5 Alarm Fun

The kids are asleep in the hotel, you get comfy, and zzzzzzzzzzz...........

****Enter fire alarms here****

Fire drill night 1:  Fireman investigating in the mechanical room.... 

 This was definitely a first.  The lights were flashing and the alarms sounding, and the kids were freaking out.  Thankfully they settled quickly and followed me out of the room and out of the hotel... into the rain.  Once joined by Aunt Ruthie and Grammy, we walked around to the front of the hotel and waited.  The  fire trucks came. The ambulance and police came.  The ladder truck came.  Through it all the kids did a great job being patient and staying calm.  We waited almost an hour before we were given the all clear to return to the rooms (note-- we had to go back to the desk to get another key because we did not bring it outside with us).  After we returned to the room, it was another 30 minutes before the flashing lights of the alarm went dark and we were able to fall asleep again.

It turned out that the hotel had some work done during the week and something was not reset correctly.  When water pressure dropped below a certain level, it triggered the alarms.

Did I mention that Aunt Ruthie and Grammy's room was right next door to the mechanical room???







It was so 'fun' we got to do an abbreviated version again the next night!!!!! 

Night 2

Farmhouse Flambe

After several years of trying to pull this off, the old Rogers' Farmhouse was burned to the ground today, courtesy of Selma Fire. It was nothing short of spectacular. I took 153 photos today, and with any luck we will have some footage from a firefighter's helmet camera too. Many, many thanks to Chief Behl and Selma Fire, as well as Haring Township and Cherry Grove. You guys were awesome!

The before and after.

Starting Summer with a ....

Over the weekend, Owen and I bumped into a kids' day with the local fire department. He got to climb in and "drive" all 4 engines, even sounding the siren and blowing the horn. Needless to say, Mitchell was a bit bummed that he wasn't with us. All was right with the world when the Selma Fire Dept once again showed up to do practice exercises on the old Rogers' farm house. Mitchell got to investigate the trucks tonight and see the firefighters in all their gear. With a new Chief, the department is very hopeful they will get to burn the farmhouse down before the end of the year. Let's keep our fingers crossed for that!!!!!