Love

I am overwhelmed when I feel love.  I think many people in this world take it for granted, but not me.  My cup runneth over when I feel loved.

This week, the kids and I (minus Ethan and John) are in Albuquerque, NM.  It's time for the annual Kennedy Kousin Kamp, sponsored in part by me.  It's for all Kennedy cousins, age 12 years old and up.  The parents pay for all expenses for the kids, but I have the enviable job of playing host.

The PA Kennedys (us) flew in a day early for one reason, and one reason only:  to see my grandparents, Grandad and Vannette.  Gosh, I love those people.  They are the epitome of kindness.

They took us out to Mark's favorite restaurant, The Olive Garden, because it was Mark's birthday.  Then, because Vannette couldn't find a carrot cake that didn't include raisins or nuts (Mark's favorite), she baked one herself.  As I told John, it was the best carrot cake I've ever had.  She even hand-decorated it.  We had fun trying to light the candles in the Albuquerque wind, but never fear, we were successful!

They were so generous in allowing us to raid their house for supplies for the coming week.  What kind of supplies, you might ask?  Camping supplies.  Yes, we are spending six days, driving around New Mexico...IN AN RV!!  They brought out blankets, sheets, towels, macaroni and cheese, tortilla chips, pans, cutlery.  You name it, we took it.  I was so thankful.

The next day, the Utah Kennedys showed up.  Again, there was an overwhelming feeling of love both from those great kids, and for those great kids.  It felt like we had just said goodbye a couple of weeks earlier in NYC when it had already been a full year.

What a blessing it is to me to be with the kids.  I don't know if they are on their best behavior (mine are), or if they are always like this, but I do relatively nothing but drive.  Joe is the "water man" for the RV, Mark is the "electric man", Rachel is the "house mother", keeping the RV clean at all times.  They talk together, they play together, and they even sleep next to each other, all with no complaining :-)

Within minutes of getting together, we were off for ice cream at Baskin Robbins (something we don't have in central PA), a movie (The Avengers), and Little Caesars for dinner.  Then, it was back to the pool at the campground.  Everybody was ready to hit the hay when they got back; the PA Kennedys because it's late for us Easterners, and the Utah Kennedys because they had been up since four in the morning.

We were scheduled to head up in a hot air balloon this morning, but the winds were too strong.  Of course, we didn't receive the phone call until after we were all dressed and ready to go at 5 a.m.!!  I headed back to bed and couple of others did too, but some stayed up.

Finally at 9 a.m., we woke up, showered and headed out for the day.  We had lots of shopping planned in Old Town in Albuquerque.  Good, fun shopping.  Add in some Mexican food for lunch, followed up by bowls of sopapillas, and we called life good!

Rachel and her first sopapilla.  Seriously, we couldn't get enough of them!

Now THAT'S lunch!!

My traditional Albuquerque purchase

Everybody found something!

Corn necklaces for $3.00!!

Next came the part of the trip I was dreading.  Driving the RV.  Up until this point, we had used a rental car, and the Utah Kennedys' van for transportation.  Now it was time to take the Big Boy for a ride.  All 30 feet of it.

I was terrified.  Just turning right in that beast is scary!  However, I'm glad to report that we are now safely ensconced in the mountains surrounding Santa Fe, NM.  We played a board game in the crazy, gnarled trees around here, and now the kids are out playing Blind Man's Bluff at the playground.  See what I mean?  No judgment, no expectations.  Just fun, and lots of love.

The trip is already going by way too fast.