Mike's Birthday Party (aka "The Fire Department is here!!")

Another weekend, another great birthday party.  Two weekends ago it was Charlotte's 2nd birthday party and this past weekend was Mike's 38th birthday party.  Almost the same, right?  Elliott and I stayed only for the first hour or so, before the real party got underway.  The real party apparently resulted in some clever person hiding cherry tomatoes all over Holly and Mike's dining room, including on top of a door frame so it certainly wasn't a short person.  It was a harmless prank that give Holly quite a laugh when she discovered them.  The early end of the party was a great group with quite a few kids.  I was in the living room at one point and saw flashlights pointing in the front window.  I exclaimed, "the fire department is here!!"  Our friend Connor is in the Buffalo FD and makes a point of coming to Mike's annual party with his truck, if he happens to be working.  He and his buddy, Dave, stopped in briefly to say hi.

Dave, Connor, and Mike



I tried to get a picture of Elliott with the guys in their turnout gear but he didn't like being handed off so close to bedtime.

Ted and Ned, who loves firefighters but got shy when they were there

Ned then decided he could go see Connor if he was wearing his own firefighter helmet.

Elliott observed from the man chair.

Sophia, Ned's friend/sister/wife depending on the day

Ted wrangling the kids.  It looks so calm.

But this captures the dynamic more accurately.

During a quiet moment, I noticed this agile rescue helicopter walking up the stairs.  This is Ruby.

But the helicopter (Ned's Halloween costume) proved to be a bit top heavy.

And so, the rescue helicopter had to be rescue by her parents.