Shea's California ID Card

Shea & I went to Idaho over the 4th of July to visit Traci (Shea's dance teacher since she was two years old and the first person that I ever left Shea alone with other than my mom) and her family. Traci's mom & dad celebrated their 80th birthday together. It was a week filled with tons of family, loud nights, rotating shower schedules, but most of all...just plain ol' fun & relaxation! I did the party favors and centerpieces for the tables and it all looked great. Before we left, I had decided that we needed to get Shea an ID card. I am so tired of people thinking she is older- from movies to restaurants, etc...I made an appointment to go to the DMV in Simi Valley rather than by our house. We do so much out there and I wanted to check out their new facility. We get there and I was shocked at how clean it was inside! We filled out the necessary paperwork and went and sat down. We noticed that all the employees were crabby. (some things never change no matter where the geography takes you!) Shea & I couldn't help but giggle every time this one DMV employee (an older man) would tell this little girl, "Stop playing with the pen!" He must have said it at least 3 times while we were filling out the paperwork and each time we couldn't help but laugh and repeat it in our own snotty voices. I know, I know, what am I teaching my daughter about respecting authority? What can I say, the guy was a dweeb! Geez- it's a pen, not a thousand dollar camera! The only copy of Shea's birth certificate that I have is well glued into her baby book. It is in a 3 hole punched page type baby book so I just took the whole page out rather than try and rip it off and take the chance that I might tear it. The guy we got to help us was really sweet and even cracked a few smiles while he helped us. He took Shea's baby book page and had to show his supervisor to which they all oh & awed at all her cute photos on the back side of the page! When it came time to pay the $22.00, he told me they only took cash or ATM cards...well, I realized I didn't have very much cash and I never use my ATM card so I don't even know my pin number...or so I thought! I can't tell you where I pulled the number out of (too graphic for my blog talk) but needless to say, Shea & I breathed a sigh of relief as he told us it went through! Whew! On to take the picture...more lip gloss, a few more hair flips and she was ready. Smile, click and we were on our way! When we arrived back from Idaho her ID was waiting for us in the stack of mail. I warned her that she probably wasn't going to like her photo and that the DMV was not known for their stunning photography talents. She made me laugh out loud as she pulled out her new CA ID Card and said, "Oh my gosh- I look so cute!" What can I say except the apple really doesn't fall far from the tree!