Flynn the fire engine

Wednesday was field trip day for Caden's Early Intervention little preschool class group. This field trip was, hands down, the best one yet. They went to the South Ogden Fire Department. Caden could have died right then and have had all his life wishes fulfilled.

In one of his Thomas videos, the engines meet a fire engine named Flynn. Flynn the Fire Engine. He's their hero, and Caden's too. ALL he could talk about Tuesday night was going to see Flynn the fire engine in the morning. He almost couldn't contain the excitement as we got in the car Wednesday morning. And he about exploded when the tour guide firemen got the group to the back and into the garage of the department.



Sitting in the back seats of the fire truck:



One of the firemen showing Caden some fire engine innards:



Sitting in the ambulance:




Then back to the fire truck to sit in the front driver's seat. Pushing every button within reach. Honking horns:




And then he got to ride the hydraulic stretcher from the back of the ambulance:



Then it was over to the other side of the garage where the support vehicles were. The four-wheeler, checkin his side mirrors and revin the engine:





The rescue buggy:




And of course he had to move around to check out the back of said rescue buggy:




He was a little wary of when the fireman got all dressed up in his digs (but this was the point of the excursion, to get little ones used to seeing them like this and know they're friendly):



Then the guy took his goggles off and looked down, thus the 'O' face here. Caden could see the guy's eyes and was like 'Oh so THAT'S who it really is. Oh okay then.' And then he was fine:

After the pictures the firemen got out of the gear. As he was standing back just in his blue cargos and t-shirt, having just stepped out of his boots and set them aside, Caden goes "Take off gray shirt?" figuring hey if you're going to undress you need to finish all the steps. Bless his heart the guy goes "As much as the mothers of this group might like that, no." We died.

The day was so fun. We spent almost an hour an a half exploring every nook and cranny of the South Ogden Fire Department's garage. He came home with tire grease on his face and hands, a little plastic fireman's hat, and a day of joy he will never forget in his little toddler mind.

Ending note: He fell asleep for nap after this at about 1:30.....and didn't wake up until 15 minutes to 5pm. Yeah. I think he enjoyed the day.

Mastered the toddler years, I have

The Force is strong with this one.

This year for Halloween, Caden was Yoda. I found the costume on the site ThinkGeek.com for $12 and we just had to do it. It wasn't quite the caliber of the lobster costume of last year, but I don't think we'll ever top that one. The walking stick was homemade, hooray for big trees and a yard.



Inside a bounce house at the Davis Fairgrounds for the Halloween party Daddy's work held on the 18th:



Pondering all things both Jedi and toddler:



On Sunday we painted pumpkins at Grandma Berrett's. Well, Caden painted his pumpkin....and Mommy painted Caden (he'd already smeared some of the paints on his face unintentionally, so I thought why not make it art):



So intent on getting the paint in JUST the right spot on this pumpkin:



Then I added to the toll-paint tatts just before dinner:



And this is where he ended up before having a gloriously toddler dinner of corndog (we usually can't get him to eat hotdogs or a lot of any kind of meat, so this was huge), roll, and Halloween cupcake (he loves baths, anytime, and having one at Grandma's house is extra special):



The actual night of Halloween started at about 4 in the afternoon and lasted until about 8 and consisted of 2 parties, lots of food at each, and visits to all the family's houses. It goes unsaid that he crashed about as hardcore as a little boy can when we got home and had bath and bed. Holidays, any holiday, are so much more fun with kids. Love my Nugget.