The President of the United States in MY Back Yard!!!

Well, not quite my back yard, but pretty much. Here's the scoop:

Today I had a playdate with a lady I've been wanting to get to know for quite awhile. Normally on a Wednesday I do NOT go out at 11 am, but this was special. H has been wanting to play with the little girl for awhile now, and finally it worked out. So, as we're driving to their house I pass a police car and I see one parked on the road. I'm thinking, "Well, that is weird. Wonder what they're looking for?" Then I see these people sitting on the edge of their yard with a sign that read, "Thank you President Bush". Hmmm.....I'm wondering if I'm in a movie now. What is going on? Now keep in mind that I don't watch TV, I don't really know the local news or anything like that. So, as I'm coming to another 4 way stop I look down the road and see police cars (both marked and unmarked) at like every corner. Ok, now I say to myself, "Is the President going to be here?". I figure that must be what it is and I phone my friend who seems to know all the happenings. She asks her hubby, who is a Marine and he says that yes, the President is supposed to be here. Wow! I was shocked! Now I know after the hurricane he came down, but I always seemed to miss when he was coming. And he had gone to Gulfport and Keesler Air Force Base, but not here.

I am so excited by this point that I call my mother in a crazy frenzy. Typical woman! I get to Betty's house, now keep in mind I don't really know her, and I pretty much run in and tell her we have GOT to go to MY house! You see, about 3 blocks behind my house is this tiny airport. You know the kind, where they fly private planes and give flying lessons. Well, I had put two and two together and figured he must be flying in. So, we grab our 6 kids, throw them in the vehicles an drive back to my neighborhood. We sit in somebody's driveway and wait. Luckily the weather is warm!

Finally we see these helicopters fly in. There must have been 5 or 6. About 5 minutes later the motorcycles zoom by, followed by police cars, suburbans, vans, cars, an ambulance, etc. Which one was our President in??? I'm sure not the ambulance! We were pretty excited and waving and snapping pictures! We went back to Betty's house, had lunch and drove back down to see him leave. By this time Zach was home and another friend and her children had joined us. It was fun. Exciting. It was neat to see the Bomb Squad come and check the mailboxes that were on the street, the ditches, yards, houses, etc. The security was amazing. I didn't get to 'see' him, of course, but I think I did pinpoint which vehicle he was in on the way back. And when the sun hits those windows a certain way you can see in there. Many of the people in there behind those tinted windows were waving back. I have to be honest, I think I was more excited than my kids. H was sad that she didn't get to play at Rebekah's house. Oh well, there's always next time. It's not every day that our Commander in Chief lands in our back yard! Just had to share my excitement! And pardon me if I sound like a child. After all, where I am from the only people that visit you are Toivo and Eino, eh.