Fire Station Field Trip

This year's fire station field trip had enough changes from last year that it felt like a different field trip entirely even though we returned to the same location. The Burbank Fire Station is a fire fighter's training center where fire fighters learn to scale buildings, put out car or house fires, and get other types of necessary training for their job. So this field trip included a bit more than just walking through a fire station, viewing a truck, and receiving a hat. Abby got to put out a car fire!!!

Last year's "welcome" speech was given by the Captain of the station, I believe and included a lot of information about what a fire fighter does, what to do in case of a fire, how to call the fire fighters, etc. This year's speech was given by the fire fighters themselves and basically included the Stop, Drop, Roll, and Crawl Away speech and then "Let's go check out the trucks!". LOL. Both talks were well received by the kids but there was definitely a difference. :-)

Patiently waiting in line for her turn in the fire truck.

Getting some help down after checking out the backseat of the fire truck.

One of the fire fighters demonstrating how they walk up and down the ladder.

LOVE her silly grin. She's the best picture taker in that whenever I pull out my camera she immediately smiles and says "cheese".

Her turn "driving" the fire truck. She even pretended to honk the horn and turn on the sirens.

Abby remembered the sirens accidentally going off last year, so as soon as we walked over to the care fire demonstration she immediately put her hands over her ears to block out any loud sounds. (The water truck is just off to the side.) Ms. Addie kept reassuring Abby that there wouldn't be any loud noises this time, but I don't think Abby believed her. :-)

Watching the fire fighter put out the car fire.

And then getting her own turn!

Another view of Abby putting out the fire.

It's amazing how something as simple as rocks can entertain someone for so long. ;-) While waiting for the rest of her classmates to have their turn at putting out the car fire, Abby played with the pebble rocks around her.

This picture right here shows how much we both LOVE Imagination Studios and the teachers there. Abby had been holding my hand as we made our way over to the garage housing the other vehicles, when Ms. Addie passed us. All of a sudden Abby told me she wanted to walk with Ms. Addie and raced over and grabbed her hand. Ms. Addie immediately grabbed Abby's hand back and talked to her the whole walk over and continued the hand holding and talking well after we'd arrived at our destination. These teachers truly have a love for their students!

Checking out the ambulance.

Showing off her fire fighters hat.

Abby's teacher and classmates (with a few extras thrown in). Abby's class has 10 students but a few couldn't make the field trip and a few other younger students couldn't resist having their picture taken. :-)

As this is most likely Abby's last field trip to this fire station (I haven't heard of any non-preschool field trips here) I'm glad that there were enough differences between last and this year that the trip was still a lot of fun and not just a repeat of what she'd already done. Only hiccup on the trip was that I totally took the wrong exit while leaving and found myself heading in the exact opposite direction that I was intending. (For all who know me, they know this is not an unusual thing.) I was so disgusted that I'd added extra driving time for a very hungry little girl that we got McDonald's instead of just heading straight home. I don't think Abby ended up minding the detour after all. :-)

Sausage Fest 2015

Sausage Fest was once again an Abby success! This year we ventured out a bit into the "bigger kid" game booths, including Silly String, sat and watched the dancers (and then tried to dance the routines as well), and had some good girl bonding time as Nate was on a business trip in Taiwan.

"Catching" her prize at the fish pond. 

Making an attempt to knock down the cats at Scat the Cat. She was so close to knocking one down but needed to throw just a bit harder. I'm thinking this will be a much requested game next year. 

If you look closely at Cookie Monster's mouth you'll see the bean bag on its way in. She got two out of three on this one!

"Netting" two prizes from the Butterfly Garden.

And probably the game that gave everyone a pause. Abby was under the impression that the harder she threw the balls the more likely they'd get in the holes. :-) Tossing together we got one ball in and I quickly changed her attention to another game.

The chicken toss. Hee! Basically you slam your foot on a catapult and try to launch the chicken into the bucket. The workers were really sweet in how close they brought the bucket to Abby to ensure she got at least one chicken in (which she did!). 

When Abby first got into the Silly String section I incorrectly told her to hold the can in one hand and use her pointer finger to press down the nozzle. After a few minutes of running around with no silly string coming out of her can she came back to me a little frustrated. Once we figured out she should hold the can in one hand and use the thumb on her other hand to hold down the nozzle she was on her way to emptying her can in no time flat. It was fun watching her chase around after the big kids catching them unawares (and then watching the big kids be gentle with her and give her a small shot far away from her face - I love how kind most bigger kids seem to be when they get around the smaller ones). This did bring back memories of my Silly String days, only at that time we were allowed all over the Sausage Fest grounds as opposed to being kept in a section of the field. When they first made this move years ago I thought it was kind of lame, but I now see the reasoning for it. There's enough running around (and into people) as it is without adding in extra incentive. :-)

She finally emptied her can by getting this little guy when he came in to "her" fort. 

Our view of Sausage Fest (upper level) while watching the dancers entertain us.

Pirate Day at Preschool

For Abby's Pirate Day at preschool this year I wanted to step it up a bit and do more than throw an eye patch on her and call her costume good. But I had not idea what to do until I went to our MOPS' yard sale and found some super cute items that, with a bit of imagination, I thought might be the perfect accessories for a lady pirate to wear. Once Abby's outfit was on she was so excited and so stinkin' cute!

I grinned like a fool this morning over how cute I thought she was. Here she is making her "Arrr" face.

I'm glad I got a picture of her at home because at school she slowly started to shed all her pirate gear. :-) Here she is coloring her parrot.

Abby and her classmates hear from Pirate Pete and begin their treasure hunt. I didn't quite understand all of what Abby was saying but it sounded like Pete's feet were stinky and they were on a hunt to help him find his boots. :-)

On the hunt for Pete's boots.

They found his boots! And their own bounty of treasures (sparkly, plastic jewels, a few doubloons, and a chocolate coin!)

When I picked Abby up she was all dressed up in her pirate garb again, but we'd not taken two steps out of the classroom when she began to take everything off and shove it in her backpack. I think the excitement with dressing up was over. :-) This was definitely a successful "special" day at preschool.

First Day of K-4 Preschool

Abby's first day of K-4 preschool (and also her last year of preschool) began today. She's still at Imagination Studios because we fell in love with the school last year, but is now going five mornings a week. Her co-teachers this year are Ms. Shawna and Ms. Addie. Abby has been VERY excited for school to start and asked all weekend long when her teachers would be coming to her house and was so confused when I kept reminding her that she'd be going to school. It was as if she couldn't comprehend why her teachers wouldn't want to come to her house to hang out before the school year started. :-)

First Day of School Picture 

Showing off her special butterfly clip.

Being a sillypants while taking pictures.

My movie star already for her fans. :-)

On the drive over to preschool (and after a slightly tough morning where a little someone wasn't quite used getting up and having to get moving) Abby asked if I was going to come into her room with her. I totally stumbled through an answer of how much I love her and how much fun she's going to have with her teachers this year and how she's such a big girl that I don't think she'll need me in the room but that I will stay for a bit if she really needs it (thinking she was starting to have a tough time with the thought of leaving me after a summer together). Boy, was I wrong. Her immediate response when I stopped talking was "Good. Because I don't want you there." Sheesh. Talk about a harsh truth! LOL.

When we got to her classroom we hung up her coat and backpack and then she hopped and skipped into her room without giving me a backward glance. I followed because girl was going to give me a goodbye hug whether she wanted to or not! She'd snuggled into the reading corner and was busily looking at a book when I disturbed her zen moment for my hug and kiss. After catching up with her school's principal I snuck a peek back into the classroom to check on her and found she'd happily moved to playing with playdough. I was very happy to see that she was busy doing her thing and wasn't upset to be back in school and away from me (though she never has been before).

Picture in front of her school.

Her zen moment of reading. 

After a WONDERFUL morning spent catching up with friends and running child-free errands, I picked her up to smiles and nonstop chatter about how cool and awesome her day was. Her teachers said she'd had a wonderful first day which I was happy to hear. Her former teacher (Ms. Amy) caught me in the hallway to tell me a funny story about how Abby had done her typical monkeybars monkey routine and put her legs through the rings and then hung upside down. Ms. Shawna, not used to Abby's athletic adventures, had startled and gotten worried that Abby would fall so made her get down. Ms. Amy had a good laugh telling me how Ms. Shawna would soon get used to how Abby rolled while Abby got a disgruntled look on her face and grouchily exclaimed how Ms. Shawna didn't need to worry because Abby didn't fall.

The ring bars of death!

Filling our her "My First Day of School" book.

We are off to a fantastic start to the school year! The "get ready every day" thing has me a little concerned right now, but I know from past experience that I will find this a blessing as the year goes by and will look forward to all the opportunities that Abby (and I) will have by her having five-day a week preschool.