Spring is here!

Yes, spring is officially here. Blossoms are everywhere, the weather is warming, and the National Cherry Blossom Festival is nearly upon us. I'm really excited for the cherry blossoms. Being fresh from Arizona, and before that from mild San Diego, I haven't seen a lot of real spring blooming. The flowering palo verde in my front yard doesn't really count.



The girls and I decided to go down to the Tidal Basin this afternoon and check out the cherry blossoms firsthand before the official start of the festival, which I'm sure will be crazy. The trees are blossoming, and, wow, are they pretty.

Of course, the place to see them is the Tidal Basin and the Jefferson Memorial. Mia was gracious enough to pose for the camera in front of the Memorial. (Today she kept singing, "Spring is here, spring is here, it's the best time of the year." I believe she's right.)

Hailey was particularly taken with these beautiful flowers, and I loved all of the colors around her.

What I love about DC is that everything is so close to everything else. I love this picture of Hailey leaning against the Jefferson Memorial while looking at the Washington Monument.

We really had fun with the blossoms today. If you ever have the chance, you have to visit DC in the spring. And if you do, don't miss out on the cherry blossoms!

White House Easter Egg Roll

Since it was Easter, and because the New York trip still has a lot of parts to go, I thought I'd stray from the NYC chronicle to talk about a little craziness called the White House Easter Egg Roll.

A couple of weeks ago or so, some of the ladies in my ward began talking about getting tickets for the Easter Egg Roll. Apparently, the DC area is filled with crazy parents who camp out overnight to be amongst the first 22,000 to get tickets to this event. So naturally I decided to join in the throng.




The "campsite" was set up by 7pm, and probably even earlier. (Of course I wasn't on time. Really, now.) You should have seen it. It was a regular tent city right there on the outskirts of the Ellipse. Rather impressive.

I came prepared for misery. I mean, really, how on earth could camping out at the White House in mid-March ever be called a good idea? I brought reading material (that I didn't read), a flashlight (that I didn't need because, hey, I could have cross stiched in the light from the lampposts--if I cross stiched), Kleenex galore (because my allergies were acting up--those darn spring blossoms that mean winter is officially over, despite the near freezing temperatures), a vat (okay, a thermos) of steaming hot chocolate (a good idea), and lots of fleece (also a good idea). But it actually wasn't that miserable. We had a group of about 16 (all mommies on holiday from the kids--thanks, dads!). We played getting to know you games, chatted, and enjoyed treats from a never-ending supply. It was cold, but my big long coat, fleece, and gloves insulated me quite well. The misery came at about 3am in the form of a park ranger in a golf cart masquerading as the town cryer. ("30 minutes until ticket vouchers are passed out!" or some innane statement to that effect.) Finally, at about 5am, we got the golden tickets! Okay, the golden numbered vouchers that would get us the golden tickets.

After trying to get back to sleep (ha--like I could sleep through the bright lights, the noise from the other "campers", and the traffic on 15th and Constitution), the town cryer returned at around 7am to tell us to pack it up and line up to get the golden tickets.

After all of that, we did get our tickets (I was #896). I felt bad for the other numberless campers who stayed overnight only to be told there were not enough tickets for them. I felt supremely grateful that our group got there early enough. Thanks, group!

So on Monday afternoon, we had the pleasure of being amongst the other 22,000 crazy people to grace the White House lawn to roll Easter eggs across a short strip of sectioned off grass.

Oh, that wasn't all. There were fantastic photo ops. Look at how close we are to the actual White House!

There was face painting, egg coloring, an egg hunt, story time (we missed out on Laura and Jenna, though), and a mural making with Wyland, among other things. It was a regular zoo, it was. And I supplied the monkeys. :)

Hailey is certain she won her group's egg roll. (Not to be confused with the Chinese kind you eat.)

Mia was actually very careful with her egg. Until the rolling was done and she beat on it with her spoon.

All in all, it was a fun experience. I mean, how often does one get to play on the White House front lawn? (Or see the First Dog play on the West Wing lawn? Which we saw, too.)

So, if you're feeling a bit crazy next year, I highly recommend a large group just as crazy to share a little pre-Easter overnighter with. In fact, I recommend my crazy group. (And if my crazy group is still crazy next year, count me in!)

New York, Part Three--"Wicked"

(Note: Be sure your speakers are on. The music is good!)

No trip to New York City is complete without seeing a Broadway show. We've seen Broadway touring companies before, but never anything on Broadway. It helps to actually be in New York, of course.

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The show on the top of my list to see was "Wicked". I have the cast recording and I've heard great reviews from friends. As you can see from the picture above, the show is billed as "The Untold Story of the Witches of Oz". Of course, "Wicked" is a sold out show. It definitely was on Friday night, at least. Well, the Gershwin Theatre holds a lottery 2 to 2-1/2 hours before curtain for 25 seats in the front row for $26.50 each. We turned in our names, along with a couple hundred other people that night. Needless to say, we weren't among the lucky 25. But we did manage to get cancellation tickets at the last minute. And, wow, did we have great seats! We sat in row M in the center orchestra. The seats were perfect! We were so close. The Gershwin is a lot smaller than some of the theatres outside of Broadway we've been to (like the Civic Theatre in San Diego). It was more intimate, even though it is not a small theatre.

Well, the show was fantastic! The singing was wonderful (although I wasn't so keen on the voice of the actress who played Glinda), as was the acting. The sets and costumes were great. I enjoyed the story line a lot. (Chris had hoped for more of a reason as to why the wicked witch became wicked--we had quite a heated discussion about this, and decided to agree to disagree.) :)

So, if "Wicked" ever comes to your town, or if you ever get to New York, do yourself a favor and go to see it. It is well worth your time and money (if you like Broadway musicals, that is). If you don't like Broadway musicals (and you are male), check out Spamalot. Ah, but that is for Part Four...

(This is a side view of the dragon clock in the Gershwin Theatre's foyer. A larger scale dragon was above the stage.)

*Part Four--"Spamalot"

P.S. Enjoy the music from Spamalot and Wicked. Turn up those speakers!

New York, Part Two--The Empire State Building

On Friday, Mar 7, we decided to go to the Empire State Building. It was a cloudy day, but at least it wasn't raining. We only went up to the 86th floor. We could have gone up to the 102nd floor, but we decided 86 floors was good enough. The views were great! We were able to see all over. We even saw the Statue of Liberty off in the distance. It really was quite a sight. It's totally touristy, but if you're in New York you have to go there. I would have preferred to have gone on a sunny day, but it was still great, nonetheless.

Approaching the ESB on 34th St.

The ESB lobby

View of the Chrysler Building and the Queensboro (59th St) Bridge

The Manhattan skyline (Liberty Island and the Staue of Liberty are to the right of the tall buildings)

On the 86th floor observatory

*Up next: Part Three--"Wicked"

New York, Part One--Fox News

This past weekend Chris and I had the opportunity to enjoy a wonderful child-free trip to New York City. My parents came to DC to visit us for a couple of weeks, and they volunteered to watch the kids so we could get away for a long weekend. How cool are my parents, 'eh? So, never ones to turn down something that good, we spent 4-1/2 days in NYC. We did so much and saw so much, that we've decided to chronicle our trip in parts. This, as evidenced by the title, is Part One--Fox News.

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So, we got in to New York's Penn Station (via Amtrak) at around 5:30 in the evening on Thursday, 3/6. We checked into our hotel (the Paramount Times Square, which was teeny tiny, but rather hip and cool), and then headed over to the building that houses Fox News. (Back in May or so of 2006 the producer [Dan] for the Hannity and Colmes show came to Yuma. Chris took him and his camera man on a couple of ride alongs over the course of a weekend and they got some great footage which aired for quite a while on Fox News. Many of you may remember catching a glimpse of Chris on the network. Alan Colmes even said Chris's name live on air one time. Anyway, Dan told Chris that any time he was in New York to give him a call and he would hook him up with a tour of the studios.) We met up with Dan and he gave us a tour of the offices, some of the control rooms where the live shows are actually controlled, and some of the studio sets. The first set we went onto happened to be where Shepard Smith was doing a live broadcast for his nightly show. There were about 3 or 4 crew members on the set and Shepard Smith. It was really neat to see the backdrop and the set. It was all lights and cameras and cables, and it was exactly how it is seen on the show every night, but up close and personal. Chris tried to get a picture, but without his tripod it was too dark to get a clear picture.

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Then we went to the studio where Sean Hannity was going to be taping his weekend show. Dan introduced us to Sean, who was very nice and friendly to us nobodies. We talked for a few minutes before he had to get back to taping.

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Later that evening we went into the studio to watch the Hannity and Colmes show live. When we got there neither Hannity nor Colmes were there yet, but someone else was getting set up to be part of the show. Chris turned to Dan and asked, "Is that Ollie North?" Sure enough, Oliver North was a guest on the show that night. Dan took us up there to meet him. After a short chat he thanked Chris for his service to the country. Way cool! After Ollie's part of the show was over, Dan took us up to the front and took a picture of all of us on the set.

(This was taken during a commercial break.)

How cool is that? Chris thinks that, next to his picture with President Bush, this is the coolest picture he has. I'll admit, it is pretty darn awesome. Anyway, I know it's been long, but it was too fantastic not to chronicle in depth. Thanks for sticking with it!

*Up next: Part Two--The Empire State Building