Tonight while Abby and I were hiding under a blanket together, I decided to conduct an informal interview with her. Here are the results:
What is your favorite color? Blue
What is your favorite animal? Cow
What is your favorite toy? Books
What is your favorite story? Stories about elephants
What is your favorite thing to do outside? Play toys
What is your favorite thing to do at church? Music
What is your favorite song? I Am a Child of God
What is your favorite show to watch on TV? Curious George monkeys
She is at a great age. It is so fun to hear her ideas and get a glimpse at what is happening in her mind!
Now for the gripe:
In less than two hours I could be to the Canadian border (Happy Canada Day, by the way). For this and other reasons, we felt it necessary to get passports for the kids.
Obstacle #1 - Passport photos - Try getting a 2-year-old and a newborn to look straight at the camera with a plain white background and get the head size on the picture within an eight of an inch of some measurement. Thank you to Costco photo. They were very patient.
Obstacle #2 - Both parents (along with the child) need to appear in person to apply for the passport. Our local small town post office does this from 11am to 3pm. It isn't very often that we are all together at those times. Not a huge deal, though.
Now the real gripe. Mike took a long lunch today and we met up at the post office. (Don't tell anyone that Briton has grown an inch and a half since we filled out the forms.) Walking in, he asked me, "Do you know how much these things are?" I replied, "I think they're like $65."
We get inside. Whoops, I forgot the birth certificates. (Not sure how I managed that one. Oh well, we live close.)
Birth certificates in hand we asked the nice lady at the counter how much they cost. "$60 and they are good for 5 years. Oh, and there is a $25 processing fee."
My thought was: perhaps since we are getting two kids passports we'll only need to pay the processing fee once?!?!
It wasn't to be. $85 a piece.
What I want to know is if the "processing fee" is $25, what is the $60 charge? Is the actual passport gold plated, maybe? (Why can't they just say that passports for kids cost $85. Period.)
At least we now have the passports on the way. Canada (and the rest of the world), here we come!
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8 comments:
ugh...we went through that with Grady! Trying to get his passport so we could go see Walter last summer. I had to convince them that my husband was deployed and couldn't be there to apply in person!! I feel your pain!
Make sure you go see the Royal Botanical Gardens. They are definitely worth the drive. And while you're there in Toronto (one of our all-time favorite places) visit Casa Loma! We loved it. There are lots of other things to do, too.
Also, if you have a chance while you're there, buy a Bounty Bar (or any non-American candy bar). Yum. Kind of like a Mounds, but waaaayy better.
Even better, Ontario is a short-cut to Niagara Falls (and the Canadian side is much nicer). Also Cumorah... Upstate New York, Maine... how far do you want to drive?
Point Pelee was also one of our favorite places in Canada. We would have liked to spend more time in Canada.
--Mindy
We had a hard time getting Macey to hold still for her passport photo too! And although I am glad that they last for 5 years, I think it is funny because she will look sooooo different by the time it expires!
Good to know....I had the babies photos taken, which was tough, but we still haven't finished the paperwork. I was planning on $65, not $85. Thanks for the info!
Good gravy! They get you coming or going! Can't wait to see you next week!!!!
That is exactly my gripe too! Someday we'll fly home to Canada, but the cost of the passports is making things a little more difficult.
Definitely try the Canadian chocolate bars--wonderbars are my favorite!
It could be worse. My friend just got 2 passports for $900, because she waited too long.
Still stinks though. sorry.
If you find yourself planning a trip to Niagara Falls let us know. We could meet you there.
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