Look who Tanner got to meet...
Obama was signing a bill to ensure the rights of homeschoolers and a few kids from our school group got to be there to see him sign the bill!
Ok, so maybe not. But, that's what looks like is happening in the above picture! We actually did see a perfect replica of the Oval Office though. No Obama :) It was a great field trip to Quality West Wing in Corona. Totally free, not far from home, and we learned so much! Kids have to be in fourth grade or older to go, so Hunter missed out. :( Here is the cute group from our group that ended up going...
The kids had to complete a Constitutional Scavenger Hunt in the "classroom"
Then they got to go to a computer lab where they learned about running for president and got to plan their campaign, make commercials, and decide on their platform. This was Tanner's favorite part!
Being sworn into office...
Next, we were brought into a hallway with pictures of some of the more notable presidents. Our guide was very knowledgable and taught us something about each president. I was very impressed with our kids answering a lot of questions.
The highlight for me was seeing the Oval Office! Here is what the picture they took looked like before Obama was put in it...
Our guide told us a really neat story of the Presidential desk. The one here is actually an exact replica Pres. Clinton had made after leaving office. Lucky for us it was somehow donated to the Quality West Wing. Anyways, the Presidential desk has a really neat history. If you see the picture hanging in the right hand corner of the photograph below, it is a picture of the HMS Resolute. It was an English ship that was frozen off the coast of Canada in the 1850s and abandoned by her crew. When the ice melted, the ship floated down the coast and ended up in America. The US President at the time decided to fix up the ship and send it back to England, even though they were not our best friends at that time thanks to the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. Parliament and Queen Victoria were so grateful with this act of kindness that we have been friends with Great Britain ever since! (Thank goodness!) So, after many years, when the ship was ready to be marked obsolete, Queen Victoria had her most skilled craftsmen take the best wood from the ship and make a desk for our president out of it. It is still used today!
Anyways, this was an AWESOME field trip and I suggest you go soon because this place is going to be torn down soon due to freeway expansion! :( I am so glad Tanner got a chance to go and I am sad that it may not be there when Hunter and Charity are old enough to go...
