I knew it would be a long day with a lot of waiting and boredom. Not where you want to be with an infant and a toddler. But the more I thought about it the more I realized I couldn’t take one child and not the other. I could just picture one taunting the other for the rest of their lives that they got to meet Obama while the other didn’t. I also knew if I didn’t take them I would regret missing an opportunity that I might never get back.
So, I decided to just go for it. I would bring both boys, even though I was alone (Randy is in training in Bangkok) and it was scheduled during Adam’s nap. I figured, worse case they cried the whole time. But you know what, neither boy cried the whole six hours and both were so well behaved. Sometimes when you expect the worst that’s when things end up being the best. Also I need to add that there were so many people there that kindly offered me help, most of all Allison who helped tons when I needed an extra hand. Just having no stroller, two boys who wanted to be held, a camera and a bag full of diapers, snacks and water would have been pretty much impossible without Allison kindly carrying some of that.
Here is a play by play of our day.
12 pm – Hour one: We rode with Allison to the embassy. I thought there would be a lot of traffic (more traffic than an already trafficy Manila) due to the presidents motorcade so we left super early. Of course there is no traffic and we were there by 12:30 exactly ten minutes after Adam fell asleep in the car. Malcolm was already strapped to me so I unstrapped Malcolm and tried to put Adam in the carrier but he immediately woke up. I restrapped Malcolm and we went to wait on line to get our clearance stickers and board the buses. It was high noon and about 105 degrees. Thankfully the line moved fast and Adam was entertained by Finding Nemo. Sidenote- this day would not have been possible without a kindle and Pixar. Adam and Malcolm were luckily cleared and before we knew it we had boarded onto bus number one!
1 pm – Hour 2: Bus ride to the Sofitel Hotel where the Meet and Greet was. Adam LOVED the bus. He kept talking about how it was purple (it was yellow and green but there was a purple number on the front). Between the bus, some goldfish and a lollipop we were able to keep all involved happy even when we had to wait forty minutes on the bus to get through the security and have the bus searched. There were fire trucks at the security entrance which enthralled Adam, he kept yelling- See that! See that! This was probably the highlight of the day for Adam. We could have gone home and between the bus and the fire truck he would have considered it a win.
2pm – Hour Three: More waiting to get past security. Luckily the Sofitel is on the water and we were able to look at the boats. Then we finally were in! I had no idea what the tent would be like but it was air conditioned, with water available and a bathroom! That was pretty much way more than I was hoping for. I settled Adam down with the Kindle and some gummy bears and we were able to relax for an hour and keep all parties happy.
3pm – Hour three: Some restlessness. We walked around and bit and saw Adam’s friends Noah. The boys ran around for a bit and played with the water cooler. Then it was back to the Kindle for Toy Story. Another lollipop and some time out of the carrier for Malcolm and all parties still happy.
4 pm – Hour four: We had to take a walk outside (outside = the ten feet which is between the tent and the bathroom). Minor freak out when mommy couldn’t pick us up to look at boats because Malcolm was strapped to her chest. Back inside where thankfully some kind soul had scrounged up some French fries. This was just the mood changer we needed. Along with a candy bracelet we were able to make it that last loooooong hour.
Here’s a flattering picture of the humongous bags under my eyes. If only there was a carrier large enough for me.
More smiles from this guy. Everyone stopped by the say hello and Malcolm had smiles for all of them. It was fun to see so many people we knew. After just a year here it was a good reminder of just how many friends we’ve made.
5pm – Hour five: Potus finally arrives! These are friends pictures since having an infant strapped in and Adam under my feet made it pretty much impossible to take good pictures.
With two kids and no extra hands and crowds to work against here are the two best pictures I have of the boys with Obama.
This one would have been cute if I didn’t look crazy and that guy’s camera wasn’t right in front of Obama’s face.
Well, at least I have this great picture of Malcolm and Obama…oh well. At least he was there 🙂
6pm – Hour six: Bus ride back to the Embassy. At this point Malcolm was passed out and Adam was delirious after no nap and lots of sugar and kept waving and yelling hello to everyone that passed by the bus not realizing that they couldn’t hear him. We finally made it back to the Embassy and drove home. We were all wiped out and headed to bed.
I was so worried about how I would handle this super long day with two small children but it went so amazingly. Adam was a total trooper and was so well behaved. Malcolm was a dream and slept most of the day on me in the carrier. I love that the boys will be able to say that they had an opportunity to see President Obama in the Philippines.
I also love that when I asked Adam all day who we were going to see, his reply was- the Guy. I guess that’s pretty accurate. And later when we were talking to daddy about our day when asked who he saw that day Adam’s reply with a big grin on his face, which he gets when he knows the answer was, at top volume was NO-AH!
This lifesyle has afforded us so many opportunities to go places, make friends, see things we would never have seen at home and grow out of our comfort zone. This day really drove home all of these things and was such a special day I got to share with the boys. It could only have been better if daddy had been there with us.
bosas-from-us.com 
