President Obama's Inauguration: Day 6

Day 6: January 19, 2009

Today was SO much fun! After lunch, we went to RFK Stadium to participate in the National Day of Service. The Obama's opened the event. Then everyone was off and running in a sort of conveyor belt to fill goodie bags for soldiers overseas. The picture on the left is of Wes and one of the PIC (Presidential Inaugural Committee) volunteers who was about his age and was helping hand out goodies for the bag.

There were lines where you could go through and fill bags full of shampoos, toothbrushes, gum, phone cards, and lots of other stuff. Since I was still in my

wheelchair after my surgery, my dad pushed me and I filled bags for both of us. We figured out how to carry four and five bags at a time. Our family filled over 150 bags in a little over half an hour.

While we were there (over half-way through the day), they reached the 60,000 bag mark. I bet they filled 80,000+.

Getting bags with things that they can't get overseas will probably make the soldiers pretty happy.

Then, we signed cards to the troops and told them how grateful we were for their sacrifices and service. As a family, we met our goal of writing 100 cards. Our time at the stadium was a lot more fun than Wes and I thought it would be and I'm glad we went.

Later, the Merkle's took us for a special treat--to dinner at a great restaurant on the water in Annapolis. The food was great and it was a fun time. On the way home, we stopped at a fishing store to buy hand and feet warmers. It is so cold here, I'm pretty sure those will come in handy.

TRIVIA: RFK Stadium (named for President John. F. Kennedy's brother, Robert) appears as a location in at least four video games: MLB 07: The Game; Major League Baseball 2K6; MLB 06: The Show; MVP Baseball 2005