dad's surprise 60th birthday

we had so much fun last week. we went to melbourne for almost a full week & got to spend time with brothers/sisters, aunts/uncles, grandparents, great aunts/uncles, cousins, 2nd cousins, people you call cousin/aunt/uncle, but what are they really? anyways, we had a great time. we planned a big surprise party for my dad's 60th birthday, and his family (from washington, california, wisconsin, ny & illinois) all came down for the event. it was great to see all the kennedys - some folks i hadn't seen for 10 years!!! it's always fun to get family together, and even though our immediate family with 7 kids (and 8 grandkids) is kind of overwhelming, i think all had a good time! i'm glad we could make a reunion out of dad's birthday! we all said that we need to do this more often!

kennedy was either in the pool or at the beach from dawn till dusk. she is officially as brown as a bean now. and i am having to plan all these active-activities for her to burn off some energy. swimming in a pool for 6 days is like training for a marathon [at least for a 3 yr old]! and she asks about cousin jack at least 3 times a day - they were inseparable & wanted to have exactly what the other one had. will had to break up a fight at the beach over a shell. for those of you who have never been to a beach in melbourne, there is definitely no shortage of shells! the other night when i was putting her to bed, i asked her what she'd like to do tomorrow, and she replied, "go to jack's house." i explained to her that he lives too far away (dc) and we can't do that. she said, "that's okay, we can just go to the airport, mommy. airplanes are super fast." oh kennedy. she has an answer to everything!

ellison loved playing on the stairs of the pool and would get daring & try & go under. she got water up her nose every time, but insisted on doing it again, i think to be like her big sis. ellison is a true kennedy - on vacation she just took things easy and worked on catching up on sleep & taking lots of naps! she also loved spending time with her cousins & was especially in love with 4 month old cole. she is such a sweet little girl!










kennedy the night after we got home...fell asleep watching tv! as you can guess, this NEVER happens!!