Passport Troubles = Road Trip

We took the kids out of school early to apply for their passports. They were so excited. Were. I forgot to put the SS# down and it was too late to run back home and get them. On top of that, the lady who works at the PO told me that I did not have the proper documentation for Leah. I freaked a little. Anyone who knows me, knows my attention to detail, and I was sure that I had everything I needed. We went home, and I called the US Dept. of State, only to be told something entirely different than what the gal at the PO said. After hanging up and fuming for about 15 minutes, I called BACK and was able to talk to someone who checked and double checked what is is we need to get this to happen. The hiccup is that Leah does not have a certificate of citizenship that proves she is a citizen. She has only the final adoption decree from the hearing a few weeks ago. Now, this should be enough. According to the law, this IS enough to prove her citizenship, but the people in charge of handling this do not seem to know this. I am beyond frustrated at this point. It just so happens that Saturday, March 10th, is National Passport Day. Of course, the regional office is in Seattle, but this is an opportunity to talk face to face with the people in charge of processing the passport. So, it looks like the Howard family will be taking a short road trip to Seattle tomorrow. I cannot take the chance of mailing it out from Spokane, and in 6 weeks, have everything returned because someone is confused to as what counts as proper documentation. So, we will go straight to the source. The good news is that we will be able to take the kids to Pikes Market and have a little fun.....