Kennedy Kousin Kamp, 2011--Days One and Two

For the past five days, I have spent almost every waking moment with any and all Kennedy cousins, 12 years old, and up (with two honorary 12-year-olds, Ella and Glo).  No other adults (unless Mark counts as one, now that he's 18).  Just me and nine kids and a whopping amount of fun.

Several months ago, realizing that the Kennedys themselves were going to be unable to find a time to get together, and knowing that the cousins always enjoy seeing each other, I came up with the idea to host K3 somewhere, at some time.  Most of the cousins wanted to head to New York City, a place they had never visited, and it worked out that the week after school let out was THE week to do it.  Kennedy Kousin Kamp was ON!

I made all the arrangements:  hotel, Wicked tickets, scheduling, even figuring out how much money everyone should bring.  We began the countdown.

As I have reflected on the past five days, I have tried to come up with some theme, or deep thought that would tie all of our experiences together.  I could come up with nothing except one idea:  goodness.  As you will see, there were many kinds of goodness that we felt and saw along the way.

Day One:  Nothing was planned this day except gathering all Kennedy cousins.  We left our house in two beastly SUVs, my green Volvo, and John's yellow FJ Cruiser, affectionately known as Bumble.  Each held 5 people, and since we were a total of 10, we just fit.  I wasn't sure how we were going to navigate downtown NYC with the two of them, but I just hoped and prayed.  Literally.

9:30 we left the house.  We picked up Cody and Ella (from Indiana) near Lewisburg where they were visiting their aunt.  We arrived in Piscataway, NJ around 3:00.  Our hotels rooms weren't ready yet, but could I wait a moment?  Sure.  Within five minutes, the rooms were ready and the kids checked in.  Pure goodness from the hotel staff, working that out.

I arrived almost 45 minutes late to LaGuardia Airport (due to rush hour traffic), needing to pick up the cousins from Utah (Joe, Kailee, Rachel and Ashley).  They were completely nonplussed about me being late.  In fact, when I finally pulled up to the curb, I could hardly wait to get my arms around them, and then throw them in the car.  Their forgiving natures and calm attitudes were goodness to my frazzled soul.

According to the GPS, we would be back to our hotel within an hour.  THREE HOURS LATER, we finally pulled up, again dealing with rush hour traffic.  For me, those three hours felt like only minutes.  There was so much good conversation and laughter, the time just flew by.  It makes me think that in the future, we should plan a Kennedy Kousin Kamp where we live in an RV--so much time to just talk, get to know each other, and talk some more.  Pure goodness.

I would be remiss if at this point I didn't summarize that three hour drive with one word.  So here it is for all of my Kennedy cousin friends:  PAT!

That night, I had some get-to-know-you activities.  Some of these kids hadn't seen in other in years, and certainly many of them had grown from crazy little kids into responsible and thoughtful teenagers.  We ordered pizza, played some games and decorated our backpacks with Sharpies and duct tape.  I can't tell you the number of times I heard the words "thank you".  What good parents these kids have who instill humility and gratitude as prime character traits.  I went to bed and thanked Heavenly Father for planting this idea in my head so many months ago.  I could tell it was going to be good.

Day One:  doing baptisms in the Manhattan temple, eating at Hard Rock Cafe, attending a performance of Wicked


These were the plans.  It doesn't sound like much, but all would admit that we didn't have enough time in the city.  I have never seen such a unified group of kids, all wanting to see different things and yet willing to stick together and see the things that everybody wants to see.  All were ready to head out the door at 10:00, we got to the city by 11:00, and we were off!

As a side note, I must mention Mark, my fellow driver.  My Volvo is tricky enough to navigate through NYC traffic, but Mark was following behind me in a vehicle that feels twice the size.  He was a CHAMP, never complaining or getting stressed about losing me.  Instead, he learned that Bumble is actually quite an intimidating presence, and he was able to scare off even taxi cabs from merging between our two vehicles.  He figured out that during the trip, he drove more than 22 hours.  What a blessing from Heavenly Father that we had no problems with any of the vehicles, or traffic, or navigation.

Ready to go.  See the size of Bumble behind the kids?
THAT'S what Mark had to drive through the streets of NYC.

The first of many pictures where I made the kids pose for the camera.
While my kids are used to it, the other kids learned by the end of the trip that it's easier to just
do it and get it over! :-)

Just out of the parking garage, I couldn't RESIST this photo!
See the smiles?  This is what I saw the entire trip.  Smiles, and more smiles.

I felt like this sign was a good omen.  By the end of it all, it was indeed "INSANELY FUN"!

Our first steps in Times Square.

The first place that the kids saw was Toys R Us.  Inside, there is a giant Ferris wheel that they thought they might want to ride.  I wondered exactly why they would want to go in there at all.  90 MINUTES LATER, we emerged.  Seriously, stopping here was an event in and of itself.  Leave it to the Kennedys to make fun out of nothing.

There was a Geoffrey, the Giraffe, sign that told kids they needed to be "this" high to ride the Ferris Wheel.
Whew,  Ella, I'm not sure you'll make it!

The first of MANY souvenir penny machines!

Perfect t-shirts for the perfect nerds.
As Uncle John always teaches (and as his kids know all-too-well), NERDS RULE THE WORLD!!

The Ferris Wheel that wasn't even a thought in anybody's mind.

What a TRAP!  Mark couldn't help but roll his eyes at this light saber.
In his words, the hilt is as long as the saber itself.  Definitely a TRAP!

Everything in the 3-story store was larger than life.

The Kennedy Super Heroes!

With King Kandy...

How many licks would it take to get to the center of THIS Tootsie Roll Pop???
Both Mark and Cody felt it would serve better as a weapon...

Does Joe even LIKE penguins?

Next, we headed across the street to the M&M store, one of our family's favorite places.  Everybody wanted to stand in the M&M scanner and find out exactly what kind of M&M they were.  It's actually uncanny how well the descriptions fit the personalities of the kids, and I wondered if there is someone behind the camera, sizing up everyone.

Ella's color:  Dark Pink.  She is friendly, colorful and fun.  Perfect.

Ashley?  An Almond Mix (something I've never seen before).    People think she's too smart for her own good,
when in reality, she's too smart for THEIR good.  Perfect again!

Cody?

Cody is green.  His energy is contagious and makes him fun to be around.
Was the machine reading our minds?

And Joe?

He secretly wishes he was a famous mime.  Joe didn't know what that actually meant, but seeing his cynical, funny personality coming out, it seemed to fit him perfectly.

We LOVE the M&M store!

I finally pulled the kids out of the store when I realized that we needed to be in the temple in 30 minutes for a baptismal session.  It was 20 blocks away, the sun was shining, and I figured we could make it.  Aside from Ashley's flip flop breaking along the way, it was a great walk.  You might wonder how we all stayed together, through the crowds of people, for 20 blocks?  We were like a well-oiled machine.  Mark, because of his freakish height, led the group.  His addition of a hat must have added another 2 inches to his head which meant we could all see him above everybody else.  I was the caboose, making sure no backpacks were broken into and making sure everybody was present.  Mark would head off across the next block, we would become separated through the crowds and across the block, but amazingly, we would all end up, ready to cross the next street together.  Three cheers for togetherness!  

Three cheers for togetherness!

Mark pointed out the watches.
He says that all watch ads have the time of 10:10 because it makes a smile on the face of the watch,
and then people want to buy it.  Very clever!

We actually ended up walking more like 23 blocks.  We saw Central Park along the way, and Trump Tower, but really, there's nothing as beautiful as the temple.

Outside Central Park.  This is as close as we got to actually being IN it.

Our first view of the temple....

...and in front of the temple.  It was only dedicated seven years ago.
Mark and Johannah had some funny stories to tell about their experience afterwards.
It was the shortest font they've been in which is definitely a problem for Mark.
Too, I heard the temple was freezing, a complaint never heard from Johannah.
Other than that, it was amazing to see how quiet it was in the temple when right outside the hustle and bustle of the streets was all around with horns honking and people talking.

Since Glo and Ella weren't quite old enough to do baptisms (Ella was only about 8 days too young),
I stayed outside with them.  We found a nice couch in the adjoining church and played games for the first hour.
Ella later told me that next year, we must hold K3 close to a temple again so that both she and Glo can attend.
What a sweetie!

Then, both Ella and Glo entertained themselves for a while.

After waiting TWO hours, they headed out to a vendor on the closest street corner to grab a snack.

Ethan's best friend, Brandon Peine, is currently serving in the Manhattan mission, so when a bunch of elders were in front of the temple, I couldn't resist asking them if they knew Elder Peine.  Turns out, two of them had been his companion, and when I mentioned that I was the mother of Elder Peine's best friend, one of them piped up, "You mean Ethan Kennedy?"  Pure goodness to me, the one who felt Ethan's absence the most.

Our next appointment was at the Hard Rock Cafe in Times Square.  Instead of walking the 20 blocks back, we decided to take the subway, a first for most.

Headed down, to the underground...

After buying several tickets individually, we had the process DOWN.
Here's Rachel, buying her ticket all herself.

Waiting for our train...

I had no idea what the kids were looking at.  I thought maybe they saw an interesting piece of garbage.
Turns out, they were watching the RATS crawling around the train tracks.  Definitely NOT goodness!

Our PA Kenedy family makes it a goal to eat at any/or all Hard Rocks that we can find around the world.  Surprisingly, it was the first Hard Rock Cafe for everybody else.  In fact, nobody was quite sure what it even was and admitted it while we were waiting for a table.  When I explained it, and the "experience" it is, they got it.  Ella asked (while waiting) if it was the time she could pull out her "waiting in line" game.  Hooray for exceptional children!  Yes, indeed, it was time, and it was in no time (thanks to her game) that we were seated at our table.

After a long day of activities and walking, the food tasted delicious!

Air guitars, all the way, BABY!

We had only a little bit of time to get to the final moment of the day:  a performance of WICKED!  During the day, the battery in my Fossil watch had died.  While walking to the theatre, what would I happen to find?  A Fossil store, right there in Times Square, that could give me a new battery.  Best part of it all?  It was still open at 11:30 at night when I went back to pick it up.

Outside the theatre, ready to head in.

Johannah and Galinda (with a Ga...)

Just ask the kids what we had to do to get THIS picture!

11:30 at night, and Times Square was still busy as always.  Does this city ever sleep?

Headed back to the cars.  We finally crawled into our beds around 1 a.m.
After such a good day, there were only two words to say:  Good night!