So QUICK recap of how we got here....
December 2007Kennedy won the title of 2007-2008 Pierce County Miniature Miss! It was her first time to compete in this new age group but she was very excited to finally compete in talent. And she won! Which was icing on the cake. =)
May 2008Kennedy won the title of 2008-2009 Washington State Miniature Miss! WOW! That was very exciting! The competition in the Miniature Miss group was NATIONAL level and it could have gone to any one of several girls. Kennedy was VERY excited to have won the title. She was especially excited to go to internationals in Las Vegas.
July 2008Off to Las Vegas for the International Pageant! Kennedy had a really fun time. The group from Washington was a little smaller than the previous 2 years - but it worked out great because we actually seemed to be able to spend more time with everyone. Kennedy was also excited because there were several International Royalty members staying on the same floor as us at the hotel. Madison and Leah (Intl Mini Miss and Tot) were right across the hall so we got to see them a lot and Kennedy thought that was the neatest thing ever. She had a great competition - even managed to work through having to sing at 8:30 in the morning! Not a good time for singers... but she did a great job and was happy to have made it through the whole song with only a minor squeek LOL. Then came final night - and oh - how she was hoping to place in the top ten. I told her that she had a great competition and that if she did not place in the top 10 that was OK. In 2006 she did not place in anything and the following year she placed second runner up! I told her not placing this year didn't mean anything and that she had 2 more years to compete in the age group. She understood but was still hoping. You can imagine how excited she was when she heard her name called top 10! She was so excited! Then... waiting to see who would be called top 5 - she looked SO nervous! Then... they called her top 5! I thought she would jump out of her skin! She was so excited to be able to sing at grand finals - a true honor in itself. She was excited that Brooklynn made top 5 in the Miss division and they had such a great time together back stage. Then came time for the big announcement! She was named the 2008-2009 International Miniature Miss! WOW! To be honest - I don't remember much after they announced the first runner up - I am so glad we have a video! I lost all feeling in my arms and legs - it was like they instantly fell asleep. That was very strange. I put a video on youtube.. check it out. =)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5w9T6nRnUuQ
August - October 2008Special thank you's are due to the Washington State Royalty and Directors for allowing Kennedy to continue to be a part of the Washington State Royal family. We have had such a wonderful time with everyone. All of the royalty members are so sweet and we have made some wonderful memories!
In August we went on the Annual Cinderella outing to Wild Waves. The weather was amazing and of course I got fried like a tomato! Then in September we had a crowning ceremony where Kennedy crowned the new Miniature Miss - Starley. Starley and Kennedy usually compete against each other - so to have the opportunity to reign together is very special. The next day the girls appeared in the Mukilteo Parade and then the day after that we all went to the Puyallup fair! What a busy weekend! In October we had our first preliminary of the season followed by a Cinderella day at the pumpkin patch! So fun! We also attended the Miss America's Outstanding Teen pageant with Tori - Kennedy is Tori's "little sister" for the MAOT program - they call them princesses. =) We had such a wonderful time going to support Tori at her national pageant and Kennedy thought it was pretty cool that she got to see Tori more than her own mother did.
November 2008November marked the date of our first International Royalty trip. Kennedy was SO excited to finally get to meet and spend some time with her Internatinoal Royalty Sisters. We stayed at Mrs Joys house in TN - WOW! It's beautiful! Even though it was about 50 degrees out - maybe 60 - Kennedy decided she MUST swim in the pool! brrrr.... We had the most amazing extended weekend - we went to Dollywood and the girls were invited to perform at The Black Bear Theater, Country Tonite Theater and The Smith Family Theater. They also receive many wonderful gifts from Mrs Joy and the other International Royalty members. It was such a special trip. You can see Kennedy talk about the trip in her own words - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwY1odTnS8M&feature=channel_page
January 2009Time for our second International Royalty trip! This time we were headed off to NYC! It was another busy 3-4 days there. We saw The Little Mermaid on Broadway and the off Broadway show called The Fantastics. This is Kennedy and Sydnee with one of the stars of the show - turns out he was also the winner of The Amazing Race! Who knew! The girls just thought he was cute. =) We also had the opportunity to eat brunch at Tavern on the Green, go Ice Skating in Central Park, Take a carriage ride in Central Park and visit the amazing stores in Times Square! Kennedy especially enjoyed the M&M store LOL. We ate at a restaurant with singing waiters and another restaurant that served the biggest sandwiches you have every seen! We also went to the Tiffany store and China Town - talk about a contrast LOL. And finally - we were able to ride the subway.... not as scary as you might think. It was such a wonderful trip!
Still in January.... Well - back home for a little bit only to pack our bags again and head off to LAS VEGAS! We attended the Miss America pageant with Tori and Virgie. That was A LOT of fun! We were able to see the final Miss America pageant and Kennedy got to be on TV! She is the tallest one in the front row - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjTeanFeLOQ&feature=channel I think the highlight of the trip though was going to see KA - what an amazing Cirque Du Soliel show! Kennedy was a little scared in the beginning - but we had amazing seats and the show was amazing - she just loved it! It was also a lot of fun to room with Tori - Kennedy loves every moment she can spend with Tori.
February 2009Yeah! I am finally catching up! Well - another trip for us! We went to Disneyland with the Washington State royalty and directors for 3 days of magic! I printed off a ride maximizing schedule and "invited" the royalty to tag along. I kept them on a strict schedule - but we rode almost every ride we wanted to on the FIRST day! By 9pm I was POOPED! Day 2 was simply AMAZING! Tami arranged for a special tour for us by a DISNEY CAST MEMBER! WOW! Miss Pat took us around to every ride in Fantasyland. Pat took us to the front of the line for EVERY ride! We rode the Storybook Boat Ride, Storybook train, Teacups, Alice in Wonderland, Matterhorn, Peter Pan, The Carousel, Mr Toads Wild Rid and Pinocchio! I think that is all of them. Along the way she told us about the history of each ride, where the hidden Mickeys were and sent the girls on a scavenger hunt in each ride to find other special items. It was SO much fun! In the end she gave us 7 bonus fast passes for our ENTIRE group to use on ANY ride in either park! We TRIED really hard to use all of them AND the 4 sets of fast passes Jan had already gathered for us... we really tried - but we weren't able to do it - we had a few left over - that we ended up using the next day. We also saw the Alladin show - WOW! What a great show... Day 3 - not quite as magical as the first 2 LOL. It RAINED for the first half of the day - and I mean it POURED!!!!! The good news was that it scared most of the people away and the lines were so short we didn't need fast passes.... but... the bad news was they decided to close the park early - POO! We had a wonderful day anyway and headed to Denny's after we left the park for a very interesting dinner with several of the royalty members... Kennedy, Amanda and Jade all fell asleep at the dinner table... that was interesting... Day 4 - most everyone had left - it was just Kennedy and I. We spent most of our day in California Adventure just kinda putzing around. We had lunch at Ariels Grotto and Kennedy rode California Screaming an few more times for good measure. =) Another SUPER fun trip!
AHHH.... so now you are all caught up. whew! Now if I can just get my scrapbook caught up through the end of the disneyland trip I will be set! LOL
