Firefighter's Hall & Museum

We started our summer field trips with a group of 4-5 other moms on Wednesday. Our first stop was the Firefighters Hall & Museum in Minneapolis. I think it's going to be hard to top this one. It was very kid friendly and informative--the kids loved it. M couldn't wait to wear his fireman's hat here.



D and her friend pose by the dalmation.



The kids did a simulation of a bucket brigade.



We got to see all kinds of fire vehicles, from ones that were pulled by horses...



..to ones that you had to crank to start.



D helped in the demonstration on how fire calls were made long ago.





One of the highlights of this museum--getting to slide down the fire pole.





D demonstrated the "Stop, Drop, and Roll" technique during our safety lesson.



The kids got to climb aboard one of the fire trucks they had housed inside the museum.





M preferred the fire truck "ride", like the ones you find in a mall...



...but eventually he made his way to the real one.



The definite highlight of the trip was a ride in a real fire truck through Minneapolis. We sat in the second row of seats inside...



...but most of our group was outside in the back.



When we got back from our ride, the kids got to be the firefighters and put out the fires in this housing complex.





Contest to see who could shoot their water the farthest.





Picture inside the hall.



We also got to learn about and watch a video about Mickey the Fire Cat from Minneapolis Fire Station 10. This is the most hilarious video ever, I think the kids and I could watch this a thousand times. See video here.

We finished off the morning with a lunch on the lawn. The kids loved the fact that there were about 10 or so trains that came by the tracks up the hill.