White House Egg Roll

So, thanks to my friend Lonni in California, we got to go to the Egg Roll. We had the 7:45 time slot, so I was pretty excited to maybe see the President start the roll. Little did I know there was a session at 6:45...really? Oh well. We were still pretty dang lucky we were there so early and not in the heat that followed later that day. The kids got up pretty well and we got dressed and out the door by 6:20. We decided to park in the Regan Building instead of Metro and I think that was a good choice given the fact that we had tired kiddos after.

You can't really see much of the lines in the above pic, but they were long. We got there and I was totally surprised at how different it was as opposed to the previous year I went-we went to the last year Bush ws in office. We got there right around 7:00 and the line was huge!! We waited for what seemed like forever until going through one point to show tickets and the next one for our search, we then waited in line again until we got on the grounds around 8:00 or so. And there were tons of people behind us. I felt bad for them because it was eating away at their precious 2 hour time limit!

So we were very happy to see that Glee was in our session. We figured out what we wanted to do, but there was no map on the program, so we wandered around. The kids were happy to see characters until the show. They were ok in during "Glee' but were done by the end. So we then did the egg roll and egg hunt.

Here we are....we made it. The line was long, so the pics were rushed, but this was the best one. Landon wasn't cooperating, so one of the cute volunteers noticed he like the egg and put in front for him to sit on. And we were impressed at how many volunteers who were willing to take family pictures.
this "fairy" was just inside entrance, and of course the little girls were thrilled and had to have a pictures. So cute. I love little girls!!
Liz and the "fairy" If you notice, both Jordan and Lizzie were trying to hold onto the wand. Funny girls!
When we parked in the parking garage, I looked over and noticed the Dad of one of Lizzie and Jordan's classmates get out of a car near us. I told them "Isabelle's here" and they just started screaming and couldn't get out of the car fast enough. It was pretty cute. We were separated for a while, but caught back up just after we got in. Here they all are with an easter egg lady.

We were hoping we would see the PBS characters like last time. We love PBS so were pretty excited. It was very different from the previous time where there was one spot and they took polaroid pics and gave them to the kids in a little cardboard frame. But still, we were thrilled to see all our friends. The only one sad was Spencer when we missed the "Dinosaur Train" characters. Jordan , Landon and Lizzie were all thrilled to jump in and have a pic taken with their fav, but Spencer was happy to look from a distance.
Landon wasn't too sure of Clifford, but loved Word Girl, Sid the Science kid and Super Why. and oops, forgot the pic of Arthur.
Lizzy and "Miffy"

We really were on the White House grounds....pretty cool! The Marine Band was getting all set up to play, I guess before Obama spoke. He was scheduled for 10:45. We wanted to forget about getting our egg and stay to watch, but as you will read below, they were pretty strict about getting everyone out.

Here we are at the actual Egg roll. I was so happy because while we went to see Glee, everyone else lined up for the roll. By the time we were there, the line was gone and the kids got to run right up. I think they liked it, all but Landon. Too bad there wasn't any candy at the end this year....come on Michelle, one measly piece of candy after you roll the egg...Laura did it! (they had Cadbury eggs last time) The got to keep he egg they rolled, despite may warnings not to eat it. The were actual really pretty-they looked like marble. I wondered how long it took to color all those eggs.
This little egg hunt was the last thing we did, and as you could see, Landon had had enough by this point. He was sound asleep in the stroller about 20 minutes later.
The grounds are really beautiful. I loved this tree and how you could see the White House in the background.
Loved this sign.... and the tree behind it.
This is for all the peeps lovers out there. Who has time to make this? Gotta love peeps!

Ok, not to be a spoil sport, but I did have a couple complaints, compared to our trip the last time. I was a bit annoyed at the 2 hour limit. You just couldn't fit it all in. I went to get a bag of fruit at about 9:50 as we were making our way to the exit, and our time was over at 9:45, so they told me it was all for the next group. What? Give wristbands and do punches if you are so worried about running out of stuff, for crying out loud. If you let 3000 people in at a time, be prepared and also a little flexible. We were able to grab a few crafty things off a table on our way out, and most of the volunteers were great; despite the one mean lady who told us "you need to leave NOW" when we asked if we could get face paint.

It was also frustrating because they told you that if you didn't get your egg (the wooden egg you get for going) by 15 minutes after your allotted time, you didn't get one. Seriously? Who is doing the planning here? Are these people professionals? We were still waiting in line to get out at 10:00, so obviously their planning wasn't so great. To really expect to empty out the whole grounds in 15 minutes was a little silly. And if you plan enough eggs for each ticket given out, what's the big deal about when we leave?

Oh, they did give a pack of peeps with the egg, so that was great!

BUT, overall, we had lots of fun-while we were on the grounds. It is pretty cool just to be on the White House grounds. It is such a historic place, so you feel like you have a place in history just being at an event held there.

Despite the massive lines-If you haven't been, do try to get tickets and go-be a part of history!!