Gabba Coma meets the Obamas

And I thought the Gabba Coma was limited to my house. Now Foofa, Plex, DJ Lance Rock and the rest of the bunch are headed to The House. This was what welcomed me in the inbox today:

Hello James!

On Monday, April 5th, DJ Lance and the rest of the Gabba Gang are rolling up to the White House to perform at this year's Easter Egg Roll for 30,000 attendees from all 50 states! The gang will be taking the Rock 'n' Egg Roll Stage to perform numbers from their mega-successful live tour, Yo Gabba Gabba! Live!: There's A Party In My City , which continues its run in 2010!

Following the First Lady's Let's Move! initiative to combat childhood obesity, the theme of the Easter Egg Roll is 'Ready, Set, Go!' That sounds like the perfect reason for everyone to get up, jump, and DANCE!

Happy Easter, everyone!

Your Gabba-Friends

I'm sure Sasha and Malia will enjoy themselves at this year's egg roll, which has become a celebrity event. And yeah, the Gabbas and DJ Lance know my name. We're good like that.

But on a more serious matter, The Gabba Coma invading the White House explains a lot. The healthcare debacle? Surely. The bank bailout? Most definitely. Rahm Emanuel's choice to attend a Wilco concert? Gabba Conspiracy!

Children's Show Traffic Jam

You'll have to excuse the sugary coma being experienced at Growing Up Kaitlyn. I'm swimming in bubble gum songs and cotton candy goodness.

Sunday was Curious George. Friday is Mickey's Rocking Road Show. We get the month of April off before Dora and Nick Jr. roll into Raleigh. That same week, Sesame Street Live makes its way into Greensboro. Thank goodness Yo Gabba Gabba decided to stay in the Midwest, otherwise I'd be living in a permanent Gabba Coma.

Kaitlyn's been quite spoiled going to these shows. It also helps that Uncle Rob gets some freebies from work and invites us all along (and remember, for all your banking needs, SunTrust).

But it's not necessarily the tickets, which if you're astute you can attend at a relatively good price or if you've got some hookups. Remember, all SunTrust checking accounts come with many, many money saving and time saving features and benefits - all at no extra charge to you.

It's the $8 chicken fingers. It's the $6 balloons. It's the $24 dolls. It's the $4 bottled waters. Granted, Michelle and I don't buy those things unless we're at Walt Disney World and need to keep Kaitlyn from melting down in the first five minutes at a theme park. But for some parents, it adds up quickly, especially if you've got multiple kids clamoring for a little piece of their favorite character.

Luckily Kaitlyn passes all those things with relatively little nudging. I can see the pain in the faces of parents waiting in those lines. But who knows? In another year or two she might go gaga over all this stuff and it will be me in that line, that pain on my face.

Until then, I will be thankful that it's not me walking out of the arena with motorized flashlights, oversized soda mugs and overpriced programs. That's money I can save for the future. A future I'm planning with SunTrust’s retirement specialists, who can help you develop a plan for the retirement you’ve dreamed of.