Grandpa's Last Day at the Firehouse

 

My dad retired from the Cleveland Fire Department. Last Saturday was his last day at the firehouse, so we all loaded up and surprised him at his station party.

 

First, me and the girls, my mom and brother walked in and surprised him. He was happy to see us, but I don't think he was all that surprised that we came.

Then the Smiths showed up, and he was definitely surprised. And then Jackie walked in and he was most definitely surprised. It was great!!

The kids got right to work playing with the various sort of dirty and inappropriate firehouse things. Like the weight room. Or the "waiting" room, as Kate was calling it.

Owen.

Aunt Jackie and Evie

We finally made it upstairs to play on the really fun stuff.

Liam.

Uncle Jeff and Owen, his biggest fan. :)

Annie and Liam loading up.

Kate and Emma.

My mom and dad.

 

Gigi and Evie.

Matt and Uncle Mike.

Wearing Grandpa's gear.

Kate and Grandpa.

Owen.

Aunt Jackie and Evie. I love this one.

Evie, me and Emma.

Me and Jackie and Evie.

Evie had enough later in the day.

Our last round climbing on the trucks. It's fun for me to watch the kids play at the firehouse because it's so exciting to them. I always thought it was fun, too. But I was there all the time, so it wasn't as big a deal when I was little. They loved every second of it!

Climbing on the hoses.

 

Congratulations Dad! We'll be back in a few weeks for the real celebration!

In Which Annie Breaks Her Arm and We Are Mean

 

So. A few weeks ago at Kate's tee ball game, Annie was sitting on little camping chair on a low deck behind the backstop with her friend. Despite my warnings, the back legs of the chair slipped off the edge of the deck, and Annie fell backward about a foot and a half.

 

I wondered if her arm was broken based on how her crying sounded. It was really intense at first, and she yelled. However. She had a good range of motion, it didn't hurt to touch, it wasn't bruising or swelling, and she said she felt fine. Other than the intense pain in her arm, of course. It really was not a bad fall. Matt came and checked her out, and we both agreed that this was another instance in which she was being dramatic. The other, nicer moms were very concerned and I told them a few times that six-year-old girls just cry all the time, and she was fine.

 

A week later, she was still complaining and she was putting on a show at her own tee ball game--throwing the ball funny, running with her hands across her chest, etc. I told her to suck it up and start using her arm to make it feel better. Mom of the year. After six days, we finally took her in (at the urging of Matt's ortho friend who I'm pretty sure now thinks we are idiots) (which we are). Our pediatrician's partner did not think it was broken. She said pretty much what I said. But I knew Matt would not be happy if I left there without a referral to have it checked out. So, I acted like the annoying doctor's wife I generally try not to be, and pretty much said but our friend is an ortho and we want a referral (pretty sure the pediatrician's office loves us). And of course her arm was broken. My poor baby walking around with a broken arm for a week!

 

It's a small break, and there's a small buckle on the underside of her arm. They put her in a sling for three weeks. Annie has been very kind to her silly parents about the whole thing. Though, by now, she is over the sling. Still enjoying the attention, though!

 

 

 

Her x-ray. Matt texted it to me and I couldn't believe it!

 

Annie and her Michigan sling. This is what they give at Mott. Kate still has hers from her broken elbow. When Evie gets hers for whatever bad idea breaks one of her bones, we'll have a full set!

Three Crazy Girls

I took the girls to the Arb the other evening to burn some energy off before bed. I brought my camera in hopes I'd get a few decent pictures of them in the process. The results were middling, I think. They did have a great time, though. They are already planning all the stuff they will find next time to build the perfect fairy house.

 

 

They have this little area where they encourage kids to build fairy houses and some people did amazing jobs. We were not those people.

Evie

Kate

Annie

Eventually, we abandoned the fairies and headed down toward the river to put our feet in.

Annie

Kate

Evie was making this face and hand motion all day long. I have explanation for anything this child does.

Kate

I was sure one of them was going to fall in. Luckily, that didn't happen.

Kate looks possessed.

Evie

Kate

I don't why they were doing this, but for some reason I find this picture to be hilarious.

No matter how much I told the big girls to stop tilting their heads like that, they would not stop. They were laughing at me.

Then Evie started dancing and the other two moved.

Then they decided to have a race. This is how they were getting ready.

Obviously, Evie got left behind right away.

And it was apparently hilarious for everyone!

 

Backyard Summer Fun