Brush with Fame

On Thursday me, Chan, Dylan and Cam headed to Washington DC at 3:45 am for our tour of the White House. While we were waiting to go in we were told that the Secret Service had instructed that we move away from the White House and go around the corner. They were shutting down all the nearby streets - there were police and Secret Service all over. There was rumor that Bush was heading 3 blocks or so up the street to the Marriot. I thought that it was pretty neat that the President was actually home - he could have been anywhere in the world, but he was actually there. We went in for our tour. We saw the Green Room, the Red Room, the Blue Room, one of the dining rooms and a few other rooms. The boys seemed to enjoy the tour. They gave the kids little booklets that had stuff in them for them to find in the White House (a certain table or piece of furniture etc..) When we came out, all the streets were being barracaded again. After the tour we decided to head to the Smithsonian and see a few museums. As we were walking we noticed that we were right near the Marriot. All the traffic was stopped and all the roads were shut down. We were one of the few people standing on the corner (there was one or two other people near us and some people further up on some steps), but it was pretty much just us right on the corner. Then we heard the sirens going and saw the police and the Presidential Motorcade coming toward us! We thought it was sorta neat that the President may be passing by us. I was in the process of telling Dylan that the reason that they have more than one limo is so that you don't know which one the President is in. Just as I was saying that... there was George Bush smiling and waving at us!!!!! We were stunned! We assumed the windows would have been tinted black and stuff, but there he was, only a few feet from us, in the window with a big goofy grin, waving excitedly! I said to Chan "Did you get a picture??" He's like "No. I didn't even think of it. I was just shocked." And it wasn't like he just lifted his hand for a basic courtesy wave, he was waving with a big smile and he seemed genuinely enthused. We think that he made the extra effort for the boys. He must have saw two little kids on the curb-side and thought it would be exciting for them. You would think that since this is how he travels on a daily basis, that he wouldn't make such a big deal out of seeing tourists on the street. I assumed he'd just be riding along, minding his own business in his own little world. So, we're proud to say that George W. Bush waved to our kids. Even though he isn't exactly our favorite person, it's still pretty exciting to have the President of the United States aknowledge you directly. It's not like he was far away and waving into a huge crowd - he was looking at us and waving right at us. We keep asking ourselves 'Why does this seem so exciting? It was just a wave.', but for some reason it really is exciting. I guess because we didn't expect it and because it really is something rare. It's not like we were at the Marriot eating breakfast with him or anything, but it was still pretty cool. Of course Chan and I were all excited right after it happened and we asked Dylan if he saw him and he said 'No.", but he said it in a way that made me know that he did see him, he was just embarrassed because we were making a bid deal out of it. Later that night Dylan told Chan that he did see the President.

Speaking of the President. On the way to the White House, Cameron was all concerned that while we were in the White House, George Bush might pop out and steal our car. Then Dylan reassured him that we'd lock the doors. lol. Not sure where Cameron comes up with this stuff.

Then later on Cameron said he wanted to go back to the White House to show the President his penny.

Cameron also thought that the taxi driver actually lived in his car. He asked "Does the taxi driver ever leave his taxi?" I guess since Uncle George lives in his car, the taxi driver must too.

We were in DC for about 12 hours in 100 degree heat. The boys were SO good!! They walked and walked and walked. When we were about to leave we found a huge fountain where people were sitting along it dipping their feet in. Our feet were hot and sore, so we went up and soaked our feet. Then the boys wanted to throw a penny in and make a wish. Their wishes were so cute:

Cam said "I wish that someone will play with me."
Dylan said "I wish for a whole day with just me and mama."

While in DC we went to the Musuem of Natural History and the boys got to see real dinosaur bones and even got to hold some dinosaur poop! Then they held a giant live caterpiller with big fat sticky feet (or as Cam calls them 'cata-pillows') and a big grasshopper at the Insect Zoo - and Cameron held a live Giant Madagascar Hissing Cockroach the size of his hand!! They also got to touch a moon rock and a piece of Mars at the Air and Space Museum. Hmmm, I forget if we had the boys wash their hands before they ate. :) On the way home Cam had some strings coming out of the front of his shoe. He said "I think my shoe is growing a new shoe." You never know what will come out of Cam's mouth or what his mind is thinking.

We had parked our car at the Zoo and just took a taxi into the city (the parking was pretty reasonable there). We had considered going through the zoo, but we just didn't have time. On the way back to our car we walked through one small area of the zoo and they got to see a few animals, but by then we were all exhausted.

Here's a few pics from the day...

The Bryson's at the White House
(minus Gabriel who was at grandma's house)

Dylan holding a gigantic caterpillar

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Dylan with the magnifying glass at the hands-on area of the museum

Cam holding a Giant Madagascar Hissing Cockroach