Raising Future Republicians

We went to a Presidential Rally last week!

And I think this will be one of those field trips that our kids will always remember...

-I know they'll remember walking three blocks and then standing for four hours! ; )

And so will my feet, because we dressed up!

I wasn't sure I wanted to brave the crowds but I'm really glad we did.
I've never been to a political rally before so I had to keep answering the kids' questions with "I don't know" and "Remember, this is an adventure."

And speaking of the crowd -It was made up of some really sweet people! It was a wonderfully pleasant atmosphere. Very enjoyable!

All of our kids were impressed by what McCain suffered as a POW as we heard about his experiences from a man who was with him in prison. Andrew really enjoyed all the speakers. He thought they had "good things to say about God and America." Amen.

As we waited for McCain to come out, they played fun music and people hit orange balloons up in the air around the room. (this was Joy and Andrew's favorite part)

Then McCain came out and walked by us to go to the stage and he was probably only 10 feet away from us and that was exciting!!!!

Of course there were lots of people and signs packed into those feet so the picture we took of him didn't come out too well. But if you look hard you can see him. I guess that was one benefit of having to stand. Andrew was standing closer to him than I was with Zach. After he passed Andrew came and told me that John McCain waved at him -which is quite possible because there weren't that many children there. And he's really cute and I would certainly wave at him in a crowd. : ) LOL

~My hubby went to see President Bush speak after 9-11 and he told the kids that half the fun is watching the secret service men. So, we did that too. Their eyes were constantly scanning the crowd. Very interesting to watch. -Unless you are a girl and 11 yrs. old, and then you think they are just kind of creepy. ; )

My friend was on the side of the building that John McCain exited on and she was able to shake Cindy McCain's hand. -Which I hear is very small and well manicured. : )

When we left the building, we had to pass by a line of protesters. This turned out to be a rather intense moment. Some people were rather 'ugly' about the whole thing.

Someone right in front of us ended up being handcuffed!!! I was really glad that I was holding hands with my youngest kiddos at that moment.

I have a feeling that the protesters may end up being what the kids remember most about the whole day but that's ok. It was all part of the 'adventure!'

~Becky