White House Easter Egg Roll

We were able to attend the White House Easter Egg Roll this year.

We were so excited to be able to go.

I had visions in my head of my beautiful children strolling through the White House Gardens.

Taking our time and getting gorgeous photos of the kids in the azaleas and dogwoods.

Oh it was going to be grand.

And it was, only in a different way.

 Had I known how hot and crowded it was going to be once we got inside I would have done more pictures outside while waiting in line.

But - this is what we got just trying to pass the time.

The day was a balmy 90 degrees with about 70% humidity.

And over 30,000 people participated.

Of course only 6,000 per session.

YIKES!! I thought I would lose a child or two!

 I love these socks!

And it was the only part of Gage not being a goof.

 McCall was elated to meet the Easter Bunny.

But refused to go anywhere near him without Daddy.

Flat Stanley also got to meet him. We have loved having Flat Stanley with us!

 The boys were not thrilled to take pictures.

They wanted to be off in search of eggs and participating in all the events.

McCall somehow hurt her leg that morning and couldn't walk a step.

Getting her to stand for a picture was difficult.

But it all turned out just great and the kids had a blast.

 Flat Stanley enjoyed his trip to the White House.

But the best part of the day was the very last thing we did.

The boys REALLY wanted to play basketball on the White House basketball court.

So they did.

They were the very last group to be able to.

And they were elated!

 Each of them took part in a shooting game.

And guess what?

Connor won for his entire group of 30 kids!

And because they were the last group for the day, they each got to take home an NBA basketball.

Don't worry I checked - they were a gift from the NBA - not a government bailout!

 Poor Gage was so little that he couldn't even get the ball to the basket.

The NBA staff tried to help him out.

But to no avail.

But no worries, as the kids in line started laughing at him his big brother Tate straightened them all immediately.

"Hey, that's my little brother. He's way smaller than you and he is really good at lots of things. Don't laugh at him. That's being rude."

I was proud of him. Even though I tried to tell him they just thought he was cute.

Tate didn't agree and insisted on defending his brother.

Then I wanted to get some pictures of McCall in the azaleas.

But she had had it and wouldn't cooperate one bit.

But at least I got one of these adorable shoes!

What a fun time.

I hope the kids will always remember this.

Easter Egg Hunt #1

We had so much fun with Jessica and James here - more to come on that.

Easter was so much fun to spend with family.

McCall enjoyed the hunt - at least until she found an egg and opened it.

Then she was done.

The first one she had found was split open and the jelly beans had spilled out.

She quickly snatched up the jelly beans and with her little hands full was eating them as quickly as she could.

I went to get a picture.

I told her - "oh look, the Easter Bunny pooped."

She promptly threw down the jelly beans and moved on to another egg.

Oops.

 Tate was all about the quantity of eggs.

Connor was happy to fill his basket then share with his sister.

Gage had a hard time deciding which way to run - he'd pick up a few in the stash then move to the next one.

Shouting all the while for his brothers to slow down!

 James and Ryan just looked on.

They knew they could pilfer the kids baskets without any effort.

So there they sat.

Easter 2011

Our 2011 Easter

In pictures

McCall ended up in more pictures for many reasons.

1. She is more fun to take pictures of because she like the camera.

2. She holds still longer than her brothers.

3. I really love pink and Grandma G. sent her this beautiful little dress for the occassion.

4. She matched the flowers on our tree so well.

White House Spring Garden Tour

We were fortunate enough to get tickets to the White House Spring Garden Tour.

It was absolutely gorgeous and so much fun to be able to walk all around the beautiful gardens.

Of course I took a few pictures.

And to make it even more fun, we had our friend Flat Stanley with us from our good friend Halle!

Here is Flat Stanley making a friend in the Marine Corps Band.

Rick, Janessa and Ellen. Thanks for going with us!

I think I would like to have this view out my back window.

Oval Office and West Wing

First beehive in the White House gardens.

It was an absolutely gorgeous day, surrounded by gorgeous trees and flowers and the like.

Spring + Day off school = Smithsonian Zoo

Recently we had a VERY warm day here.

It was 80 degrees!

And a little humid after all the rain.

The kids had the day off of school so we went to the zoo.

I sometimes feel like I live in a zoo ...

But that is for another post.

Seriously it was hot!

We got a little sun burned.

But we had a lot of fun.

There were some great exhibits.

The big cats, gorillas and, surprisingly, the spider exhibits were GREAT!

We will definitely be going back.