Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Gettin' the Vote Out

Me and my "booth buddy"...today at the polls

Whose idea was it to make Election Day a school holiday? It's a lot harder to GetOutTheVote when you first have to GetOutTheHouse...with eight extra shoes to find and four little jackets to zip. Not to mention snacks and potty breaks.

I was optimistic about taking the children with me to the polls. A little civics field trip. Hands-on and memorable. (And, hopefully, a super cute patriotic pic for the blog!)

Then, we drove by the elementary school and saw the lines circling the playground...



And, did I mention, it was drizzling?
So, here are my Election Day Expenditures:

$7.40--Library (late fees)
$32.00--Laser Tag
$2.50--Vending Machine Snacks
$21.20--Two Medium Pizzas
$10.00--One Hour Babysitting (so Mom could getoutthevote)

All things considered, I think the whole day was a bargain.


The kids had fun with their friends and I got to chat with the moms. Lunch was yummy and we have a big stack of fresh reading material. I got one-on-one time with my voting buddy and the other three were a lot happier bouncing on the trampoline in the rain.


Here's how the kids voted in their school mock elections:


Jake--McCain

Em--Obama

Sam--Tigger

Luke--Piglet

(The nursery school is in the 100 Acre Wood District)

As you can see, we have a diversity of opinions in our household. Here's to unity at home and across the USA...

Let Freedom Ring!

19 comments:

Annie said...

Now I feel kind of bad about my no-lines-at-all blog post. My sympathies on the school vacation/election day combo.

We made your pizza crust tonight...it was great!

Jeanelle said...

Hawaii schools were off today too. I don't get it. We ran errands all day with all four kids - it was crazy busy everywhere we went. We took the kids to KFC for lunch and the girl at the counter asked me who I voted for. Nice!

Lorie said...

Glad it isn't a school holiday here! Good for you for taking them all with you!

Annemarie said...

No school? We don't have that here. Didn't matter, though because I had two home sick.

Cute pic of you and your buddy!!

the wrath of khandrea said...

i can't believe you don't have school! that's crazy. that seriously complicates matters.

apparently all the republicans in your state were deterred at the thought of having to drag the crew to the polls.

GOOOOOBAMA!!!

Bridget said...

No school today?! That's awful. I would be so discouraged looking at that line. What a great blogger you are though for having your camera with you and ready to go.

Love the votes for Piglet and Tiger. So cute.

Jenibelle said...

It's a school holiday? That sucks. In Cali employers have to give employees TWO hours to go and vote. I went at 7:00am, it took 4 minutes. Then about 10:00 am I went shopping for a while at our new mall! The day was great, not happy about the outcome though.

Paige said...

I don't think I love my country enough to wait in line to vote. In the rain. With kid. Wow.

Travelin'Oma said...

We were warned about long lines, but walked right in. All the early voters made it easy for me. I remember standing in the voting booth with my mom. Your voting buddy is lucky to have a good example!

Linsey said...

Rain, 4 kids, lines? You're a good citizen!

Lauren in GA said...

Bwah hah hah!! "The 100 Acre Wood District"! Seriously Gabi, you are a gem...

I told Annemarie on her blog that voting is the only thing I accomplished yesterday with all of the kids home...and I even voted early ;)

Christie said...

We had school off, too. What the heck is that all about? It was a very long day. Not nearly as fun as yours.

But I did rock the vote! Left my voting buddies at home though. Tending themselves. It was beautiful.

Shauna said...

Hey Woman! Don't forget to visit my new blog :)

Amanda D said...

We still had school, and they did in Utah too. It sounds like you had a fun day. My kids would be in heaven playing Laser Tag. My son voted McCain, and my daughter voted Obama. My youngest probably would have voted for Tigger. Love the 100 Acre Wood district. Thanks for sharing!

Anonymous said...

No holiday here, but I couldn't face the lines, so I mailed in the ballet 3 weeks ago!

cami said...

No day off school here! I went to the polls at 5:30 pm and only stood in line for about 3 minutes. I was amazed! EASY.

melissa walker said...

Thanks for my relaxing package! I am enjoying them tonight while the kids are asleep and the husband is at YM! You are very sweet and I hope to someday meet you in person!

Ilene said...

Although I didn't have to wait in line because I was properly pre-registered at my polling place, I did learn a valuable lesson. Don't go and vote in your grubbies and sans makeup when your polling location is your neighborhood community center and every person there lives within a half mile of you or is in your ward. It is a bit embarassing.

tina said...

Isn't election day, great? I love sharing it with the kids even though they add that extra element - there was one year we'll all never forget with Emma and Harry suddenly duking it out behind the curtain! And can i add - just why do libraries charge fees when you can renew online? If I could only remember my PIN number, then I'd be golden, but meanwhile, I have also have a $5 charge on my card. :)

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