Rapid City Fire Department Tour

I thought I would put up some pictures from the Rapid City Fire Department Tour.

THANK YOU TO THE RAPID CITY FIRE DEPARTMENT FOR LETTING ALL OF US TOUR YOUR BUILDING!

There were so many kids, we had to split us into two groups. Fireman Massey took one half, and Fireman Olson took the other half.


Here we are, where all the firefighters sleep:



Here is their new TRUCK:



The Truck is mostly used for Rescues, and then there are ENGINES, that are used for fighting fires.

Here are a few of the kids' faces when they got to get into the Truck:







Here is Fireman Olson turning on the lights in the Engine:



The Engine is in the background in this next picture. Here is another fireman getting all of his gear on: (Sorry! I forgot his name!) Notice the little black box on the fireman's right side of his face mask. That is a heads up display that shows how much air he has in his pack.



The kids gathered around him:



Some interesting facts we found out about:

This station, Station 1, is the 39th busiest fire station in the U.S.A!

They don't have a pole anymore. They did save part of it, but poles are being phased out throughout the United States, due to injuries.

Each Firefighter works for 24 hours straight. They eat, sleep and work at the station. They each have thier own beds as well.

The packs they carry on their backs have enough air for up to one half hour, if they are calm while breathing.

SUPPORT a fellow MOPS MOM!

A few meetings ago, Jeannie S. told us about this and she sent out a reminder!

The Great Strides Walk-Taking Steps to Cure Cystic Fibrosis is this Sat. May 31, 2008 at the Old Storybook Island picnic shelter in Rapid City.

You are invited to join us for this very special event. Registration and activities will start at 9:00 that morning. There will be fun stuff for the kids, 'Coasters for a Cure' (quilted and tile coasters) sales to benefit the CF Foundation, and a wonderful DJ providing music throughout the day.

The 10K walk will kick off at 10:00. You are encouraged to walk/run or bike as much of the route as you'd like. Lunch will be provided starting at 11:30. You may want to bring your lawn chairs or blankets to picnic with.

If you're still wanting to donate, it's not too late! Please send your check made payable to the CF Foundation to Team Huxford, 4621 Wentworth Dr. Rapid City, SD 57702 as soon as possible. To get to the walk site, enter by the Parks Division sign off of Canyon Lake Drive (across from Sioux San Hospital)

Please join our fight to cure CF and plan to participate in Great Strides this weekend!

Another picture from Bear Country

I was going through my pictures and saw this one of the otters that live there:



They were my favorite animals to see!

-Coya

Lions, Bears and Elk-OH MY!!!!

Well I have to tell you it was a foggy, soggy, cold day to be going to Bear Country but I am glad I made the trip! We saw EVERY animal on the property! I mean EVERY animal! It was great!

As I was trying to decide if I wanted to go this morning, I remember Jen G. saying that when the weather is not at it's best the animals are. So, I loaded up the boys and we went!

I think one of the other benefits of going at 9am was that the animals were hungry! We were driving in front of the feed truck. Notice the Mountain Goats are not looking at me, taking the photos, they are looking at the man with the food directly behind me! LOL!

The Elk are the first of the animals we saw after entering the park and I put these images in because you can see the snow, rain in the air....What's the date today?

If you put your mouse over the image you should be able to enlarge it.

These two images are here because I love the velvet and you can see the fuzz.

We were discussing sleeping with such large objects on your head. Wouldn't that hurt your neck?

On to the bears:
I like this one because you can see the car in the upper corner....for some odd reason it speaks to me!

I am wondering how big these animals are. I'm thinking they have got to be 600 lbs? If anyone knows they should comment. (Comments are at the end of each blog entry)

I am amazed with the size of bear paws. I almost got an image of a paw while it was stretching. It had his claws extended.....but he was too quick (or I was slow on the trigger finger)

These birds, which I think are magpies are all around the bears. I think they are in it for the free lunch personally! But they are an interesting bird....

Lastly, the lions. I've never seen so many lions in the cage before! They were playing with each other, eating and walking around on the logs. It was such a different experience than I've had in the past I'm so glad we went!



Thanks to all who showed up. I hope your experience was as thrilling as mine.

-Laurel

Summer Fun!!

Our last meeting for this spring is Tuesday, May 20th.

Copies of the Summer Family Outing Schedule will be available then.

Check this site again in a few days for the full schedule to be listed here.

Contact Jeannie to get a schedule or with questions at: j.shortflight@gmail.com

Mark your calendar for May 27th at 9:00 a.m. - Bear Country. Meet at the BC entrance, pull off to the left. $1 per child. Bring a picnic lunch or buy snacks there.

MOPS Fall Registration News

• Registration for next year has already begun
• Registration dues are $20 now, $24 next September
• All early registrants (before May 31st) will get their MOPS gift pack this summer! Including the theme book: Adventures in Mothering!