Getting A Passport (Part II)

So, apparently we didn't have an 'official' copy of TeachingMom's birth certificate. Since we live in Arizona, and she was born in Massachusetts, we couldn't just go down to the vital records office and get it. US Certs provides a way to get birth certificates from every state. We filled out the simple order form, and within a few days, FedEx showed up with the envelope.
Next it was off to the Arizona Office of Vital Records to get our 3 children's birth certificates. This proved to be less painful than I imagined. The whole process took only about an hour.
What we were not prepared for was the actual process of getting the passport. With our printed applications that we created online, and birth certificates in hand, we loaded up the three kids and headed to the local post office. According the the State Department Website, this post office took passport applications on a walk-in basis, and could take the required photos. We figured, how convenient?
Well, apparently so did everyone else. When we got there around 3:30pm, there were people sitting on the floor outside the door of the passport office which was inside the post office. One lady informed us the wait would be 3 hours. Ugh - try waiting in a boring post office with 3 young children for 3 hours. Luckily, TeachingMom came prepared with paper, and colors, for Bubba and PrincessK and LittleDora's Leapster. Stepping stones outside also provided a fair amount of entertainment, especially when the stepping stones were the only path through a lake of hot lava. Kid's imaginations are great.
Finally, after about 2 hours, the time came and our number was called. First up was to get all 5 of our photos taken. So, two at a time, we went back to the office to get the photos. Then we got the names on the applications and birth certificates matched up with the photos. We signed the applications, got copies of them, and we were done.
In all, the passport pricing broke down like this:

• 1 Birth Certificate from USCerts for $50 (Paid extra for overnight shipping)
• 3 Birth Certificates from Arizona Office of Vital Records for $30
• 2 Adult Passports at $75 each
• 3 Child Passports at $60 each
• 5 Processing fees at $26 each
• 5 Photos at $15 each.
• Total Cost: $615

Originally, we were going to have the passports expedited, to get here before the end of March, but that would have added and extra $60 to each passport, as well as another $16 for overnight delivery. That would have meant an additional $380. The post office told us that lately, passports have been coming back in about 2-3 weeks. For the extra $380, I'll take my chances.

With the passport applications off to Washington, we figured we'd celebrate that we made it through without pulling our hair out by going to dinner at.......where else? Outback Steakhouse.