Last year Heidi and I went together with the kids. She came to visit from Idaho and we had such a great time!
This year Spencer was again working so I braved it solo. It was a lot of fun and we all wore our matching Jahnke Fire shirts. I must admit I was a bit nervous about going solo. Two years ago, when the kids bounce house was blown over by Lifelight, we lost Jake for about 5 minutes. It was pretty scary but we were making sure our friends were alright since they were almost hit by the blown bounce house and Jake was looking at a Dalmatian he liked. The distractions hit at the same time and I'm glad we were able to find him!
This year we stuck together and no one was lost!
This was Josh almost the whole time. Enjoying the ride in the stroller.
Can you FEEL the heat from this oil rig fire demonstration? These demos get really hot even standing far away from them. Emily was hiding her head in my legs almost in tears to make the fire go away! I felt bad but kept explaining the firemen were there and would put it out. She did NOT like the fire. A month later and she still asks that our house doesn't catch on fire in her prayers.
Jake was so excited to be able "put out the fire" in the house. See the guy standing in the left of the picture? The guy in blue? Jake turned the hose on him while he was setting up the fake flames in the windows. I'm sure he appreciated it a little bit since it was pretty warm and he'd been standing there a while. I think I need to work on patience with Jake. He was just so excited to put out the fire!
And we have Emily waiting patiently for her turn to go into the bounce house. You know those inflatable big bounce things. When she was in there Avery & Jake watched her just stand in there. REALLY?! You asked like 10 times to go in the bounce house and you just stand there? I know she knows HOW to jump she gets in trouble for jumping off her bed occasionally.
I finally got a somewhat normal picture of Avery. I had to sneak this one. In the other picture of her she's acting like an elephant; all hunched over with both arms swinging- What is that? I asked her.THIS is by FAR my favorite part of the Fire Fest! The Ladder Competition. It's a timed competition and two firetrucks come in from opposite sides and there's a small fire near the trees that whoever puts out first wins! It's so exciting to watch!
While this event was going on I found some friends to cut into line with to go up in one of the towers. So the kids were up in a tower watching- with the BEST view- the competition. So this is Ladder 26. See the water all over? Yeah, the hose wasn't attached properly so I counted them out.
Boy was I wrong! While FF 1 was fixing the hose connection FF 2 was getting the ladder in the air and getting it angled in just the right spot then the next thing I knew......
FF 2 (or was it FF 3) was doing a little dance. So happy with the SUCCESS of winning the ladder competition! He was hooping and hollering and doing a little dance with his arms! Pretty cool- the competition, not the dancing of FF 2.
Boy was I wrong! While FF 1 was fixing the hose connection FF 2 was getting the ladder in the air and getting it angled in just the right spot then the next thing I knew......
FF 2 (or was it FF 3) was doing a little dance. So happy with the SUCCESS of winning the ladder competition! He was hooping and hollering and doing a little dance with his arms! Pretty cool- the competition, not the dancing of FF 2.WAY TO GO Ladder 26! You put the fire out first!
This was the view that I had of my kids in the Tower. Julie Hunt took her two kids and my two kids. What a brave woman! Emily, Josh and I kept our feet planted on the ground. Safe and sound. I'm not one for heights. I always hated the Parachute ride at Knott's Berry Farm!
And down come the brave souls who dared to enter 18s Tower.
And back to the ground our brave children come; "That was so cool Mom! You should have come!"
The last fire of the day was the "house fire demonstration." I was a little worried about how Emily would react again but the kids climbed into a older firetruck that was displayed and watched the blaze from inside.
And the fire begins... Not too hot yet.
The fire got pretty big but was in the end put out by the wonderful Houston Fire Fighters. It was all great until this big smoke cloud came rolling towards us. There was no turning back as I called to the kids, "Let's GO!" It got us from behind and *cough*cough* cough* choke* "Mom! This stinks!" We smelled smokey until we had our showers a few hours later that night.
We had such a great time at the Fire Fest and look forward to going again next year. Hopefully Spencer will be there with us!
This was the view that I had of my kids in the Tower. Julie Hunt took her two kids and my two kids. What a brave woman! Emily, Josh and I kept our feet planted on the ground. Safe and sound. I'm not one for heights. I always hated the Parachute ride at Knott's Berry Farm!
And down come the brave souls who dared to enter 18s Tower.
And back to the ground our brave children come; "That was so cool Mom! You should have come!"
The last fire of the day was the "house fire demonstration." I was a little worried about how Emily would react again but the kids climbed into a older firetruck that was displayed and watched the blaze from inside.
And the fire begins... Not too hot yet.
The fire got pretty big but was in the end put out by the wonderful Houston Fire Fighters. It was all great until this big smoke cloud came rolling towards us. There was no turning back as I called to the kids, "Let's GO!" It got us from behind and *cough*cough* cough* choke* "Mom! This stinks!" We smelled smokey until we had our showers a few hours later that night.
We had such a great time at the Fire Fest and look forward to going again next year. Hopefully Spencer will be there with us! 
