Back to Reality

After a very long day of traveling we arrived home this afternoon unpacked, started doing the laundry and getting ready for our first day back at work/school and Cub Scouts tomorrow. Thank you all for following along with our adventure this past week we enjoyed hearing from you.

We would like to send a BIG THANK YOU out to all of you that made this trip possible: Erika and Michael at TMC, Walmart, Delta Airlines, Marriott Hotels, and Disney. I know the list is much longer and will add them as I get the info.

Trip to the White House

After about a half hour wait outside the White House (the President was in a meeting with the Prime Minister of Australia) we all went through security and were escorted into the White House. We were free to walk from room to room in one section of the house and then were escorted onto the South Lawn where the Champions and families were arranged for pictures. It took a good 15 minutes to get everyone settled before the President came walking up the sidewalk. Before sitting down with the Champions he made sure to shake each and every one of their hands. He sat right up front and told everybody to say "cheese" for 3 pictures. Brad, Tyler, and I were standing up on the balcony of the White House right above where Brandon was sitting. We got lots of pictures of the tops of everyone's head. The President then asked if any of the Champions had a question for him. Brandon was dissappointed because he was not selected. He really wanted to ask the question that his sixth grade class sent to us "What will you do to ensure quality education for ALL Americans?".

One of the questions was "can we play on the playground equipment that was put up for Sasha and Malia?" The President said "Yes, as long it is ok with your parents it is fine with me?" All the children loved this answer and as soon as President Obama was wisked away by his security guards and the children were given the go ahead they ran to the small (well it was small for 50+ kids) play area. The kids were having a great time and President Obama came out one more time to see how they were all enjoying it, spoke with a couple of children and then went back inside the White House. We were told later on that Sasha and Malia had only played on the playset once before they had to leave for Spring Break, that is where they currently are. So all of the children today really got to break it all in.

After the White House we went to a wonderful sandwich shop called Potbelly for a late lunch. We enjoyed this restaurant when we were in DC last year and were glad to find it just around the corner from our hotel. After an hour and a half of rest we were back with the group on our way to the ESPN Zone, a huge sports bar with one full floor of nothing but games. Tonight was truely amazing. It was 4 hours of non-stop fun. First we had a friendly song competition between buses. While we have been here in DC we have been split up into 5 buses to get us around from place to place, well we were all challenged to come up with a song about the color of our bus (ours was yellow), the red bus had an advantage since they had Mark Wills aboard but all of the songs were great. We were told they would be posted on YouTube so if you find them you need to vote for Yellow. Then Miss America spoke and she introduced a suprise guest....Elmo! She and Elmo sung some songs and also introduced the Champion, Kaitlin, from New Jersey who has been on 18 episodes of Sesame Street. I spoke with Kaitlin's mom later and they know my cousin Leslie Carrara who is Abby Cadabby on Sesame Street....it truely is a small world. Mark Wills and one of his band members then sung three of his songs, my favorite is "Don't laugh at me". ESPN Zone had two buffets set up, one special for the kids and another for the adults. They even had a huge dessert bar with every dessert imaginable. Of course the kids were so excited to get to the lower level (reserved just for them) that they didn't eat a whole bunch. We played until 10:15, said goodbye to all of the wonderful families we met during this great week, headed back to the hotel to pack and get a few hours of sleep before heading out bright and early tomorrow morning.

Brandon is wearing the red t-shirt

Sasha and Malia's playset and picnic table which says "Malia & Sasha's Family Time Presidential picnic table" and has an engraved plate with each of the presidents that served before him.

Brandon and Roberto, Champion from Texas

Balloon and TV with all the Champions inside the Hotel

Tuesday Morning

This is our last day in DC, we leave for the airport at 6 tomorrow morning. After I went to CVS to get Brandon his Tylenol we went out looking for a place to eat breakfast. We found a wonderful restaurant called Organic To Go. They use all organic ingredients and serve Breakfast, lunch and dinner. This was just what Brandon needed, he has been eating food with too many preservatives, colors, and sugar and that is what is causing his cough and conjestion. Breakfast was delicious....we need one of these in Tucson.


We are getting ready for our trip to The White House and will post again when we return.

Hotel Pennsylvania Ave Entrance.
Hotel lobby

View from our window on the 8th floor.

The rotunda in the Museum of Natural History

Ocean Hall

Cockatoo Squid

Monday in DC

It was tough getting up this morning after getting to bed at 1am, Brandon's cough came back and he had a tough time getting to sleep. We ran to Starbucks for breakfast then headed out on the bus tour at 9. It was cold, 35 degrees! Big difference from Tucson. We drove by most of the memorials and monuments and then stopped in front of the Capitol Building to get a group and individual pictures by Grant's Statue. Our luncheon with the Senators was great fun, many senators were not able to make it but it was great to see those who did. Utah Senator Orrin Hatch spoke for a little while and then we had about an hour to visit with other Champion families and then Senators from New Hampshire, Missouri, Wyoming, Nebraska and a Congressman from Alaska.

Brandon wasn't feeling very well so when we got back to our room he and Brad stayed behind and rested while Tyler and I walked over to the Museum of Natural History. We spent a few hours looking around. When we were in DC last May the Ocean Hall was under construction so it was great to be able to come back and see it this year. We saw many very interesting creatures, see some of the pictures below.

We brought Chinese food back to the hotel for dinner and we all cleaned out plates it was delicious. Brandon's cough is getting worst so we had Dr. Forbes (traveling physician with our group) come up to our room to take a look at him. Good news....it is not in his chest. She suggested that we pick up some Tylenol and Sudafed PE, so Brad and I ran down to CVS but it closed at 10pm we got there at 10:05.





All the Champions, Brandon is on the top row, 4th from the left, Miss America (very top row), Mark Wills (bottom row on right).

"Hi everybody in Mr. Kievit's 6th Grade Science Class!"

Senator Orrin Hatch from Utah

Senator Brandon? and his security guard Tyler?

On to Washington DC

I hit the wrong key and posted the last blog sooner than I wanted. Here is the rest....

Just before take off the Airport Fire Fighters did a Water Cannon Salute for all the Champions. It was awesome! After a two hour flight we boarded the busses and headed to the hotel. We arrived at the JW Marriot on Pennsylvania Avenue and ordered Pizza Hut Pizza and WingStreet wings for dinner. We are on the 8th floor and have a great view of the Washington Monument from our window, I will post a picture tomorrow. We have a bus tour of Washington DC at 9am tomorrow and then a Capitol Hill luncheon with some senators, we don't know who will be there.

Coronado Resort Pool and Volleyball Court

All the busses and Champions and their Families getting ready to head off to Washington DC

Our chartered plane, the Pilot, and Crew. Brandon took the Pilot's hat, I am glad he didn't mind.

Water Cannon Salute, busses waiting for us when we landed, and the Crew waving goodbye

Farewell to Disney, Hello DC

We packed up, dropped off our luggage, and checked out of our room at 11am. We didn't need to board the bus to the airport until 1:30 so we hung out by the pool and played some volleyball. When we received our bus assignments we boarded the yellow bus and headed for the airport. It took 5 busses to get all of the CMN families and staff to the plane. The Delta plane was chartered just for our group so the busses drove right onto the tarmack and up to the plane. Our carry on bags were checked outside on some table, we met the pilot and crew, and then boarded the plane. Mark Wills and Miss America joined us on the flight as well.

Saturday Magic

Saturday we slept in and didn't get to Magic Kingdom until around noon. It was nice to take our time getting ready and Brandon had a chance to do some more of his homework.

We took the 20 minute train ride around the park and then got off at Frontierland to ride the Big Thunder Mountian Railroad (rollercoaster)

Thunder Mountain Railroad....Tyler said it wasn't too bad

Tom Sawyer's island. This is the Big Kid's Playround

We went on the Jungle Cruise and Brandon volunteered to be the assistant Skipper.

The Duck with his favorite character

At about 7 pm we decided to hop on the monorail and head back over to EPCOT and see if the line for Soring was shorter. We were in luck and it only took about 20 minutes to get on the ride. This ended up being our favorite ride. Soarin' is a multi-sensory attraction that simulates a hang-gliding flight over the Golden State of California. We were sitting 40 feet in the air while surrounded by scenic panoramas. We got back at 9pm and hadn't eaten dinner, we all wanted pizza so we ordered from a company that left a menu under our door. Well, it took over an hour to get it, it was cold, and tasted awful. We can't wait to have a Pizza Hut Pizza!