Great Day with Jamie’s Preschool

Today was a wonderful day in the mountains with an incredible group of volunteer and an even more incredible group of kids and parents.  All of us except Jennifer went on a field trip with Karlee’s preschool out to Kananaskis Country.

We arrived at the Church where the preschool is held at 9am and boarded the Tim Horton’s Children’s Foundation bus which turned out to be a pleasant surprise.  We were expecting a school bus, but arrived to find a nice coach with a DVD player and bathroom.  There were a few people we knew, but lots of Alumni we had not met yet.  It was a nice drive out to Kananaski after making a stop on the west side of the city to pick up some more people.  The kids had fun playing around in the seats and going to the bathroom repeatedly.  I enjoyed visiting with the other parents and hearing about their journey's and sharing a little of our journey so far.

Once we arrived there we went to Boundary Ranch and were met by Captain Ron from the K-Country Fire Department.  He was great with the kids and they all seemed to bond with him right away.  We went on a wagon ride through the trees and the kids loved riding together.  At the turn around point of the trip they had a paddock with Buffalo in it and there was a baby.  It was a very cute little baby that looked a lot like a baby calf, but was standing beside a big Buffalo.  We then returned to the ranch by a slightly different route that let the horses run a little which the kids enjoyed.  Once we got back the other half of the group went on the wagon ride and we went and played games with Captain Ron.  He played Duck, Duck, Goose and freeze tag with all the kids, making sure to get everyone involved from ages 2 to 12 and of all different skill levels.  We then boarded the bus again and went over to the Fire Station.
 
When we arrived the Fire Fighters had everything set up for a hot dog lunch.  We had a great lunch and the kids ate lots and lots of food.  After lunch the firefighters split the kids into 3 groups and 2 groups got to tour the trucks and the 3rd group got to use the fire hose to “knock down fires".  This involved them holding the hose, turning the water on and knocking over 2 pylons.  The kids absolutely loved using the fire hose and Ryley is so proud that he was the 2nd kid to knock down both pylons from one spot.  While to firefighters were entertaining the kids the parents got to chat a little more.  To me spending time with the other parents and learning about what they have gone through is the best therapy.  The firefighters let the kids play with many of their tools and equipment.  They were all very good with the kids and gave them a special experience.
 
When the tour there was over we walked over to the police station with Officer Yee for a tour there.  He went through all the equipment he carried and even showed them the noise that the Taser makes when fired.  He then took us into the back and let the kids see the jail cells.  The kids definitely realized that jail was not a nice place when they saw the mattress sitting on a concrete bench and the ugly toilet/sink combo.  After the hold cell tour we went outside and the kids played in the police car and trunk.  Ryley convinced Officer Yee to handcuff him… unfortunately he had the keys so Ryley was free for the ride home.
 
We all boarded the bus again and headed back to Calgary.  You would think the kids would have been tuckered out and slept, but that was not to be.  They played all the way back to Calgary while the parents visited again.  We pulled into Calgary about 4pm and all said our goodbyes and headed for the cars.  It was a great trip put on by an incredible organization and we are all looking forward to the school trip to Calaway Park in 2 weeks!