The kids got gift certificates to the movies from their grandmother for Christmas. So we went to Arundel Mills and saw a show. Movie theaters have changed. Check out these seats. The matinee was clearly a popular time to go. We had a blast though. Saw Sonic 3. Gonna go back in a few weeks to see the new Marvel Captain America movie with the Red Hulk.
Well, it wasn’t much of a question for me. Jack told me at the beginning of the year he had never seen me with a beard. I realized I hadn’t grown one in over twenty years. So, I said, “let’s go!” I said I would give it two weeks. And I did.
But then I let it go. I like the smooth on my face.
What happens when the old man passes out on the couch at like 6:30? And somebody gets a hold of his phone?
Let’s make hearts
Maggie, look, a heart
Umm
La, who threw that? Noah did?!
What fun is an oil change without a lollipop?
On a Friday night, I took Jack to College Park to watch the Terps play basketball. One of Jack’s first Terps games, and it was against the #1 team in the country, the Purdue Boilermakers. We got there early and Jack got to rub Testudo’s nose, see the National Championship trophy, get some food and find our seats.
The vibe in the place was electric. Jack and I got into the cheering, M-A-R-Y-L-A-N-D, Maryland, Fight, Win! Terps led for most of the game, even though they were playing against the 7′ giant, Zach Eddy. And the shortest guy on the Terps, the awesome Jahmir Young, led the Terps in all aspects of the game.
When the final whistle blew, the students stormed the courts. And why not follow. Jack and I pushed our way down to the court. He got on my shoulders, and we joined the melee. First time in my life to storm a court.
And after storming the court, we were fortunate to see some of the players close up, Juju Reese, Donta Scott, and Jahmir Young. Young took a picture with Jack.
As everyone knows, I bleed red, and am a lifelong Terp. This may ultimately go down as my all time favorite moment with MD Terps. Thank you, Jahmir Young, for making my day, and making Jack’s day.
Liz and I coach Maggie’s 2026 lacrosse team. I am the head coach. I have an associate head coach, Audrey, who is great. And Liz is one of the assistants. It is a lot of fun coaching Maggie’s team, and Liz does a great job. And Maggie is fun, and she works hard, as do a bunch of her teammates. It is a good recipe for this team to be successful.
On Saturday, it was super cold. We had to leave the house early in the morning and drive more than an hour to arrive before 7AM. First game started before the sun came up. It was interesting.
Our team went 4-0. Maggie and her teammates played great through pool play. Maggie played defense and midfield. Our team had fun throughout the four games and in between, and competed hard. They earned the #1 seed and a spot in the championship game.
After the last game though, the coach of the other team was complaining about the scorekeeper not counting one of their goals. Liz keeps the stats for our team, and documents all goals scored, for both teams. And the scorekeeper had it correct. So, I signed the scoresheet, that we won 7-3. But then the scorekeeper came up to me and said the opposing coach requested to talk with me, and she ended up getting in Liz’s face saying that she kept the score wrong and didn’t count one of their goals. Liz handled herself very well (especially given that she wasn’t the scorekeeper, just kept stats which matched the scorekeeper). She showed the coach all of the scoring, how they were scored and who scored. The coach left the field with her team acting like they had been cheated, and she was very vocal about it. Liz was a little rattled, because adults should not behave the way that she did, especially not towards a conscientious teenager who is doing her best to help. But I talked with Liz on the way back to the tent and told her how well she handled herself.
A few minutes later, we learned that this team earned 2nd place and would play us in the championship. Great! In order to teach my teams sportsmanship and honoring the game and the opponents, I have instituted pregame rituals. I have each player on our team go to the opposite bench before the game and shake the hand of the opposing coach and wish her/him luck. And then when they get on the field, shake the hand of the player they are facing off against and wish them luck. I believe it sets the tone for friendly competition and sportsmanlike behavior.
But, after the opposing coach’s behavior in the last pool play game, I broke with our new tradition and just instructed the players to take the field. The opposing coach had not demonstrated very good adult behavior in the prior game, and I didn’t want it to effect us as we stepped onto the field.
In a short game, we got off to a quick lead and kept it. With a few minutes left, we were up 4-0, and I was able to make sure that everybody played in the championship. We came away with a 4-1 victory. And the girls got to enjoy championship t-shirts and medals.
We got to the field at 7AM, and weren’t done until 6PM. Average temperature on the day was 40 degrees. Hour and a half drive each way. I took the girls (Liz, Maggie, and Mackenzie – my all star team) out to Red Robin for dinner to celebrate before driving home. They earned it! And Maggie got desert!
It was a great day to be a coach. And a great day to be a dad.
Liz played her last competitive field hockey game. Possibly the last field hockey game of her life. She played hard. So did Eden. She was especially great at center back. But they were overmatched in playoffs. And lost to Bryn Mawr.
Eden posted this pic with her sister. Both girls were pretty emotional. As was Maggie, who started at SPSG 7 years ago with Liz. It has been a long fun road. And these girls have earned some great victories, and an IAAM Championship.
I am proud of my field hockey players. I coached them when they were small and through their time in the rec program. And have loved every minute of coaching them, cheering for them, driving them to and from events, and living through the ups and downs along with them.
Last night, the boys had their Bobcat Ceremony for Cub Scouts. This is the first time they earn badges as a scout. To earn the badge they had to do some basics of scouting, such as reciting the Scout Oath and learning the Scout Law.
During the ceremony, I painted their face with different colors.
Blue is from the sky. The blue paw print of the Bobcat on their forehead is the spirit of the bobcat, and to remind the scout to do their best on the Cub Scout Trail.
Yellow is from the sun. The yellow marks under their eyes help the scout see the light of the Cub Scout Train, and symbolize the bright spirit of Cub Scouting.
White. The white on the scout’s nose is for purity and to help the scout know right from wrong as they go along the Cub Scout Trail.
Red. The red mark on the scout’s chin is for courage to always speak the truth.
Green. The green mark symbolizes the spirit of nature to guide the Cub Scout in living with harmony with the great outdoors.
The boys also painted a white stripe on my nose so that I can guide them.
I really enjoyed the initiation ceremony. And beyond initiation, the boys had already earned some badges as well.
I am enjoying the process. Kids earn badges or belt clips according to their individual accomplishments. They are encouraged to succeed by those around them. There is not internal negative competition brought on by the parents. There is just a supportive environment of people, somewhat like-minded, wanting to raise their kids right, and be part of a community of people putting effort into raising their kids right.
This is so different from the youth sports culture that my other kids have been immersed in. It is refreshing, and I am grateful for the leaders of the pack. These are good guys.
I decided to run the half-marathon again. First time in 6 years. And Liz was willing to do it with me again as well. Neither of us trained. But, she is a young athlete. And so we ran “together” for a short while.
For the first mile, I tried to keep up with Liz. And she was trying to let me keep up. We were darting through traffic, and making our way. And the first mile was about 8 minutes. It killed me though, and I quickly fell behind her pace. The last I saw of her, she was crushing it, with her pony tail flying back and forth.
She impressed me so much. In the morning, as she was putting on her bib, she just looked like a determined athlete. And then stretching, it was clear that she has done this before.
For me, I just wanted to enjoy the day. I’m 42. Don’t feel like I have many of these left in me.
And it was hard. Really hard. I walked so many times. By mile 11, my back and both of my legs were burning. I could barely move, but told myself I would not give up. I would finish the race. Miles 12 and 13 were very slow, probably 13 and 17 minutes respectively. And I finished with a total pace of about 11 minutes. Liz crushed it and finished under 9 minutes, at 1:56:00 total time. Her PR. My worst at 2:26.
But I finished. And I am proud of myself. Mind over matter. I did what I set out to do. I am hurting but it is a good hurt. And I am glad to have shared this experience with my daughter one more time.
On our trip to Playa del Carmen, Marcia and I took an excursion to Coba. I have long been interested to see the remains of the Mayan culture up close. I found an excursion which combined Mayan ruins with zip lining and other experiences. So, we went for it.
The morning started early when Paco, our guide, picked us up at 7:40. It was an hour and a half ride out to Coba. We learned a brief history of the Mayan culture. We were told that the Mayans migrated to this area of Coba from a more southern region. This area is mostly limestone, so does not have much soil for farming, but is surrounded by freshwater cenotes. It is suspected that this area was deserted in about 600A.D. due to a 20 year drought.
Coba remained undiscovered until the 1920s or 1930s. It was at this time that Wrigley had come into the area and was pressing the resources in the land for material to make gum. As they pushed farther into the jungle, the Mayan ruins were discovered.
In the days of the Mayans, the commoners were farmers, and lived in small homes made of wood and thatch. The more elite families had homes built on top of raised surfaces built out of limestone. Temples were also erected out of limestone. These were to perform rituals, mostly sacrifices to please the gods, and ask for rain. We were able to view a few of these, and some courts they built to play a ritualistic “sport” which they also used to determine common folk to sacrifice to the gods.
My Mayan princess and me atop the Nohoch Mul Pyramid. This is the tallest Mayan temple in all of Mexico. We hiked here from the smaller temple which can be seen in the background among the jungle trees.
It is a tough climb to the top. It is 129 steps, and they are pretty slick. Even tougher going down!
Beautiful scenery
We came. We saw. We kicked its ass!
Photo of the Nohoch Mul Pyramid.
We hiked about a mile through the jungle to reach this pyramid. Then climbed and descended it pretty quickly. All set to hike back to our starting point, and Carlos, from teh Mayan Uber, pulled up on his tricycle. 5 dollars senor. I did not need to be asked twice. Sold.
Carlos speeding us through the Coba jungle. We passed spider monkeys in the trees and kept going.
We made it back to a small village just outside of the ruins. There were several little shops. We were impressed with their craftsmanship, and the authenticity of the Mayan crafts. After selecting a number of items, we learned that they had no electricity. It had been out for more than a day because of rain. With not enough cash, and out of time, we were attempting to figure out what one item to purchase, when a fan came on. Which meant power! Cha-ching! Back to shopping for the kids. A couple knives for the boys. A Mayan calendar for Liz. A turtle for Maggie inlaid with lapis lazuli. And a ceremonial mask. Checkout and back to the van for the next adventure. But not before I ran into these guys by the banos.
Once in our van, we drove another half hour further into the Mayan territory. We drove past people living in very meager living conditions. Then we got to our stop to begin the second half of our adventure. We put everything in lockers except shoes and bathing suits, and started a hike through the jungle. Our first stop was to put on harnesses and helmets. Thunder rolling in the background, we climbed up to a high platform over a lagoon to find a zip line. This has been on my bucket list for over a year!
We hiked a little farther to another lagoon. Now the rain followed the thunder and it began to rain pretty hard. Another platform, and another zip line, this time through the rain!
So much fun. We hiked next to Cenotes Jaguar. It is so named because the ceiling of the cenotes is shaped like the eyes and mouth of a jaguar.
Holy tan line, Batman!
A kiss before we descend into the Cenotes Jaguar. Considered the Mayan Underworld.
Paddling around in tubes. 60 feet to the bottom of the cenotes. I dived down into the clean water. This was before I realized the number of creatures living in the water!
There were two ways out of the underground cave. Mayan elevator or the ladder.
We both opted for the slippery ladder, while the rain came through the opening at the top of the cenotes on us.
It was a good workout climbing out. Time to rest. We thought. Nope, time to kayak across the lagoon in order to get lunch. We were instructed to avoid the crocodiles.
No mas crocodilos!
It was a great day. I knocked two things off my bucket list. And really enjoyed spending time with my beautiful wife. Shirtless all day, I still did not do anything about that tan line because it rained on us for so long. I can’t wait for tomorrow.
Six With Sticks 