The White House Easter Egg Roll

Happy Easter!
Okay, I know it is a little late, but I truly hope you enjoyed your Easter. This was my first holiday away from home, which was a little tough. I missed the annual Easter brunch, egg hunt, and ping pong tournament at my grandparent’s house, but I did get to call them and talk to a lot of my family members on my walk home from church. Luckily, I have some distant relatives in DC who invited me to Easter dinner with them, so I did get to spend time with family. My Easter actually turned out pretty well, but the day after Easter was an experience I will never forget!

You are now reading the blog post of someone who got to be on the White House lawn! Today I volunteered at the White House Easter Egg Roll :) To be honest, I didn’t really know that the Easter Egg Roll existed, but it apparently has a long history. This was actually the 134^th annual White House Easter Egg Roll. So, math stars, what year was the first Egg Roll?

The South Lawn of the White House was packed with families today as they participated in several activities, not the least of which was the Easter Egg Roll. I was very pleased that the motto of the Easter Egg Roll was “Let’s Go, Let’s Play, Let’s Move!” which was aligned with the First Lady’s Let’s Move initiative. Mrs. Obama is working hard to get Americans to be more active and healthy. At the Easter Egg Roll, there were a lot of active stations to do yoga or play games. There were also stations that featured celebrity chefs demonstrating healthy recipes. They even had a yoga garden! I wish I was allowed to participate in the activities!

Alas, I was not allowed to be on the lawn for very long. My volunteer assignment was at the VIP entrance. Cool, huh?! It was not as glamorous as it sounds, but it was a lot of fun. I was responsible for counting the numbers of Very Important Persons that came to the event, such as members of Congress and their families. It was refreshing to see such powerful people acting not as politicians but as parents and grandparents. My gate was also the gate that the ‘talent’ came through. There were several entertainers who came to perform or attend the Easter Egg Roll. I was familiar with some of the actors, like Forest Whitaker, Julianne Moore, and John Leguizamo (the voice of Sid in Ice Age). The man who puppets Elmo was there. Then there were some performers that I just didn’t know. Do you? Cody Simpson, Janelle Monae, and the McClain Sisters (China is apparently on a Disney Channel show).  They were all adorable, and the McClain sisters had awesomely sparkly outfits on! There were also lots of sports stars from DC area sports teams, like the Redskins, who also came through. I didn’t really know who they were by sight either….

The exciting part of the whole day was that I got to be on the White House Lawn! Below are two of the pictures I was able to snap before I had to leave. Volunteers were allowed a short walk through the Lawn after our shift was over.

 

How did you spend your Easter?