Stephanie Kennedy Photography Blog

I know, a parent shouldn’t take their kids out of school, but I thought this would be a good exception. Jim had a bride and groom last month who both work in DC, one for Bush and one for Biden. They hooked us up with all the good tours…ones only offered to White House staff!! It was awesome!!

We stayed at Hotel Rouge. It was about 6 blocks from the White House, so we walked a lot. It had a super cute lobby…Matt enjoys a Starbucks…

Ready for our first tour!! In front of the Executive Office Building, where our bride works…next door to the White House…it was a beautiful building!! It used to be the Department of war.

We weren’t allowed to take photos on our first tour of the White House, but afterwards we went to a summit on International Development, with a speech by Bush!! They had a group of African kids dancing and singing…they were fabulous!!

George was introduced by the president of Liberia…

The kids and I were only about 10 rows from him…and he looked right at us…after all, they were the only kids in there…he must have been surprised to see kids!!

These were a row of homes near the White House….they were all so cute…Matt was emerging from one in his suit…he fit right in!!

From there, we walked over to the Washington Monument…

How cute is this kid!?

Then on to Jefferson Monument….it was farther than it looked!!

We walked all the way from there!

On to Lincoln Memorial…we could see it just acrss the lake…we decided to walk…and on the way we got some great photos!!

Lincoln Memorial was also farther than we thought, and along the way, we came across the Roosevelt Momument…

Jim decided to tell him a ting or two…

After miles of walking, we came to the Lincoln Memorial and were treated to a nice view of where we started at the Washington Monument!!

After all that walking, we still weren’t done for the day!! We still had one more tour with Susan, Jim’s bride< at the West Wing of the White House!! We couldn't take photos inside, but this was the rose garden with the Oval Office behind us...

Outside he West Wing…

Inside the Press Debriefing room…the same one we see on TV!! It was way smaller than it seems on TV..

I had a really good question….

In front of the Debriefing room…

The next day was the coolest tour ever!! We gotto climb 300 stairs to the top of the capital dome!! This is once we got halfway up, looking down at where all the other tours stop….

These are the paintings on the top of the dome, with George Washington in the center, surrounded by 13 ladies, representing the 13 colonies, and all the important areas of commerce at the time….war, machines, medical, agriculture, etc….

Here is the view from the top!!

From halfway down, looking up…

There was a gap between the inner and outer dome, where the staircases were…this is the door going back into the buliding at the bottom of the dome…

For the tour of the inside of the capital building, you have to be guest of someone, so we were guests of Biden!!

This is where the Senate used to meet, before it got too big….what a beautiful room!!

This is the dome from all the way down at floor level!!

Some old iron doors that were to be the first doors to the capital….but it never happened for some reason….they were HUGE!

Wow!! We went all the way to the top of there!!

Matt got himself into a bit of a pickle on the way to lunch!!

We had a little time on our hands, so we went to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum…

After the Air & Space Museum, we had a scheduled lecture at the Supreme Court and learned about how that works, and we went into the Library of Congress right next door…it was a beautiful building!!

And off to the Natural History Museum…

Outside of the Smithsonian visitor center….looks like a castle…

Later that day, we went over to Georgetown to check out the cute streets…

The next day, we went to see the Richard Avedon exhibit near the White House…

walking to the Metro, we saw this beautiful building..

Taking the Metro to Arlington Cemetery…

We walked (MORE!!) around the cemetery and saw Kennedy’s graves, the Tomb of the Unknown, Robert E Lee’s house and a lot of graves…..

On our way back to the Metro….family “portrait” time…

Back on the Metro for a trip to Alexandria, Virginia….such a cute town!!

Gadsby’s Tavern….where George Washington used to eat when he hung out here…

It was only a 3 1/2 day trip, but we sure managed to pack a lot in!! We even ran into the Archives on our way to the airport to get a look at the actual Declaration of Independence, Constitution and Bill of Rights…. they were all bigger than we thought and pretty faded, but it was super cool to see them!! After that, we stopped into the National Geographic Museum and checked out the Whales and National Geographic photographers….another great museum!! I was amazed at all we were able to pack into one trip!! And all that walking!! Sheesh!!

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I can’t believe my daughter is 13 already!! My mom and I took her and a couple friends to a concert at Staples Center with her favorite band, Panic at the Disco. Also there were Plain White T’s and Dashboard Confessional. We all loved it!!

Gotta have burgers before!

Nadine has a pretty hip grandma to get her these tickets…AND rock out all night too!!

I wonder where she gets her curls!!

Happy birthday, Nadine!!

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Yet another opportunity to go somewhere because of an engagement session!! I love when that happens. This time, our groom plays for the New Orleans Saints, so they live out there for now. Even thought it was hurricane season, we still decided to go. It was raining the day we got there, but great after that. The day after we left, everyone was evacuated for hurricane Gustav on the anniversary of Katrina!!

The inn we stayed at told us about this cute place called Ignacius. The food was sublime!!

The Inn we stayed at in the garden district was called Maison Perrier and it used to be a brothel back in the day, so the rooms are named after the girls who lived there. It was so pretty!!

Jackson square!!

The French quarter…

We couldn’t leave New Orleans without trying their famous beignets at Cafe Du Monde

We took a carriage tour from a lady who knew tons about the city….it was fascinating! First stop was the St Louis Cemetery. Apparently, the Queen of VooDoo was buried here and people visit her gave all the time to ask for favors….they mark it with 3 x’s and leave gifts…

anyone awake in there?

She told us the best place for poboys was Johnny’s Po-Boys in the French Quarter. It had a long line and a zillion different poboys…mmmm…

They had some interesting things on the menu…

Mmmmm…I had the crawfish and jim had the shrimp!

More walking around…

They say this is the oldest bar in the country….it looks pretty old to me!!

We walked dowm by the river….my first time seeing the Mississippi, by the way…pretty cool. We saw one of the zillions of barges going by…

These guys were playing outside of Cafe Du Monde…they were pretty good..

St. Louis Cathedral…

It just so happened that Jim’s son, Travis, who just graduated from the Navy Seals was driving across the country to his new house in N Carolina. We decided to drive up to Jackson Mississippi to meet him for lunch.

This place was sort of a dump, but it had great BBQ!!

Coming back….

More walking around…we went on a night ghost tour, but it was pretty lame….at least the sights were nice…

The last day, we went on tours of the Plantation homes…first stop…Laura Plantation. It was very pretty and had the best history!!

Not a shabby view either…

Just chillin’ with the bananas…

Oak Alley…recognize it from “Interview With a Vampire”?

The guy who owned our Inn told us about a great Jazz club called d.b.a. It was great.

Goodbye New Orleans….we’ll see you again!!!

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Yaaaa!! Jim booked a wedding on Maui, and it happened to be the week between Mother’s Day and Matt’s 11th birthday, so that was all the excuse we needed to take a family trip!!

Our guidebook told us about a little shack out in the middle of nowhere, where they make the world’s greatest banana bread….they were right; it was the best we’d ever had!! It was totally worth the windy, one lane drive!!

We went for a hike to a lava pool on the ocean that we read about in our book….

It was like a secret wonderland…

Lava…

Matt takes a break to stack some rocks….he was feeling very Zen….

We got certified at the hotel pool and went on 2 dives in the ocean!! It was so perfect….nobody could argue down there!!

Check out this crazy starfish….

Could this be our new Christmas card???

Urchin….

Our hotel…

See? Vacations bring families together….

This guy lived at our hotel…

You gotta go to Bubba Gump’s while you’re out here….

Another great trip comes to a close….Happy birthday Matt!!

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We went to London this Spring with our friends from Elysium Productions, Julie & Alex. Alex is from London, so we were pretty excited to go with a local!! We had a blast!!

Funny!! Eric, one of our photographers, and his wife were leaving the same day to shoot a wedding in Hawaii….what are the odds that we are one gate over from them!? Of course, we all have our Macs out!!

Yaaa!! We made it!!

Hanging out on Carnaby Street!!

Alex is checking out the local entertainment guide to make sure we have a ton of fun!!

Taking the train to Hampton Court!! One of King Henry VIII’s castles!! I can’t wait!!

OMG!! I can see it over this bridge!!

Some boys in a sword fight….no biggie…happens all the time around here!!

Do you think this fireplace would keep you warm!?

Maybe this is where Henry and Anne first started flirting!!

Yet another part of the grounds!!

The River Thames…

Racing out of the Tube…

Hello again, Big Ben!!

We’re being tourists now, going up in The Eye of London…

Not a bad view from up here!!

There was a marathon coming up in London and these were some African warriors that were training….we saw them on the news later that night!!

I loved this graffiti in a cool alley!!

Remember, boys and girls..this is a pub crawl!! We gotta have some pints of cider!!

Jim feels like a local now….reading the paper on the Tube….

Julie and I are pretty excited about our new purchases!!

I saw a cute dress, and it made me think of another, so I had to sketch it…

This was the coolest club Alex found. It was underground and it was very small. They had a cool singer and you could text your song requests to the DJ when the singer was on a break.

Super fun trip!! I want to live there some day!! If only for a short time. London is one cool city!!

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Jim and I had a wedding in Jamaica the week before we went to London. The bride was from Jamaica, and her dad was the manager of Sandals, so they hooked up up pretty nicely!! Even though it stormed and dumped rain most of the time we were there, it was nice to have some down time for a change!! I got massages every day that it rained and Jim worked on his computer. I also read a whole book! It was nice.

Just a typical scene in Ocho Rios…yes…it’s raining!!

The rain let up a litt;e one day, so we decided to find some good Jerk Chicken. We were told Scotchie’s was the place to go!!

Their kitchen…

mmmmm…

It rained on us on the way back!! We were soaked to the skin!!

A couple days later, we hired a driver to take us around a nearby town to see some real, local Jamaican life…

This lady was selling roots and herbs that make you have a strong liver, heart, you name it….it was fun to hear her tell us all about them!

We went into the produce market…it was a huge warehouse type building with vendors all over the place….their produce all around them in heaps….super cool!!

With the yellow parts of these fruits, they make a breakfast food that looks and feels like scrambled eggs. It tastes pretty bland, but they combine it with salty things. We ate it a couple times at the hotel. Our guide told us that if you eat it before the pods open up, it will be poisoned.

Here is the outside of the building…

Ha! Here’s the meat market!! Where’s the FDA when you need them!?

Don’t forget the Fish Market!!

They have a lot going on here!!

This is how they invite their friends to a backyard party!! They drive around with a loud speaker on their car and the whole town is invited! Our driver told us there is a party like that every night!

They make these carts themselves and they are everywhere…

This is a water mill at some historic house…

This was a pretty chruch I saw on our drive….we saw so many!! We finally had a whole day of no rain, so we hired a driver to take us up to Bob Marley’s home and mosoleum. It was a long drive…

Guys playing cricket, of course!!

We’re getting close!! Quite a view from up here…no wonder he had so many great songs!! Lots of inspiration.

A kid…way out here…with a Nintendo!! Funny!

Local pub….

Right when we got there, of course, we were being approached by men to see if we wanted to see their marajuana fields and sell us pot. Apparently, it is legal to smoke within the Bob Marley walls!!

Here is a little shrine to him outside of his house.

The “house” was a 2 room shack….here is the bedroom…

The living room…

The kitchen and bathroom…

His thinking rock…where they say he sat and slept while writing songs…he used the rock as a pillow…

The outside of the house…it had “BOB” painted on it!! Nice.

This is our driver and us outside of the mosoleum.

It was a fun trip!!

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Jim and I went out to Boston with Michelle & Heath to shoot their friends’ engagement session. The groom was a Boston Red Socks pitcher, so we came to Boston to shoot it. We had a blast hanging out all 6 of us and just happened to get some great photos of them. (Their photos are on Jim’s blog).

Can’t go to Boston without having a beer in Cheers!!

We had some great pizza!! Loved their delivery “trucks”…

Super cute streets….I loved this hardware sign…

There was even a store named after me!!

Gotta see Fenway Park!!

We were only out there for a few days, but we packed a lot into the trip!! It was so great, we want to go back!!

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My mom turned 50 this year!! I decided to surprise her and take her on a trip, just the two of us. We have never done that before. We had a super fabulous time in Napa.

We stayed at Maison Fleurie in Yountville. It was such a great bed and breakfast in the cutest town.

This was a winery somewhere up on the hills. Our goal was to hit a few more obscure wineries, rather than all the big, touristy ones. I forget what this was, but we got some super good wine there!!

This was the view from another winery that was so beautiful..

They had some huge horses too!!

The horse and I shared a very serious moment….

I loved the moss covered trees along our drive….

We had to go to Merryvale to see the beautiful barrel room….and they have super good wine too!!

Mom’s cracking up…..must have had some gooooood wine!!

Then I just had to take her to Via Sattui…it’s one of the prettiest places!! Jim has shot weddings there.

This was a great pastry shop in Yountville….we got coffee and hot chocolate!! Mmmmmm….

We thought we’d better work off some of that wine and cheese…so we went for a power walk in the beautiful town!!

Along the way we saw beautiful sights….

Beautiful homes….

The last day, we had my mom’s sister, Sue, meet us at a winery….she lives just over the hill in Santa Rosa. Hi Sue!!

What a great girls’ trip!! Can’t wait to do more!! Happy birthday, Mom!! I love you!!

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Once again, a wedding takes us to a great place!! This time, we brought the whole family. We rented a house right on the beach on the North Shore of Oahu.

On the way to the house from the airport, we were greeted with a beautiful rainbow!!

We went for a walk and found some pretty cool trees!!

Are these the cutest kids ever, or what!?

Beach day!! Jim does some tricks….nice, dear….

We read in a bok that this truck has the best shrimp…so we thought we’d give it a try…even though it didn’t look very nice….it was fabulous!! Lots of garlic!!

You can’t come to the North Shore without getting shave ice!

Apparently, this is the market to get it…best on the island!!

This old car was nearby…thought it was cool…

The garage in our house was full of beach toys, so the girls took the kayak out….they didn’t last long!

Matt’s having a good time….I love the joy on his face here…

One day, Jim and Travis decided to rent mopeds….they were hot!! About 3 miles later, they ran into rain….a lot of rain!! I was laughing so hard in our cozy minivan!!

This was the best Mexican food on the island…it was super!!

Korynn and Matt wish they could take them for a spin…

We had to take Travis back to the airport a few days early, so we went to Pearl Harbor while we were on that side of the island.

On our way back to our house, we just had to check out the Dole Plantation!!

This is the back of a Gum Tree…

Matt figured it was ready for chewing…

Another day, we found sea turtles taking a nap on the beach…There were about 5 of them….just chillin’….

In our book, I found a cool 1 mile hike to a private beach….so off we went…

Things got a little messy….

But it was worth it…

But then the sea started to get angry…

….and we had to walk back in the rain…nobody was happy about it!!

Another day, we went for a mountain bike ride on a ranch…they had some wildlife running around…

Nadine made a friend…

The kids are standing in a giant dinosaur footprint. It was for the movie Jurasik Park, which was filmed on this ranch.

We got pretty dirty…

The girls got to swim with the dolphins….you had to be 12, so Matt couldn’t do it.

Our book told us about another hot spot where the cliffs were smooth and beautiful…

Then we went snorkeling nearby, and it was amazing….even though it was raining!!

This is the cove we snorkeled in…

Our book also told us where the “From Here to Eternity” beach was, where the movie was filmed….and we just had to make out right where they were rolling around in the waves…

Yaa!! Another great family trip!! Happy New Year!!

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Another engagement session that leads us to a great trip!! We did the shoot in Missoula, in the cute downtown area. The kids and I went shopping, of course, while Jim shot. There were some super cute boutiques!! Cute town!!

Then, we drove for hours to a tiny town on the lake, called Whitefish, where we rented a cute cabin.

Home, sweet, home…

We even had a TeePee in our yard!!

Saw a deer right by the TeePee!!

Our driveway….Matt just thrives in the great outdoors!!

Going for an adventure on a little lake by our cabin…

We’re cute!!

There was a great mountain biking path, so the kids found all sorts of jumps….who needs a bike!?

Brushing up on their rock-skipping skills!!

Jim decides they need an education……thin…..

Round…

Success!!

We went to a ranch to ride some horses, and they had a new St. Bernard puppy mawling another puppy….they were sooo cute….that St. Bernard puppy was so big!!

On our quest for Moccasins, we found an old stage coach…

We are so cute….skilled with a self-timer!!

Whitefish Lake…

Another wonderful family trip!!

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