Monday, January 26, 2009

Inauguration Time


As most of you already know I went to visit the Nation's capital to attend a seminar on politics and the media and I went to be a part of inaugural history. I didn't see the actual swearing in but was fortunate enough to get tickets to the inaugural parade where I sat across the street from the White House and the President. I did go 10 hours with no food or water but it was worth it . . . the President walked right in front of us. Fortunately, we could hear the swearing in through a microphone but didn't have to battle the millions of people.

This is my friend Maggie and me in at the parade with the White House behind us and the presidential viewing box to the left. Besides the President and Vice President, we saw Al Roker from the Today Show, Jamie Lee Curtis, Howard Dean, and John Kerry.








The first family watching the parade as I watch them.












Bono on the big screen. He performed at the inaugural concert a few days before the inauguration.











Here we are at the Republican National Committee media room pretending to be reporting on important stuff. Didn't find too much important stuff in that building.










Sam Donaldson speaking at our seminar. He is such a great speaker who tells it like it is.

















I hang with important people!













Dumbo at the American History Museum. DC has a little bit of everything in it and if you've never been to the city you need to go. Most museums are free and new museums open every few years. I visited the Newseum and was surprised at how much I enjoyed touring a building that focused solely on the media. From the Pulitzer Prize winning photos to the chunk of metal from the World Trade Center, it was all very moving. I was a serious tourist as I visited a lot of places including the Lincoln, Washington, and Jefferson Memorials . . . Arlington National Cemetery, and plenty of museums.
As for the experience, it was incredible and memorable. I've never been around such a diverse group of people who were happy, emotional, hopeful, and just excited to be in D.C. One of the biggest highlights was being able to tell Shawn and Phia about the trip and to see their excitement.

Thursday, December 25, 2008

Holiday Fun and Phia turns 5!

The kids in front of the Kung Fu Panda!
Santa's message to the kids. Santa sure is a lot more hip than when I was a kid.
Phia had celebrated her 5th birthday with a mermaid cake and friends.

Monday, August 25, 2008

Fair, Earrings, and School

Fair Time!!!!!!!!!!


We had fun at the State Fair as usual. Shawn moved up to the bigger kid rides while Phia was happy in the smaller kids rides. Even though Shawn thinks he's too big for the smaller rides they both enjoy a face painting.






New Earrings
"I'm a big girl now so I need earrings" . . . Phia.

Here's Phia with her new earrings. She cried when they were piercing her ears but she loves them now.

First Day of School
Here are Phia and Shawn on their first day of school. Shawn's in first grade and Phia's in preschool.

Shawn in his new classroom.

Ok, Mom you can go now . . . .
As he begins first grade it's easy to remember what he looked like not so long ago in preschool. . .


Phia age 2 and Shawn age 4 starting preschool.

Monday, July 21, 2008

Ducky Race

After the Golden Mile Parade we headed over to watch the beginning of the "ducky race". It involves the selling/buying of tickets and about 10,000 ducks.



Loading up the ducks on the bridge to be dumped into the River.
There they go . . .

Golden Mile



Today we ran in the Golden Mile race which begins 20 minutes ahead of the Golden Days Parade. I ran with Shawn and Danny ran with Phia. Shawn beat me by 5 seconds and Phia beat Danny by a second.