Six Kennedy kids on Assateague – me in the middle
This past weekend, I went to the beach. I went with my family. We went to Assateague Island and Rehoboth. I had lots of fun. My favorite part was making the number 8 in the sand with a hat on it.
8 on the beach
I don’t like ants or fruit flies or mice. So, I don’t generally like food on the floor.
But you can’t beat these giggles. They’re the best
These 6 kids didn’t come from nowhere! Marcia and I started this party 12 years ago yesterday. So how, do you wonder, did we spend our 12th anniversary? Why, on a field of course!
In the 90+ degree heat, we took all 6 kids to the local high school’s turf field. We played soccer, lacrosse and field hockey. We brought a radio and cranked the tunes. And then we ran field hockey evaluations.
I don’t know if that actually beats me taking Marcia out for a nice date. That would have been really nice too. But we had a good day as a family, and we really enjoyed each other’s company.
Youngest of six with sticks!
No rest for the weary. The day after lacrosse ends, field hockey evaluations. Marcia and I are coaching with Sean. Eden and Liz are going to be on the same team. Eden is playing up in age, and we didn’t know how she would do.
She showed up in the tryouts! I ran all the girls a good long run at the beginning and Eden finished 3rd. And she looked good in the scrimmage. Go Eden!
This weekend, the girls competed in the Club National Championship. It is a 3-day tournament with teams from all over the country. Eden’s team was playing way over their ahead against older competition. They went 0-4 but they held their own in most games. Elizabeth’s team dominated. They earned the #1 seed in the playoffs. They rolled through the 1st round, 16-2. Then played some stiff competition in Fort Hunt 2019 in the quarterfinals and won in dramatic fashion in overtime. Next, they beat Motion 2019 Purple in the semis to set up a matchup vs TLC 2020 Red.
We dominated most of the game, outshooting the other team 10-2 and had a 2-goal lead heading into the last 3:30 of the game. At that point, the wheels came off, or rather the referees whistles got busy. TLC ended up in the final minutes with 3 free position shots and a bunch of turnovers by the referees, and was able to take the lead with 30 seconds remaining. It was a dramatic comeback victory for TLC, but leaves me and the team feeling empty. I personally feel like the team was cheated, even 2 days later.
What is worse, my daughter feels like she failed. She was a finalist in the Club National Championship and should be very proud of that. But, she is having a hard time getting over the fact that they should have won the game and did not. Their tournament record for the summer was darn impressive, going 18-2 in 3 major tournaments, winning one of them and runner-up in the other two. They outscored their opponents 210-54 in those 3 tournaments. But the sting of the last loss will hang with me and them for a while.
Small solace, but after the game, John Harbaugh, who was watching, came over and talked with the team. He told them that they had big huge hearts. And he said some other stuff to comfort them. And then he told me that he likes what I’ve done with this team. It was good to hear the praise.
Elizabeth told me though, on the ride home, and again yesterday, that she is determined to come back and win this tournament next year. I am glad to know the drive that inside that little body. Love you Liz!
Liz and I ran a 10k in Arbutus on July 4th. We didn’t train for it, and really decided the night before to run it. The race was called the Arbutus Firecracker 10k, and it was the 31st year that this event has taken place.
Liz was unsure the night before if she was going to run it. The deciding factor was a conversation between her and Eden. Eden told her that she should run it for Teresa. Teresa is a little girl who died earlier this week after a failed heart transplant. She went to Hillcrest and our older 3 kids all knew her. Once Eden suggested this, Elizabeth was on board. She would paint tiaras on herself for the race, in honor of Teresa (tiaras for teresa).
In the morning, before the race, Marcia painted the tiaras on Elizabeth. One on her forehead and some on her arms. During the race, the paint was in her face and in her mouth. She was having difficulty breathing, so I told her to wash the paint off. She said, “No. I am running for Teresa. I can’t take it off.” And she kept going.
It was a very tough 6 miles. There were lots of hills. Liz did not stop once to walk. Nor did she complain of tiring. She also kept a strong pace throughout. During the 6th mile, she got ahead of me, pretty far ahead. She never looked back. It was this that made me realize she doesn’t need me.
The problem was, I couldn’t catch her! At the finish, I pushed myself to close the gap. I ended up about 5-10 seconds behind her and 1 runner separating us at the finish line.
My children usually finish before me in races. But I’m usually pushing them at the end to finish strong. In this case, this was the first race where one of my children beat me, and there was nothing I could do about it. I know there is a lot more of this in my future!
Bernie Wrisk organized a 4 mile run through Catonsville. The proceeds from the run would benefit charities that Knights of Columbus supports.
Eden and Elizabeth signed up for the 4-miler and Noah ran the 1 mile race.
Noah won his race, but it was not uneventful. It was a good thing I showed him the course the day before, because there were no people on the course to direct him, and nobody on Frederick Road to stop traffic. When he got to Frederick Road, the traffic was humming and he needed to cross to get to the finish line. Luckily, Marcia spotted him and went and helped. He cruised into the finish line and won the race. Pretty cool for him.
Elizabeth ran by herself. She did well and won her age group. Although again not enough people on the course directing traffic and she got lost. As she rounded the elementary school, she was supposed to hug the building and circle it, but not enough people ahead of her to know where to go, she went to Frederick Rd and then hung a left. She got a block away before she realized she had gone the wrong way and doubled back. She probably spent an extra two minutes with this and was pretty upset with herself. A couple different adults told me after the race that they saw her do this. Weird that none of them called out to her. She still won her age group.
I ran with Eden. Really proud of her. This was the longest she had ever run. She did not complain much, and she did not walk much. She just kept going and focused really well. When it came to the last stretch, about the last 2 or 3 blocks, she was determined, and turned up the jets and finished strong. She looked great coming across the finish line. She also won her age group.
All 3 kids had a lot to be proud of and each went home with some hardware. Very nice. Great event that Bernie pulled off!
Rock the Fields. Two days of lax. Two Redshirt teams crowned champions. 1 Team won spirit award. 1 Team won dance competition. The story lines were different, but equally impressive.
The 2019/20 team dominated the playing field. In pool play, they beat each of their competitors by more than 10 goals, and some by more than 20. And in the playoffs, none of their games were close. Goalie play was outstanding. Defense was stellar. Ball movement was great. The girls dominated. And they won a championship.
2020 Rock the Fields Champions
The 2021 team dominated their age group in pool play as well, except for one opponent that was evenly matched. MD United East was a pretty good competitor. The Redshirts tied them in pool play, 8-8. And then in the championship, they played the same team. They got down 3-0 at half. Then were down 4-1 with only about 6 minutes left. That is when they mounted an awesome comeback. 4 straight goals, and they won 5-4.
2021 Rock the Fields Champions
Six With Sticks 