Barack Obama photo

Remarks at the White House Easter Egg Roll

April 21, 2014

The President. Well, hello everybody. Is everybody having fun? Happy Easter. This is the biggest event that we have at the White House all year long, and it is our most fun event, because we have a chance to see families from all across the country coming through here. My main and only job, other than officiating over the roll at some point, is to introduce, alongside the Easter Bunny, the person who makes this all possible—we love her dearly—my wife, the First Lady, Michelle Obama.

The First Lady. Thank you, honey. Hey, everybody. Happy Easter Egg Roll Day. Isn't this exciting? It is so wonderful to have so many of you here today. We are celebrating the 136th Easter egg roll. The theme of this year's roll is "Hop Into Health [Healthy; White House correction.], Swing Into Shape." Yes, I love it.

And it's going to be a great day. We have beautiful weather because the Easter egg roll is blessed. And we're going to have fun stuff going on. We've got the egg roll. We've got some storytelling. We've got entertainment. We've got wonderful athletes and performers like Cam and so many others. We've got obstacle courses and yoga and face painting and egg hunts. It's just going to be terrific. As Barack said, we love this event. This is the largest event that we do here on the South Lawn. We're going to have more than 30,000 people on the lawn today.

And we're just thrilled that this theme is focusing on one issue that is near and dear to my heart, and it's making sure that our young people are active and healthy. So while you're here, parents, look around. You're going to learn how to make healthy snacks that the kids will actually eat. I'm going to be over there on the chef's stage doing some demonstrations.

And I want to make sure that kids know that healthy eating and being active can be fun, because what today is about is having a whole lot of fun. And I hope you all do that, because we want our kids to be the healthiest and the strongest they can be so they can do well in school and live up to all of their God-given potential. Isn't that right, parents?

The President. Right. Hey!

The First Lady. That's what we want for you all.

And we want to thank the Easter Bunny, as always, for being here. And I would be remiss if I didn't thank the hundreds of volunteers who make today possible. Thank you to our volunteers——

The President. Yay, volunteers!

The First Lady. ——who have been out here setting up the South Lawn, who are going to make sure you guys get through these activities and have a great time.

So you all just enjoy. That's all you have to do from this point on, is have fun. And we'll be down there to participate in the egg roll. The President is going to read. I'm going to read a little bit. So we'll meet you down on the South Lawn, okay?

The President. All right. The First Lady. All right. Have a great time. Bye-bye.

NOTE: The President spoke at 10:34 a.m. on the South Lawn at the White House. In her remarks, the First Lady referred to Camren Anthony Sherman, a 12-year-old singer from Philadelphia, PA.

Barack Obama, Remarks at the White House Easter Egg Roll Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/305948

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