Firefighter Storytime

In honor of Fire Prevention Month, the Seattle firefighters do a special storytime at several Seattle libraries. Since Matthew loves everything firefighter and also loves a good ride on the bus, we headed downtown to the Central branch for the very first firefighter storytime of the month.

Ever since it arrived, Matthew and his firefighter Halloween costume have been nearly inseparable. He wears it everyday that he doesn't have preschool or church, and even then he usually changes into it after those are over. So, of course, Matthew wore his firefighter costume to the storytime.

The bus was pretty crowded going down to Seattle, there was only one seat for me and the boys. Having both boys sit on my lap didn't last very long. Fortunately, Matthew got quite a thrill out of standing on the bus. Even after people got off the bus opening seats for all of us, Matthew insisted on standing. And since Seth wants to do everything that Matthew does, I was at wits end to keep Seth from scrabbling away from me to walk around the bus. Good thing it's not a long ride.

Walking to the library from the bus station we got several comments about Matthew's attire and even at the library, one children's librarian wanted to take Matthew's picture because he was just "so cute."

The storytime took place in one of the library's medium sized auditoriums. The miked fire chief read the story "No Dragons for Tea" at the front of the auditorium while scattered throughout the auditorium fire man sat with copies of the book showing children the pictures. After the story was over, firefighter Matt dressed in all his equipment, explaining the purpose of each piece. After he was fully dressed, they invited the children to come down and give Matt a high five. Another children's librarian thought that Matthew and Matt worthy of a picture, so here it is courtesy of a fantastic librarian (since Mama forgot her camera):
The firefighters then allowed all the children to come outside at explore their pumper truck and hook and latter trunk. Matthew, Seth, and I got to watch as they put out the outriggers and raised the latter up seven stories up on Fourth Avenue. I was so impressed at how much time and consideration each firefighter gave each child. Here are a few cell phone pictures that I managed to catch:

Not willing to miss a single photo op, another librarian caught a picture of Matthew and a firefighter in front of the pumper truck. Unfortunately, she missed the opportunity to take a picture of the two switching helmets (I got a picture of them switching back).

To top off the day we met Jon at the bus station, took the light rail to Westlake, enjoyed a early lunch together and then the boys and I headed home on the bus.

Matthew and Seth had so much fun that I think that Firefighter storytime is bound to become an annual event for our family.