136th Annual Easter Egg Roll on the White House Lawn and Sightseeing in Washington, DC

April 26, 2014

136th Annual Easter Egg Roll on the White House Lawn and Sightseeing in Washington, DC

My fingers were crossed and I made a wish, but waited the final confirmation email before updating my facebook status. On March 29, I finally announced, "It's official! Our family managed to get our hands on four tickets to the Easter Egg Roll on the White House Lawn, so we're making a weekend of it. We are fitting in the American Girl Doll Store, Easter Sunday service at my former pastor Don Davidson's church in Alexandria, Easter Sunday lunch at Mount Vernon with a tour, and the Easter Egg Roll at the White House on Easter Monday."

"Hop into Healthy, Swing into Shape" was the theme of the 2014 Easter Egg Roll

Easter was this past weekend, and we were able to go and do exactly as we had planned. Our trip was busy, but wonderful, the perfect spring trip for our family. Below and on the page links are pictures of what we experienced, recommendations and information on how you can do the same. Here's a look at how our weekend

Taxi Selfie - We took a taxi from the Hotel Monaco in Old Town Alexandria to the Union Station Metro, where we then took the Metro to the Smithsonian Metro Station, which landed us directly in front of the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History.

Carrington waiting anxiously for the Metro to arrive. The DC Metro system is very clean and easy to navigate. When we took Courtland to DC for the first time when she was 2 years old, the Metro was her favorite part of the trip! We stopped at the Smithsonian and walked around for about an hour and took advantage of the potties before heading out again.

We then headed to the White House, passing by the Washington Monument along the way. We were able to walk everywhere that we went, and simply followed the crowd with no problem straight to the White House.

In line waiting to get into the event, there were characters you could have your picture taken with, volunteers were giving out temporary Easter tattoos, and there were bottled water and Honest Kids juice tables set up. Volunteers also handed each child a bag with the schedule and a map of the festivities inside. There was a larger crowd there than I had envisioned there would be, but the volunteers did an excellent job of keeping everyone moving right along. We had to wait in line, but Mark and I used that time to memorize the schedule and map. Tip: I was so glad we used the restrooms before getting in line. I would have hated to have waited thirty minutes or more, and then lost my place due to a potty emergency!

Michelle Obama is a great advocate for children's nutrition and exercise. She made this year's theme all about healthy diet and exercise. Just inside the entrance was a "Farmers Market" with fresh oranges, apples, and bananas. This is so important to our family, as well, and we were so pleased at the healthy snack options.

At this table, volunteers were whipping up a yogurt ranch dip that was super healthy and tasted great! We took a snack break to enjoy carrot sticks and this tasty yogurt dip.

This is Michelle Obama's organic vegetable garden. Mrs. Obama is the first First Lady to have a vegetable garden at the White House since Eleanor Roosevelt's Victory Garden during World War II. She reinstated the tradition in 2009, and I'm so glad she did. Her organic garden is lovely and is a testament to committment to good health and nutrition.

The White House Chef put on quite the show!

Arts and crafts tablees were set up along the lawn. Carrington made a kite and a hat. Who else can say they have flown a kite on the White House lawn?

Debby Ryan, who plays Disney's "Jessie," read one of her favorite children's books. Jim Carrey read a book earlier in the afternoon, but we didn't see him. There is much to do, so you have to pick and choose what you really want to do and who you want to see. I would have loved to have seen Jim Carrey, but both of my children know and love Debby Ryan, so she was the obvious choice. There is a line to get into the reading nook, and if you want to get first seating, you have to get in line early. If you don't make it in time, or don't want to wait in line because you are too busy having fun with other things, you can watch from just outside the fenced in reading nook. Only children can go into the fenced in area, but parents stand just outside the fence and can watch and take pictures from there. Afterwards, the parents go into the fenced in area to get their child.

Waiting in line with Carrington to roll an egg at the White House

When we first decided to take a trip to DC, (we had not been since Courtland was 2), I thought we would go for the Cherry Blossom Festival. I wanted to tour the White House while there, so I went onto the White House website to find out how arrange for a tour. It was on the website that I found out about the 136th Annual Easter Egg Roll on the White House Lawn. I learned that the tickets to the event are free and available to the public, but they are in high demand. It used to be that thousands of people would arrive very early and wait in line for hours hoping to get in. Severl years ago, however, President Obama wanted people from all across the United States to be able to participate if they wanted, so a lottery system was put in place through the National Park Service at www.recreation.gov.

The lottery is open for five days each spring. During the 5 days, you can enter your family for a chance to win tickets. I entered the lottery not necessarily expecting to win tickets, but not only did we manage to get four ticekts, we got them in our preferred time slot. I checked the National Park Service website every few days until I saw that the lottery was open.

The egg roll itself was much shorter than I had imagined. There was a long line for the egg roll, but it moved pretty quickly. Characters come and go, and there are photo ops while waiting in line, which we stood in for about 15 or 20 minutes. The egg roll itself only takes about a minute to complete. You could probably roll eggs more than once, but you'd have to wait in line again.

Finish Line!

The band R5 performed on stage at the event. On the left is singer Ross Lynch, who plays the role of Austin on Disney's Austin and Ally. Courtland likes this band, and was thrilled that the band members hung around to give autographs and take pictures.

It wasn't too crowded, but it didn't hurt to have Dad give her a lift to get a better view.

The band R5 was wonderful after the show about giving autographs and taking pictures with the audience. Here is Ryker Lynch signing Courtland's autograph book, which she was very smart to have remembered. If you make it to the Easter Egg Roll, take an autograph book just in case. Michelle Kwan, RGIII, and others were there, and you never know when you may meet face to face.

Courtland with Rocky Lynch from the band R5

We had to wait in line to leave the Easter Egg Roll, but since Courtland got "stuck" in line with Ross Lynch and his guitar, we didn't mind. Her face says, "I'll wait in line all day if I need to."

Peeps was an Easter Egg Roll sponsor. Each child attending the Easter Egg Roll was given a pink wooden commemorative egg upon leaving, and were only avilable within 15 minutes of the end of the event. Peeps had tables set up along heh line to pick up the eggs, so by the time we left, each child had a box of yellow Peeps and their souvenir eggs.

Celebratory Cupcake at the Smithsonian American History Museum

After we left the egg roll, we decided to spend the day walking along the National Mall and seeing some of the memorials there. These are a few places we visited before heading home. This is the World War II Memorial, and it is grand. The picture does not do this memorial justice. You have to see it for yourself.

Arlington National Cemetery

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Changing of the Guard

I was surprised at how beautiful and how enormous Arlington National Cemetery is.

The Arlington Metro Station is just outside of the entrance to the cemetery. We watched the 6:30 pm Changing of the Guard and walked to the station, where he rode back to Alexandria's Union Station. We finally were able to ride the trolley back to the Hotel Monaco in Old Town.