quite the friday

there was a pretty nasty storm that blew thru olean last saturday, and it brought a lot of damage with it.  a tree in our neighbor's yard was hit and needed to be cut down, so they asked if we minded if our yard be used by the removal service (figured maybe dragging a few limbs thru our yard or parking a truck along our property line).  UNDERSTATEMENT OF THE YEAR!  

when we woke up friday, there sat a vintage fire truck, waiting to put it's ladder up to cut down the tree.  wow!  how awesome for von!  we waited all morning (and climbed all over the truck), but no work started.  so we ate lunch.  then waited a bit longer.  finally, i decided we were pushing nap time, so upstairs we went to lay down (i wasnt quite sure that von would even fall asleep based on his anticipation of what might happen outside.  i was wrong).  out like a light.  then, not even ten minutes later, i hear the trucks start moving around and took a peek out the window - holy cow, they drove the fire truck thru our backyard on planks of plywood!  there, in von's backyard, a fire truck, putting it's ladder as far up into the air as it would go ... and he was sleeping :(  i figured he might only take a short nap or maybe all of the noise might wake him, again, i was wrong.  i, the 30-year old mom, sat like a kid in the window watching it all, ha! 

when von finally awoke, i told him to put up the blind and his eyes lit up like Christmas morning!  we made our way downstairs and went outside to watch even closer.  the crew could not have been any nicer to our little guy and tried to incorporate his 'help' in any way possible.  we watched the ladder go up & down for over an hour, each time cutting a chunk of the tree to put into the wood chipper (yet another cool machine they brought with them).  this just might have been von's most interesting afternoon in a long time, and it was all free of charge in our own backyard!    

(sleeping von while all of this awesomeness is starting)