Christmas bells, er...sirens.

I don't know where you spent Christmas day this year, but my family spent it on a fire truck.

Yeah, you read that right.

Christmas day has always been celebrated in a somewhat non-traditional fashion by my family. We usually spend it at a movie; one year we spent it at a truck stop. And I wouldn't have it any other way. There's no extended family drama, no fancy dinners, no dressing up. Just good ol' family time, yummy appetizers, a trip to the movies, and many rounds of whatever board game we feel like playing that day. (This year it was Apples to Apples. I think we played it for about six hours on Saturday.)

Since Cal's still too young for a movie, we've had to forgo that tradition the past two years. But we did manage to get out of the house, and that was for a trip to the Lockport Fire Department, where my brother-in-law, Kyle, is a fireman.

Coolest. Uncle. Ever.

(Well, all of his uncles are really cool. But Uncle Kyle has fire trucks. Hard to compete with that...)

Calvin was in awe. And a little scared. He refused to wear Kyle's helmet or try on his boots...but he loved looking around. And so did we. In fact, I may have worn my junior firefighter sticker for a few days afterward...


Checking things out with Uncle Kyle and Daddy:



Love him.


"And here we have some knobs, and also some levers..."


No, of course I did not almost drop my child out of a fire truck.


A sisterly photo op.


I am ROCKIN' that helmet. Future fire chief, no doubt.


Studly men, doing manly things.


Jordan showing us his sexy fireman pose for next year's calendar.


Love this one of Kyle with Calvin...and Calvin's hat in his back pocket.


My junior firefighter.


If this wasn't so heinous of me I would insist on my parents using it for next year's Christmas card...