Elizabeth | Six With Sticks

August 18, 2018
by davekenn Leave a comment

2nd day of tryouts

Eden was headed to her second day of tryouts. I sent her a note of encouragement beforehand. In the note, I told her how proud I was of her. And I reminded her of all of the good things she did in the 1st day of tryouts. And, again, I gave her some advice.

Today, follow it up and work even harder. You now know what you are up against. But don’t worry about what you are up against. Work for yourself. Be the best you can be. You have two hours. Play the hardest you can play. Push yourself as hard as you can.

You have the stickwork. You have the athleticism. You are a smart field hockey player. Show them that you have the hustle. That you won’t give up on a play. That you can hound offensive players all game long. That you aren’t afraid. That you deserve to be there. Because you do.

I am glad that you have an older sister that sets the bar high for you. And I am glad that you sometimes pass that bar, and push her to set the bar higher.

I am proud of you. So is Mom. So is Liz. Now go make yourself proud. Show yourself what you can do. Give it everything you’ve got. There will be time to rest and recover, but not today. Today, make your mark. Whatever happens happens.

Oh … and eat lunch today 🙂 I got some bananas and lunch meat and cheese.

August 18, 2018
by davekenn Leave a comment

On her first day of tryouts

Eden is going into her freshman year of high school. She is trying out for varsity field hockey. I drove her and Liz home from the beach so that they could try out. Liz is a rising junior and was on the team last year.

Eden had a lot of nervous energy all week leading up to the tryout. And also the week before, when she would drag her sister to the high school to practice. She was most nervous about the MD test, a series of sprints (20 of them), which needed to be completed in a time frame (18 second 100 yd sprint, 42 seconds to jog back for the start of the next sprint).

I did not pay attention that Eden was so nervous she skipped lunch.

On the way to the tryout, I told the girls how proud I was of them, how much I believed in them, and I gave Eden a couple pieces of advice:

Go Hard. No matter what you are doing, go hard and don’t give up. Even if you get beat, hustle and make a play. You only have two hours, put all your effort into every play.

Get to the front of the line. When there are drills, don’t hang back. Get to the front. Get the most opportunities you can to shine.

Challenge the seniors. Try to steal the ball from seniors (Eden is a defender). Don’t back down because they are older. Step up and challenge.

Talk. Be loud and talk on defense.

Thank your coaches. Seek out all the coaches and evaluators after. Firm hand shake. Eye contact. Thank you.

I did not stay for the tryout. But when I came back and picked them up, I could tell that Eden was upset. Liz did well. She finished first in the MD test. Only a few girls finished, maybe 4 or 5. Eden missed the time on the 9th sprint, but still continued on and finished the 10th and final sprint. She was very disappointed in herself and upset. Liz quickly reminded her how well she did in the drills (especially stealing the ball from a senior) and how much better she did in the MD test than most of the other girls trying out. Eden felt though that as a freshman, you need to stand out big time in order to make a varsity team.

July 7, 2014
by davekenn Leave a comment

There and Back Again: A Big Red Tale

Snooze. Beep Beep. Snooze. One eye open. 3:33. Good sign, gotta get up. I was taking the kids today on an adventure. I didn’t tell anyone where we were headed, including Marcia. We got them loaded in the car and we were off by 4:30. I was taking them somewhere they had never been. And I hadn’t been back to Cornell in 17 years.

I put over 4 hours behind the wheel before anyone woke up. Then they were up the last hour of the drive. We pulled into Manos Diner in Ithaca around 9:30 for a little breakfast before seeing the sites.

Manos Diner – first stop in Ithaca

First stop had to be Schoellkopf Field. I took the kids out onto the turf and they loved it. Noah started sprinting from one end of the field to the other. Elizabeth and Eden starting running stadium stairs. I told them where the locker room was and showed them where coach Richie Moran took us all after each game for a post game party.

Six at Schoellkopf Field

Love this Stadium and those stairs

Hall for post game lacrosse gatherings

I was proud and excited to tell Marcia and the kids all about my days at Cornell. I showed them the slope and told them about Slope Day. I showed them where I sold daffodils for Daffodil Day, raising money for cancer research with my fraternity. I told them about the Hot Truck, and showed them my fraternity. My freshman dorm has been torn down and replaced with newer buildings. We walked through campus and I showed them the statues of Ezra Cornell and Andrew White. I showed them some of the libraries and where I had classes. We saw North Campus, and West Campus. We saw Collegetown – less bars than there used to be, and more Starbucks.

Marcia and the kids at Cornell

Cornell or Hogwarts?

Fuertes Observatory

Legend has it that if a virgin crosses between the two statues at midnight, they will cross the quad and dance a jig. The statues have never moved.

Far Above Cayuga’s Water

Looking down on West Campus – much different than when I went there

The kids loved seeing the plantation. We spent a good bit of time there exploring all of the trees. And we had a picnic late in the day, the last stop before heading home. As a student, I never really appreciated the plantation. I ran around and through it for lacrosse, but never had a picnic or took in the beauty of the place.

Newman Overlook at Cornell Plantations

I love Luke in this picture

Picnic in Cornell Plantations

The main attraction had to be the gorges. All of the kids had lots of fun exploring the gorges. They ran along the paths to get to the gorges. Unfortunately, they weren’t allowed to swim. I was really disappointed in this, as I remember lots of people swimming there when I was a student. It is now an offense that you can be arrested for. Bummer. I still waded out into the waterfalls, but we decided against letting the kids do it.

Ithaca is Gorges

Gorge above Beebe Lake

I found the spot where I jumped from the side of the gorge 20 years ago. I didn’t repeat the act, but was kind of impressed with how high I had jumped from. Young dumb and stupid is no way to go through life, Kennedy!

Where I jumped 20 years before

For me, this was a great trip. There were reasons that I left Cornell, and there were reasons why I put it in my past, and haven’t revisited it. It was great though to remember on this trip all of the joy I experienced at Cornell. All of the beauty of the place. And to share that with Marcia. And also with the kids.

It is an impressive and beautiful university. I wish I had appreciated it for all that it had to offer when I was a student, athlete and fraternity boy. There was so much that I didn’t do as a student, and wish I had been a bit more mature in those days. I am so grateful though for the experiences that I did have, and that I am able to share even glimpses of those experiences with my kids. It made me so proud that they were genuinely interested in the trip and my stories. Maybe one day one of them will be lucky enough to experience Cornell as a student.

March 20, 2014
by davekenn Leave a comment

Liz heads to NYC

It is Elizabeth’s spring break, and she spent 3 days in New York with her godfather, Uncle Bob. While she was gone, we missed her very much. It was kind of sad on Monday night when she was not here with the rest of the family. And Tuesday night as well. And I got to work late on Wednesday because I wasn’t driving her to school. But I digress.

I dropped Liz at the bus station on Monday morning. She hopped on the bus very confidently and found her seat. She did not appear nervous or scared to be all alone on a bus to New York City. When she arrived, Uncle Bobby was waiting for her at the bus station and met her right at the bus.

Bobby gave her a whirlwind tour of New York. He took her to Central Park. Took her to the St. Patrick’s Day Parade. To Dylan’s Candy Bar. To the Museum of Natural History. To Serendipity. To Alice’s Tea Cup. And that was just the 1st day. On the second day, Rockefeller Center, ice skating, the Lego Store, the Empire State Building, $1 pizza like a real New Yorker, Macy’s and Broadway to see Matilda. A relatively lazy day on the 3rd day and she boarded a bus midday to come home.

I think this trip was good for both of them. It was exciting for Elizabeth. And she got to bond with her godfather, and he treated her very special. And I think also very good for Bob, who has had a rough year, and I think the pure relationship with Elizabeth was probably refreshing for him amidst the many relationships we have with adults that live behind so many facades. I talked with Bob after. He talked about how great of a kid Liz is and how conscientious she is. She wouldn’t let him buy her very many souvenirs. She saved candy from the first day and brought it home so that she could share it with her brothers and sisters. It was the first thing that she did when she walked in the door.

While Liz was in New York, we got to live vicariously through posts that Bobby put on Facebook. All of the posts were pictures of Liz in various spots in New York.

Liz ice skating at Rockefeller Plaza

Liz in Central Park

Liz at Dylan’s Candy Bar

When Liz got home, we got to hear her tell her story from her perspective. She to tell us about Dylan’s Candy Bar. She described it in so much detail. How all of the candy bar wrappers said Dylan’s Candy Bar. How the stairs had candy in them. And how there were huge gummy letters and they spelled their names out of the gummy letters. At the Lego store, she created a Lego Uncle Bobby. She talked about Matilda. And how there was a scene where the girl was tossed by her hair. Then she went on to explain that Uncle Bobby knows how these things work, and told her about how they used a dummy to throw the girl across the stage instead of throwing the real actress. She also told us about Bobby’s apartment. And how Uncle Bobby taught her to skate backwards – he was an ice hockey player in high school and learned to skate on ice hockey skates. Then she showed us all of her pictures, and it told the story through her eyes.

Bob teaching Liz to skate at Rockefeller Plaza

Uncle Bob at Serendipity

Bob and Liz, Rockefeller Center

I am happy for Liz and for Bob. At the same time, it is kind of sad that their little trip together had to end. Liz misses her uncle. He really is something.

Super Uncle, Bob Kennedy, takes his niece to the top of the Empire State Building

March 17, 2014
by davekenn Leave a comment

Six with skis

Last night, we took a little trip up to Ski Liberty. None of the kids had ever been skiing before. And I hadn’t been skiing since before Marcia and I met, over 17 years ago. So, we piled the oldest 4 kids into the van and drove up there.

We started them off with a lesson.

Marcia – dropping off kids at Ski school

Ready for ski school

Ready for some skiing

The kids were off with their instructor and Marcia and I were able to take a few runs by ourselves. I took a few runs down the back side of the mountain by myself and was able to ski a Black Diamond before meeting back up with the kids. An hour lesson and they were doing great.

Maggie – hands on her knees, no poles

Eden – flying down that mountain

Liz – focused on her turns

Noah – No fear

And then some night skiing as a family.

Having fun

Kennedy gang at Ski Liberty

We mostly stuck to the bunny hill.

I love how comfortable the kids all were. They got on the chair lifts by themselves, and were calling to each other from the chair lifts and waving to each other on the mountain. It was really cool. Before the night was over, I took Liz over to a bit faster hill for one last run.

It was cool that I remembered how to ski after all these years. And it was interesting that Marcia and I had never skied before. She kept remarking that she never knew how good of a skiier I was. Interesting that we have spent all these years with each other and there are still sometimes things that we don’t know about each other.

Very cool night. They all wanted to do it again. Eden wanted to spend the night. On the way home, we stopped at IHOP for breakfast at night. This morning, with 7 inches of snow on the ground, I took Liz to an early morning bus to NYC to spend a few days with her godfather. The rest of us have a snow day 🙂

January 14, 2014
by davekenn Leave a comment

Signature Chumash

Signature Chumash on Flickr

This weekend was the inaugural weekend for Signature Chumash. Sean, my father, and I are running a league for 2nd grade boys, and we’re also having the Redshirts playing the sport. We are doing so at GoalsBaltimore, a new arena in Catonsville.

Signature Chumash at GoalsBaltimore

It was a blast for all involved. We ordered jerseys for the boys that would just pop. They remind me of the jerseys we wore in Canada when we played box lacrosse way back when. We played music while the kids played, and Sean and I ran the games. There was no coaching. There were no politics, and we were able to keep the negativity on the other side of the glass, and there wasn’t much of that anyway. A little carryover from the rec atmosphere, but thankfully I am able to get rid of that.

The kids just played, and they knew that they were playing for fun. They were not playing for their parents. They were playing for the enjoyment of the game.

Noah

When we put the teams together, I tried to make them as balanced as possible. There were several kids that I didn’t know, some that I knew as big, some that I knew as talented, and some that I suspected would be wallflowers. I tried to divide these up pretty evenly and also put Noah and Topher on the same team. When it was done, I traded the biggest kid on Noah’s team to a different team for a kid that I knew would be pretty small. I didn’t want’ Noah’s team to have any advantage.

Topher

At game time though, it turned out that the kids I didn’t know on Noah’s team was actually pretty good, and they ended up beating the other team 11-3.

Liz

When Liz played with the Redshirts, I could tell she was determined. She was determined to score. I have been telling her that she will need to score to be taken seriously as a feeder. So, she went out there on Sunday and scored a boatload of goals. Her team won 18-17. She had the tying and winning goals amongst her tallies.

More pics on Flickr

November 7, 2013
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Half marathon with Liz

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Last month, Liz and I ran the half-marathon in Baltimore. At age 11, she is the youngest to have ever run this race in Baltimore. And she completed the race in 2:00:00. That is a fantastic time. To put that in perspective, the next youngest girl was 12, a few years earlier, and finished in 3:57:00, nearly two hours slower.

We’re ready for this race

13.1 miles. Our plan was to run 9 1/2 minute miles. But, we got on the course and Liz was like a jackrabbit, in and out of traffic, passing people through the streets of Baltimore. We ran the race with my cousin, Dave. The first 6 miles were Dave and I trying to catch up with Liz. She was pushing the pace at around 8:00 minute miles, and the majority of the first 6 miles was uphill.

Liz and Dad – pre-race

Miles 7-9, Liz started to cramp and felt like she was going to throw up. Our pace slowed to nearly 11 minute miles. Then, all of a sudden, she darted ahead, and was back at 8 minute miles til the finish line. We kept up with her until mile 10, then caught up with her at mile 11. But, then she was gone, and we didn’t catch her again. Dave and I finished two minutes behind my 11-year old daughter, and loved every minute of it.

I saw Dave this past weekend. He said he has logged 80 miles running this month. He is determined that we will be able to stay with Liz next year!

I don’t see my cousin often, but we shared this race, and it has brought us closer together.

Liz at the finish

Liz – final steps

Liz – 2:00:00

Home stretch

Almost there

Coming down the home stretch

Liz and Dave

Our wolfpack

Determined to win it

October 6, 2013
by davekenn Leave a comment

Field Hockey girls

Yesterday was a really fun day of sports. I got to take all the boys to Noah’s soccer game, a game in which he played really well and his team won 5-0. He played goalie the second half, and had one spectacular dive save, which was really cool. And then we all went to a field hockey tournament and watched the girls, Eden, Liz and Mom, play.

The girls won the Gold division of their age group. They played hard, with total effort, no subs most games and down a man for one game. 5 games total on the day. I was very proud of how hard they played in the 5th game, when they were visibly exhausted, but they kept running up and down the field and making plays. Eden scored 4 goals across the games. Liz played really tough. And Marcia coached the team really well, the best the field hockey team has looked in a long time. One of the highlights for the day was when Eden notched the winning goal in the semi-finals in the last 2 minutes of the 1-0 game against Brandywine.

Although the championship game atmosphere has become a little old hat for me and Sean and all of the Redshirts girls, many of these girls and their parents had never been in this type of position before. So, I was very glad that the girls were rewarded for their tremendous efforts with a few exciting wins and a 1st place ribbon.

And I am very proud of my wife. She motivated them. They were in the right positions to be effective. And they moved the ball better than they normally do. She put them in the best position to be successful and they delivered.

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Team Pyramid

Eden scores against Perry Hall

Liz in traffic

Eden scores 2nd against Perry Hall

Coach Marcia

Liz getting down

Eden

Girls win 1st place

September 25, 2013
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Bethany Beach Tri

My first triathlon.

George ran the Bethany Beach triathlon last year. He invited some of his friends to join him the next year. In the meantime, his father-in-law, Guy Cesare, developed cancer and has been fighting the fight for life. George decided to start a team, Tri4Guy, and raise money for the cancer research center that has been treating Guy. Sean, Matt and I signed up, and Elizabeth joined the team as well. It was an exhilarating race, and I am glad that we were able to dedicate it to a man that we all love.

Tri4Guy – Bethany Beach Triathlon 2013

For me, this was my first triathlon. My training was suspect. But I am proud of my performance. I did not do well timewise in the water or in any of the transition areas. But, I am very pleased with my performance on a bike and on the run. And I was honored to ride Guy’s bike in the race. In the water, George and I swam together. On the bikes, Sean and I kept pace for each other. And on the run, Matt and I ran together for 2 of the 4 miles.

Liz did the duathlon, biking and running. She did great and won her age group, 19 and under. All of the guys were great with her. They were all like supportive and protective dads for her throughout the race. When they crossed paths with her on the highway, they all yelled out to her how great she was doing. And when they crossed paths with her on the run, George and Sean gave her high fives. And she was waiting at the finish line to cheer each of us on as we finished.

I am so happy to have done this, and with some of my oldest friends. This was a great weekend for the Kennedys, Hipszers and Gaisers.

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Liz – 1st place

Liz being cheered on by the Hipszers

Matt going into transition

Liz at the finish

Me at the finish

Sean at the finish

George at the finish

September 2, 2013
by davekenn Leave a comment

Labor Day field hockey

Our hometown’s recreational program hosts a play day for field hockey on Labor Day. Liz and Eden are on the same field hockey team this year. This is the first year they’ve actually been on the same sports team for anything. Eden is playing up, as a 3rd grader, in a 4th/5th grade league.

Eden held her own yesterday through three games. She had one shot, and just missed the goal. Besides that, she was in on some action and fought hard on the field. Smallest player on the field, but one of our best players.

Liz is really playing well. She is unassuming, but is the best player on our team. It was on full display in the last game on turf. The other team was stacked, and the rest of our team was pretty gassed. It was like heavyweights throwing punches, the other team’s best players kept making tremendous plays, and Liz would counter. Big drive, Liz stops it cold; Liz dodges through one player, stopped by the next, then Liz runs her down and takes the ball back. All game long.

The best part is that a bunch of high school players were watching the game and working the clock and tents. After the game, they saw Liz and told her that they had been watching her play and that she is a star.

Even better, Liz shyly said thanks, and never told her mother this. Humility. I just happened to overhear it all. Proud dad.

Six With Sticks

by Six Kennedy kids and their parents

Category Archives: Elizabeth

2nd day of tryouts

On her first day of tryouts

There and Back Again: A Big Red Tale

Liz heads to NYC

Six with skis

Signature Chumash

Half marathon with Liz

Field Hockey girls

Bethany Beach Tri

Labor Day field hockey