That morning I got myself ready & I ironed little guys shirt. We planned on arriving at J's house at noon. The plan was to drive there and park in the Reagan Building underground parking garage & just walk over to the White House. I got a text message from J in the morning saying she couldn't find the printed tickets after searching for them everywhere. "Uh-Oh", needless to say we were in full panic mode. We decided just to drive there and see if they would let us in with her printed confirmation sheet. We arrived about an hour early which left us plenty of time since our time slot was 2:30-4:30. We got in line with everyone else and after standing in line about 20 minutes we saw a lady outside of the fenced area asking people if they had extra tickets & people were freely handing theirs over. J spoke up and said if you have any extra we will take them & she managed to get 3 tickets. We just needed 1 more before our line moved to the security tent, the lady behind us was kind enough to ask people in line further back if they could spare an extra ticket but without any luck. When our row was called up to the security tent, we were just about to go explain our "ticket-less" situation when the same lady that tried to help us earlier was calling out to us. She found us another ticket! Holy cow I was so happy & I had to give her a hug. We were in & in utter disbelief that we pulled that off.
After going through security they put an orange colored bracelet on your wrist, the color determines what time slot your in. We were given a plastic bag which had a brochure, activity book & schedule of events. There were some photo opportunities with Mario & Luigi, a Nascar race car, as well as, a few games the kids could play. Once you got through that area, there was yet another line you had to wait in before entering the White House grounds. They had people dressed up as Angry Birds with a DJ to entertain us while waiting. We waited in that line for about 30 minutes.
Entering the South lawn was a sight to see, there were so many people everywhere but what struck me is how big the White House really is up close. I never really paid much attention to it's size because I have always seen it from so far away.
This years theme was "Hop into Healthy, Swing into Shape". The first thing we did was to get the kids in line for the egg roll, which I think was a good idea. There were 2 different lines & the one we picked was not too long. We just happened to pick the best line too because it brought us right up close to the White House.
After the Egg Roll the kids did an NFL type of mini obstacle run which they both seemed to enjoy.
At the "Eggsperiment Zone" they had several tables set up with various activities from crafting to experiments. They did some experiments with objects that sink or float & they also made their own boats which they got to test in a tub. My little guy was so happy that his was still able to float after dumping it with 3 Dixie cups filled with beans.
We also saw Ariana Grande perform. I have to admit I had no idea who she was but was quickly given the 411 from J's son.
Upon exiting, the kids were given a green wooden Easter egg with the President & First Lady's signature. It was definitely a fun filled memorable day :)
Until next time ....:D
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