White House Easter Egg Roll

We were among the very, very lucky ones. Thanks to the amazing kindness and generosity of our friend Sybil, we were able to attend the annual White House Easter Egg Roll on the lawn of the White House. What a day. Just a few highlights:

• The adorableness of my daughter in her Easter finery:

• We were SO CLOSE to the White House. Unbelievably close. Just wandering around their front yard. In fact, while we were in line for the actual roll, I noticed Barbara Bush (former first lady, not current daughter) walking into the building for a visit. Wow:





• It was quite the festival atmosphere. One might have even called in chaotic if it weren't so much fun. There were tons and tons of costumed bunnies and other characters (we spent the first few minutes acclimating to this and avoiding the biggest, furriest ones until Millie calmed down). The Jonas Brothers were in concert somewhere out there. Someone was displaying and discussing a kimoto dragon (yes, this is true. I have no idea of the Easter significance, but anyway...). There were magicians, dancers, and even the humongous racing Presidents from the Nationals games. Wowzers.

• They fed us breakfast -- always a highlight for a pregnant lady. Yummy egg burrito, fruit, coffee, juice. Pretty great.
  
• Troy Aikman. Other than the Chargers, he's my favorite part of winter Sunday afternoons. He was officially there to read a book to the kiddos. But mostly he was being stalked by moms (and dads too, actually) who have a crush on him. Exhibit A:

Note Millie gazing lovingly at Troy behind us.

• Millie got her face painted for the first time ever. She sat amazingly still as the portrait of Barney the dog was painted on her cheek. So cute:

And of course, the very best highlight of them all was Millie's attempt at the legendary egg roll. Bigger kids used a wooden spoon to push a real egg down a narrow lane as they raced about nine other kids. Millie snatched up her egg (see the previous post on her egg gathering skills) and raced down the lane towards me, Sybil following and cheering her on. Yes, I teared up. I was in the shadow of the White House having a once-in-a-lifetime moment with my DAUGHTER. These are the sweetest moments of life. I will never forget it.