137th White House Easter Egg Roll

Back in March ... late February?  I don't know, but anyways, a short while ago the White House opened the lottery for its annual Egg Roll.  Of course we entered and did not get selected.  But my mom did!  She entered the lottery fully not expecting to get in and of course she did.  She booked a last minute flight and was ready to roll!  

The way it works is your group is assigned to one of the 5 two-hour blocks of time during the course of the day to enjoy as much of the event as you can.  Our slot was 9:45am-1145am; which was, really I think, the best time of all the options!  It was a beautiful April day and we got there early enough to be at the head of most of the various lines waiting to enter the South Lawn.  A friend of ours went last year and she gave me the inside scoop to make the best of our time and it was SO helpful!  Thanks Michelle!

Our mission was to get up early and be on the Metro with the rising sun. 

So we would have enough time for last minute potty breaks, navigate the streets, and be in line at the front.  check.

                                      

At 9:45 on the dot we were let in.  The crowd was fairly large because there was one time slot before us all ready in.  We made a bee line for the White House to get our first glimpse up close.

 They were obliviously super excited.

I asked them to at least pretend!

 The truth is, clearly, they are to young to fully appreciate the unique opportunity we had that day.  They enjoyed all the moments and experiences but I pray when they are older they will be able to look back and recognize the privilege we had in being there.  There were definitely times when my mom and I were trying to get quickly from one experience to the next and soak in the memories; while the kiddos were a bit confused which created some friction.

We made it to the top of the hill and began looking for the line for the egg roll.

 There was a crowd and I could see the tops of big video cameras so we pushed our way through to find it was Kelly Ripa and Michael Strahan doing the egg roll!  That was unexpected.

 We made our way to the line for the roll and came face to face the the First Family's pups!  Kelly and Michael were doing a live show; that crowd in the distance was their audience.  As we were standing there the two of them walked back to their set with their kiddos who came for the fun of the day.  Michael was walking with his two daughters, dressed in pretty pink frilly Easter dresses.  They were skipping and dancing around and he was doing his best to corral and lead them to where they needed to go.  Just like all parents do.  It was an honest real-life off camera moment that I found endearing.  Just a little reminder that people are just people .... of course that all went out the door later when I laid eyes on Bobby Flay ... but I'm getting ahead of myself.

 First round of photos with us and the White House ... be warned, there are many.

At last, we were up!

 GO!

 They were actual dyed hard boiled eggs and everyday wooden spoons.  Who knew?!  I immediately had visions of the man power it must have taken to dye all those eggs!

 Right near the egg roll was a section of {mostly} PBS kids characters.  We were walking around and Kayla shouts out "HEY IT'S THE ODD SQUAD!" This was the absolute highlight for Kayla and Gavin!  They LOVE that show.  And these cuties were so sweet and polite when we asked to take a photo with them :) .

It was time to venture off and explore everything else laid out on the South Lawn.

 There was a bee keeper there spreading the word of their importance.

 And loads of crafts the kiddos could do.

So they had a cooking demo station there.  I saw on the schedule, Food Network's Bobby Flay was to be on stage right at the time we first arrived.  It was a struggle, but I decided to skip it and go straight to the Egg Roll to ensure we did not miss that opportunity.  As we were wandering around that area I saw him.  BOBBY FLAY.  Just standing there off to the side of the small stage.  I totally had that moment where I was like 'holy cow.  there is someone who i watch on TV all.the.time. right in front of me, what do i do?'  I side stepped my way over.  Some people were all ready lining up to take a photo with him.  And it was the WEIRDEST thing I tell you.  These people, one after another, would just walk up to him without saying anything, turn around for the photo, and then walk away in silence.  Not even a 'hi' or 'thank you' ... like he was just a statue or something.  It seemed  ... so ... rude to me.  I could not let that happen.  I grabbed the kids {because they watch his shows too} walked up and said "Hello, how are you?"  I think he said he was fine. We took the photo and as my mom was focusing in I said "we watch your shows all the time" and than a "thank you for the photo".  I was totally cool ... in my head ... apparently. Because my mom still laughs about my exuberant "I WATCH YOUR SHOWS ALL THE TIME!!"  whatever.  We ended up with a great photo, I think, because of my friendly demeanor.       

There were several stages set up with different stuff going on at each.  We arrived at this one just in time for a big group hula-hoop jam session.

And then we were abruptly interrupted for the appearance of the First Family!  We literally ran from the bottom of the South Lawn to the foot of the White House; pushing our way through the crowd.  Politics aside.  It was the President of the United States!  And the First lady.  And the Easter Bunny for goodness sake!  It was truly a once in a lifetime moment and there was no way I was going to ignore it.

After the National Anthem they each spoke for a minute ....

And then made there way down to the grass for a turn to roll the eggs.

I mean, it was really an exciting moment!  After they went back inside we chilled out for a minute letting the experiences of the morning soak in with one last group photos ...

and a view of the Washington Monument and the Jefferson Memorial.  A particular view one can only see from the steps of the White House.