Last week I was lucky enough (and well connected enough!) to score some coveted tickets to the White House Holiday Preview. If there's a tour somewhere in D.C., I'm the first one with my hand up, ala Donkey... "Pick Me! Oh Pick Me!!" I honestly had no idea what it entailed, other than being the first group to tour the White House and see all the decorations. That sounded pretty cool. I even talked K out of a few hours of work to join us. I decided to just take Clara since anytime we force Max to do something horrible like See a Movie, or Go Out to Dinner, or Take a Trip to the Toy Store, or Attend a Birthday Party, he complains incessantly. The boy hates to leave the house. And he really hates standing in line. Easy enough decision there.
So Clara and I picked K up at the Pentagon and we headed over to the White House.
Oh how I love D.C. Clara loves it too!
This was already going much better than our last White House Tour - the one where I declared that my children had RUINED D.C. FOR ME. (They wouldn't walk the 8 blocks in the scorching heat to go to a really hip new bakery that served fresh macarons. The HORROR!)
It was no surprise that the decorations in the White House were awesome.
Even the Coat Check was exciting:
Three Ladies:
The theme this year is "Shine, Give, Share" which honors military families, especially those who have members deployed or who have lost a family member.
As a military family, it was REALLY neat to see the thought and care that went into this. I was truly honored to be there.
It was also really fun to try and find the hidden "makeshift" Bo in every room. (Bo is the Obama family dog.)
Some were more obvious than others:
Here's a little clip about it:
After we found all of the "Bo's" and admired all of the trees, we were served yummy cookies. Getting fancy!
We were then sent into a room full of chairs, cameras, and a LOT OF PRESS.
Press can only mean one thing... someone important is going to show up!
The front two rows had reserved signs on the seats, so we sat about 8 rows back.
What I didn't know, was that the reserved sign was for Clara! All the kids got to move up front. Clara was shy, so I went up and sat with her. I'm thankful for her fake shyness.
We waited about 30 minutes which made Clara a bit antsy. So she posed on the podium for me:
And then suddenly the BIG lights came on and the First Lady walked in.
Yes, she is as beautiful and poised in real life as she is on camera. I love her.
She gave a very nice speech about honoring military families during the holiday season and reminding us that we are appreciated. That "we live in a grateful nation."
She then invited all the kids to follow her out of the room. WHAT?! Am I a kid? Can I go?
Clara was a little freaked, so I walked back with her, shook the First Lady's hand (AH!) and watched Clara blend in, feel comfortable and wave goodbye as the First Lady ushered them into a different room.
In any other circumstance I'd be nervous as to where my kid is, what they're doing and who's watching them. I was pretty sure she was in good hands here!
Thankfully ABC News came to the rescue and showed me EXACTLY what Miss Clara was doing! (Clara is at 50 seconds and 1 minute)
After about 20 minutes, the parents were allowed to go in.
I found Clara happily decorating a cookie. She was happy AND serious. And with that hat on, THE CUTEST.
The First Lady was about to leave, so I snapped this quick picture:
And THEN I saw...... THE REAL BO!!!!
I so wanted to lunge forward and pet him, but was pretty sure that guy standing there in the back would have pounced/pepper sprayed/karate chopped me. Oh Bo!!
It was pretty crazy in the room, with the press behind a barrier and the kids at the table. But when I saw that, I knew I'd find footage out there of Clara. But it was a friend who texted me that evening who alerted me that "Clara was on the nightly news!"
Before we left I took Clara's picture with a White House pastry chef (so cool on so many levels, and no, I didn't tell anyone I run my own bakery because I didn't want to sound like a lame-o):
Behind them is a replica of the White House done in white chocolate, gingerbread and marzipan. I wanted to lick it with my tongue.
On the way out we asked Clara over and over "Did you talk to the nice lady? What did you say? Did you smile? Did you give the stink eye? WHAT HAPPENED?" All she reported to us was that she got to pet Bo and that he was softer than Penny (as evidenced in the news clip!) LUCKY!
And I swear, right as I was heaving a heavy "I didn't get to pet Bo" sigh, there he was. Like a beacon of soft black furry joy!
OK, so I didn't take the above picture, but I may as well have! I was standing RIGHT behind the photographer (I think I found this on MSN) and was busy fumbling trying to get my own camera. And I DID get to pet him right as they were taking him back inside. And he is soft. And between the First Lady and Bo, I'm never washing my hand again.
That's gross. I run a bakery.
But I DID wait to wash it until Penny could smell it. She was intrigued and I told her in a very serious voice that she was smelling the most famous dog in the world. You should have seen the impressed look she had on her face.
Once we were home I went into Google overload and found every picture I possibly could from the event. Clara's in the corner in this one:
But THIS one from USA Today is the JACKPOT!
What an AMAZING experience!! And Clara's masterpieces are hung front and center on our tree:
So jealous!! Glad you had a blast
Posted by: steve strope | December 06, 2011 at 08:25 PM
SO SERIOUSLY FRIGGIN' COOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by: Mom | December 06, 2011 at 09:10 PM
Ok, that is SERIOUSLY the coolest thing ever. She is only four and she already has her "coolest adventure in my life" story. Well done Clara and super well done Sus for making the magic happen. Will you guys adopt me?
Posted by: Ashley | December 07, 2011 at 01:16 AM