"How was your trip?" Helen asks me as soon as I walk into the residence at 7:15am.

"It was great to see my family, but I don't know what I was thinking leaving town right before this event!"

The Easter Egg Roll is a huge tradition. Even though the Office of the Social Secretary did the majority of the planning, I think Helen and I are both feeling a little stressed. Josh even held Senior staff at 6 this morning so we could go over everyone's schedule for today.

"Our flight was delayed and we didn't get home until almost 11!" I'm not going to fly commercial for the rest of this pregnancy if I can help it. At least on Air Force One I can lay down.

Helen looks me over. "Are you feeling okay this morning? How's the morning sickness? Do you have a warm coat? It's cold out there."

I can't help but laughing at her a little. "Did you and Josh coordinate questions this morning? Are you going to compare answers later? I feel okay right now. The morning sickness is getting a little better. Car rides and plane trips still are not that great though. I do have a warm coat, a scarf and gloves."

Helen laughs too. "Sorry, but soon you'll understand the irrepressible urge to Mother everyone you know too."

"Well, then, how did Josh get this way?!"

"I don't know. Josh Lyman is still a bit of an enigma to me."

At least now she says that in a positive way. I think eventually Josh and Helen really will be friends. In the meantime, I need to get us out of friend mode and back into work mode.

"So, Mrs. Santos, do you have any questions about the agenda for today? Are you ready?"

"I think I'm good. I've gone over my remarks several times. I don't have to be anywhere until 7:45 am right?"

"Right, The first thing is Miley Cyrus singing the National Anthem. Then, you'll give your opening remarks from the Truman Balcony. "

"Peter and Miranda are so excited to meet her. Hannah Montana is their favorite show!"

"I'll bet they are!" That will be a really cute photo-op too. Annabeth is over the moon.

I glance down at the internal schedule. I've got the master list on a clipboard that I can't let out of my sight. There are three stages over at the Ellipse with rotating performers. We don't want anyone to know in advance which shows Peter and Miranda are going to watch. They are scheduled to watch Miley's set at 9am.

There are also two "reading nooks" one over at the Ellipse and one on the South Lawn. We have a big line up of special guest readers. The schedule for those alternates so there ends up being a reader every 15 minutes through out the day in one of the spots. Josh is scheduled for 11. I can't wait.

"Okay. It's just about time. Let's get in position."

I watch from the room as Helen gives her opening remarks-

"Good morning everyone! I hope you are staying warm out there. In Washington, we know spring has arrived when the White House lawn is filled with children for the Easter Egg Roll, even when the temperature still feels like Winter!

The Easter Egg Roll is one of the happiest traditions here at the White House, and I'm so glad you could join us. First of all, I want to thank Miley Cyrus for performing the National Anthem! Wasn't she great?

We have a lot more activities planned, including, and of course, the famous Easter egg races and the Easter egg hunt. You'll see many special guests, like Miley, some of your favorite entertainers, athletes and characters, like Elmo and Shrek. You can meet your favorite animals, including, of course, the giant Easter bunny. And you'll hear some of your favorite stories read by very distinguished readers.

Speaking of which, I want to acknowledge the members of Congress, and the members of the President's Cabinet that are here.

Last but not least, thanks to all of the volunteers. Over 500 people have put in a lot of time, energy and creativity to make this all possible. Thanks to you all."

As soon as she's done, Mrs. Santos steps back into the room.

"Great job." I smile at her.

"I still hate public speaking."

"I know, but no one else can tell. You really are very good at it."

Helen makes a face at me. Sometimes I do feel a bit bad for her but changing the world involves some uncomfortable moments.

I glance at the clipboard.

"Okay. Let's get down on the lawn. The first egg races start in a few minutes. We'd like the whole family on hand for that. And I think Miranda is going to participate, right?"

"Right."

Helen and I hustle downstairs with the agents. We meet up with the rest of the first family at the door. I'm happy to see Josh is with the President. Josh will be in and out of the festivities all day. Like he said, "someone has to run the country!" There are plenty of people that can run the country for a day, but I understand what he means.

"This really is an odd tradition." Helen says as Miranda lines up with the other children to race pushing an egg with a giant spoon."

"Well, In the 1870s, Capitol Hill was a popular spot for children to roll eggs on Easter Monday. Eventually so many kids participated, it started tearing up the grounds. So in 1876, Congress passed a law forbidding the Capitol grounds to be used as a children's playground. In 1878, President Rutherford B. Hayes issued an order allowing any children to come to the White House to roll their Easter eggs. The tradition has been carried on ever since."

"I meant specifically about the spoons." Helen says.

"Oh, well, that became a thing in 1974, because the organziers didn't want to use actual White House silverwear."

"President Bartlet would be so proud." Josh whispers to me.

"Did you know the first year there was an official White House Easter Bunny was 1969?"

"No, I did not."

"Well, it was and now tradition is that the Easter bunny is always part of the current administration's staff, but the rules forbid the bunny from revealing his or her identity."

"Do you know who it is?" Josh asks me.

"Yes, I could tell you but I'd have to kill you."

Josh laughs at me. "You know I have code word clearance, right? I'm pretty sure I'm authorized to have this information. Besides, I bet I can figure it out."

"Okay, tell you what. Let's make a little bet. At the end of the day, you tell me who you think it is, and I'll tell you if you are right."

"Oooh, What do I get if I'm right?"

"What do you want?"

Josh looks me up and down, then wiggles his eye brows. "You, in a playboy bunny costume!"

"Okay. But if you don't guess it you have to have a serving of carrots with every meal for the rest of the week!"

"Game on, girlfriend!" Josh gives me a kiss on the cheek. "I've got to head back to my office for a little bit until it's my turn to read."

"I get to meet Hannah Montana, I get to meet Hannah Montana." Miranda is chanting the whole way as we are heading toward the Cottontail Stage.

"Her name is really Miley Cyrus, you know." Peter admonishes Miranda. "I hope you don't embarrass us."

Helen gives him a "be nice to your sister" look.

The set only lasts about 15 minutes. The songs are catchy. Both Miranda and Peter sing along loudly along with the rest of the crowd during "The Best of Both Worlds."

"That's the theme song." Helen tells me. I had never heard of Hannah Montana before today, but apparently it's a new show on the Disney channel. From the looks of this crowd, I'd say it's going to be a big hit.

When the set is over, we're escorted to Miley's tour bus. Miranda is practically vibrating with excitement. She gives Mile a big hug.

"Hannah Montana! I love you. You're a really good singer!"

Peter gives Miranda the evil eye.

"I told you," he hisses, "her name is really Miley."

"It's okay, Peter." Miley tells them, smiling. "I'm still wearing my Hannah costume. That makes it hard for people to know who I am. I'm sure you guys understand, right. Sometimes, you are sort of performing, as the First Family, and sometimes you're just yourselves, hanging out as a family, right?"

"Yeah. That is right!" Peter says grinning.

"Would you guys like to hear my new song?"

"YES!" Miranda practically screams. Helen chuckles.

Miley picks up a guitar and sings-

Everybody makes mistakes
Everybody has those days
Everybody knows what, what I'm talkin' 'bout
Everybody gets that way, yeah!

Nobody's perfect
I gotta work it
Again and again
'Til I get it right

Nobody's perfect
You live and you learn it
And if I mess it up sometimes
Nobody's perfect

She has a really nice voice and she seems like a sweet kid. I hope she stays that way. I glance at my watch. It's almost 9:30.

"We need to get going. Mrs. Santos needs to be back on the South Lawn to read by 10."

"I want Miley to come see my room!" Miranda announces.

"Maybe Miley can see your room after lunch." Helen tells Miranda. There is a lunch buffet for the special guests. Miley will probably be ready to eat after her 11:30 set, so the timing should work out.

Miranda and Peter are happy campers as we head back toward the South Lawn. They are doing a good job smiling and waving and shaking hands with people as we head toward the reading nook. When we get there I'm glad to see a large group of children waiting to hear the story.

Helen reads "Duck for President," by Doreen Cronin, a cute tale of a duck who gets sick of farm chores and decides to run for office. I definitely want to get a copy for the little Bean.

When she's done, the President and Peter head back over to the Ellipse. Peter wants to meet Mary Pope Osborne. He loved the Magic Tree House series. He's going to listen to her and her husband reading "American Tall Tales" for a while, and then watch some of the shows on the magic stage. I think Peter is really looking forward to some time with his Dad.

Helen and Miranda stroll around the South Lawn. Miranda's still young enough that she enjoys seeing all the characters and doing all the activities, like egg decorating. This is a total win-win. The kids are having fun and these are great photo opportunities. This is really the first that Helen has allowed them to be in the public eye, but it feels very natural.

At 11, Helen, Miranda and I end up back in front of the reading nook to watch Josh read Arthur Meets the President, by Marc Brown. He actually gets a little help from Arthur himself, who put his hands on his hand and shakes it, when Josh reads about the note cards blowing away. Miranda and the rest of the children laugh when Josh shows them the picture of DW hanging upside down with a copy of Arthur's speech. We'll definitely have to pick up a copy of this book too.

When he's done Josh looks really pleased with himself. I think he's happy to have discovered that he really does like kids.

"Good job, Babe." I give him a quick hug. "Are you hanging around here for a while?"

"I can't I've got to get back, we are monitoring some troop movement in Kazakhstan. With the President out here all day, I really want to stay on top of this. I'll try to come back to listen to your story, but if I can't, you can always read it to me in private wearing the bunny costume!"

He gives me a quick kiss and starts to head back inside.

"Pretty confident you're going to win the bet, are you?" I call after him.

"I'm highly motivated!" He shouts back.

Mrs. Santos, Miranda and I continue to circulate through the crowds. Just after noon, we head in to lunch. When we get to the door Sarah Armstrong, the Social Secretary, grabs me.

"Can you do the 12:30 reading? I just found out that the Secretary of Commerce is running late."

"Of course!" Thank goodness Sarah has my book with her. I've practiced "If You Give A Mouse A Cookie" by Laura Numeroff. Sarah also manages to get the Mouse character over to the reading area in time to join me. I really love the illustrations in this book. If Josh likes them I'd like to get some prints to decorate the nursery.

When I'm done, Sarah asks me if I can hang around and wait for the Secretary of Commerce. As long as he's here before 1, he can just take my original time. If he's not here, I'll read again.

After reading for the second time, I hurry to the Easter Egg Hunt, then after that I join Helen in saying goodbyes to several of the guests. Now we are heading back to the First Lady's offices for our post-game wrap up meeting. I wonder how Karen and Angela have been faring in the office all day without us.

We are almost to the office when everything starts to go black.

"Whoa." I stop and grab the wall.

"Donna?! Are you okay?" Helen's voice sounds really far away.