Six With Sticks

by Six Kennedy kids and their parents

Author Archives: davekenn


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Monster Dash 2012

5k resultsResults pg. 2Winnersfun runNoah and Topher with their medalspre race

Monster Dash 2012, a set on Flickr.

Saturday morning was great for the Kennedys. Lot of accomplishments all around.

Marcia ran the 5k, the first she had ever run.  And the first distance run since before Jack was born.

Eden ran her first 5k. She did awesome! She finished 2nd among 8 year olds, and finished ahead of a ton of 9, 10 and 11 year olds.

Noah trucked on the fun run. He finished 2nd on the fun run. And man that boy was running.

Liz ran with her old man, and with two of her friends, Molly and Mackenzie. The display of sportsmanship and competition between the three of them was awesome. They finished within 2 seconds of each other, and won their age group. Most impressive was their time, 23:20.

And, of course, I was only 2 seconds behind them. It garnered me 3rd place among 30-39 year olds.

I’m so proud of the family for the way in which they compete.


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Up and down

It was an up and down day for the Kennedy kids.  They hit some highs and lows. 

Liz won the pumpkin run at school.  Eden came in 4th.  They each received a pumpkin as reward.

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Liz, with runner-up, Justice

Noah, on the other hand, had a rough day.  He hit his head early in the day, probably a concussion.  The, in the pumpkin run, he fell in a pileup, hitting his head again, this time with a big bruise on his eye.  At dinner, he cried because of the awful day he had.

I felt bad for the boy.  But told him that tomorrow is a new day.  And it is.  We are running in the St Mark Monster Dash 5k this morning.  It will be Eden’s first 5k and Noah’s first 1 mile run. 

I’m excited, but also a little nervous for Liz.  Lots of girls are in fact gunning for her.  Girl needs to catch a break.


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O’s win wild card

First time the Orioles have been in the playoffs since before Marcia and I met.  They played the wild card game last night and Noah stayed up until midnight to watch the end.  I taught him the pitch count and he got into it.

They play the Yankees next.  Maybe we’ll get some baseball fans in the house before it’s all said and done


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Pacer

I stepped out of my car on Wednesday and heard an excited voice calling out, “Daddy, Daddy, guess what?  I got 54 laps today!”  I looked around and saw Eden’s face pressed against the screen in her bedroom window.  “I got the highest in my class.  And they announced my name on the announcements.”  Her face disappeared and she was out the front door in a flash to greet me with a hug.  Very proud of herself and smiling.

Liz also won her grade and got on the Wall of Fame; she put up the best score ever for her grade.  Eden didn’t make the wall because the winner the previous year for her grade got 69 laps.

We’re so proud of our girls.  They work hard and set goals for themselves.  They sometimes come up short.  But when they achieve them, watch out for the Kennedy girls!


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I wanna be like … Liz

I’m proud of my girl Eden.  She’s had a share of disappointments in sports and school in the last year, especially things that she has set goals for, worked to attain, and not reached.  And I know it has gotten her down.  I think she constantly compares herself to her older sister who is two years older.  It is impossible for Eden to realize how much difference there is in two years; she expects to be able to do everything Liz does.

I’m really proud of her when she picks herself up and takes things on.  This morning, she got up around 6:30 and we went for a run.  She is training for the Turkey Trot 5k.  This morning, we ran 1 mile for speed.  She got 9:01, her best time ever.  A few more weeks of this, and my girl is going to be ready.

I hope I am able to teach my daughters and sons that they are on the same team.  They are never competing against each other.  They are always each other’s biggest supporters in life.


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Determined runner

Eyes on the prize.  Liz set a goal for herself.  She wanted to win the 5k on Saturday morning.  She didn’t want to run it.  She wanted to win it.  She asked me to run with her last week to get ready.  And when we showed up before the race, she spent a few minutes looking over the trophy table.  Eyes on the prize.

When we were getting ready to start the race, Liz pushed her way to the front of the pack, rubbing shoulders with the competitive runners.  The gun sounded and she sprinted the first 200 yards to keep up with the lead group.

They’re off!

At 10 years old, she did not ease up the entire run.  In the final stretch, she was behind a boy by about 10 yards.  I told her to catch him … and she beat him.

She finished 1st place in her age group, 15 and under, and was the 5th female to finish at any age.  She took home a trophy.  Her time was 25:34, better than any 5k I have run since college.

The prize

She was very excited and said she wants to run more races like this.  She received compliments from other runners.  All around good day for Liz.  Eyes on the prize.

Elizabeth, Mr Wrisk, and Dad

At the finish line

Way to go Liz.  In a few weeks, Eden is going to run her first 5k.

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Cheese lady


The cheese lady at Wegmans today took advantage of a poor sick man outside of his element.  Innocent enough, I asked for some parmigian cheese samples for the kids in the cart.  The cheese lady then went on to tell me a story about how the Italians give their babies cheese rinds to chew on when they are teething.  According to the tale, the cheese soothes their stomachs, and the cheese releases tryptophan, the magic element in turkey that renders many a man helpless to the couch after Thanksgiving dinner.  The cheese lady proceeded to place a carton of cheese rinds into my hand for $2.16.  How could I resist?  I couldn’t.
When we got home, Jack was fussy.  Aha, let’s try the cheese rinds!  In his swing, we have him a cheese rind to chew on.  Let the cheese work its magic!

Twenty minutes later, he had hives around his mouth and stunk like a butt.  So much for the Italians and their stinky cheese.  Thanks cheese lady!


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We are … WILD!

Fun night tonight. Played for the Baltimore Wild. Steve English was out there tonight as were the regulars like John Heiland, John Jackson and Kris Lindh. We were getting spanked by some team, Buffalo Wild Wings. I got on attack in the fourth quarter. We were down by 4 with about 5 minutes left. I took one strong from the left and scored a left-handed shot on the run. Then we got the ball back and I drove right and fed somebody coming down the middle for another goal. Next possession, I ran a give and go with Fletch and I scored another. Down by a goal with a minute left. We got the ball and a few chances, but I didn’t see the ball again, and we ended up losing by one, 8-7, but it was an exciting finish. And I ended with 2-2.

I did take another left hand behind the back tonight and missed. Silly. I should have just stuck it and we get a tie. But had to showboat. Next week maybe it will find the back of the net…