hellooooo, hospital!

We've taken a break from our monthly business tours until today, and boy were Owen, Cora, and I excited to get started!

Today's tour was a little different; it didn't involve pizza, flowers, or cars. We weren't learning about bagel-making or the fire station.

Instead, we headed over to our community hospital to check out the place where most of our babies were born and to see what all the noisy construction was about!

• Hospital Tour: Our group met our tour guide, the Marketing and Community Outreach Coordinator, in the lobby. She introduced herself and got our tour started!

Our first stop was the imaging area of the hospital, where x-rays are done. Our children were in a trance, watching the technician explain how she does the x-rays for children, and she even demonstrated on two of our kiddos (without really taking the pictures, of course!).

Wow! We got to see how x-rays are done
at the hospital imaging center.

The kind people at the hospital had a conference room ready for us, complete with snacks, drinks, and goodie bags full of informative handouts, a first aid kit, and a Health Handbook. Any break to fill little bellies is a sure hit, and we all really appreciated this little snacky surprise.

We listened as a program director explained some of the programs that the hospital offers for new parents and growing families. We also learned from a dietitian about healthy food choices for dinners and lunch boxes.

Although the hospital was directed to follow new guidelines (until the H1N1 threat subsides) that did not permit us to visit the nursery, ER, or other "cool" spots in the hospital, we were still happy to walk through the secret tunnel that connects the hospital to the Physician's Building next door.

We also loved checking out the construction area and the new heli-pad. Huge working trucks--right there in front of us! It was a little person's dream day.

Our tour guide assured us that if we schedule a springtime tour, we'd be able to see how our hospital has changed, take a look at the new cafeteria's kitchen, and all the places we couldn't see this time. Looks like our May tour is already planned!

These tours have been a blast for my children and pals in my local MOMS group. All it's taken has been a phone call to get the ball rolling, and the behind-the-scenes look at local spots in our community have been so fun and informative for Maddy, Owen, and Cora.

FYI: Although our July tour was hard to top, from what I heard, the August tour of our local Rita's Italian Ice was awesome. We couldn't be there because we attended a funeral, but working with the manager and owner was a pleasure. They made organizing it easy and said that all franchises are encouraged to do tours for the community.

Go ahead, grab some buddies and show your kiddos behind the scenes at Rita's!