers, and a "Sparky the Fire Dog" coloring book (full of fire safety tips that make me nervous).

Activities included a "Stop Drop and Roll" booth where children learned the "Stop Drop and Roll" drill on a soft mat while a fireman instructed them.  Another activity was actually putting out a fire with something that acted like a huge fire extinguisher  but looked like a fire hose(the name escapes me, an air pump? does that make sense? Firemen? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?). We of course did not let Bode participate in this particular activity (though it was extremely popular). 

The one activity Bode participated in was to put out a fake fire (some wood with fire flames painted on them) using a real fire hose.  Bode put on a coat  and then a fireman helped him to turn on the hose and spray the "fire" out.  (the fire/wood was set on the top of a small pretend building, so that the force of the water would cause the fire/wood to fall down behind the building)

The best part was the demonstrations put on by the firemen.  They rappelled down the side of a building. They "walked" down the building, too.  That was very cool. They saved a man (a dummy) by having him "jump" into a net. It was a lot of fun to watch.  They made it look fun, at least.  They work very hard, and do very physically demanding work.

These are two female fire fighters walking (forward) down the side of the buidling.

Bode wore his plastic "junior fireman" helmet all day and all night. He wore it inside and outside. It never left his head. He wore it to sleep tonight and I had to fight him to take it off his head (worried that the elastic band will suffocate him in his sleep).  I also had to "read" the Sparky the Fire Dog coloring book at nap time and bed time today. Hopefully we can put Sparky away until Bode is a little older. (Personally, I dig the graphics and am itching to color the plaid shirts and house interiors displayed in these pictures)
Thank you, Mountain View Fire! It was a great event, and we hope that you raised a lot of money for AARBF with all your hard work and entertainment today.
Happy Sunday!
xo