Luray Caverns, a set on Flickr.
On July 21, 2012, the Kennedys took a grand adventure to Luray, VA and the Shenandoah Valley National Park. Eden, Elizabeth, Mom and Dad each had cameras to capture the fun and the sights. These are pictures from inside Luray Caverns.
We were planning a grand adventure today. Maybe Assateague. Maybe Gettysburg. I got up at 5AM, ready to go. By 7:30, I realized both of these options were probably out. Everybody was tired. So, we got …
That’s right. Cascade Lake. $80 for the carload to enter. The kids had a ball. They had a lake, some slides, some diving platforms, and a “poop deck”.
The highlights: Eden, Liz and I went down the Miracle Slide. Liz and I jumped off of the high dive. It was about 15 feet up. And yes, I did land on a girl below.
Look out below
I was too afraid to look down, so I just jumped. Oops.
There was also a little splash and spray area for the little kids. 4 hours. $80. I think we can chalk this one up as an “adventure”. But, I’m not sure if we’ll be back.
Check out our trip on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sixwithsticks/sets/72157630906056910
Marcia and I decided to take the kids on an adventure on Saturday. We planned the trip for a few days prior, but we didn’t tell them where we were going. We kept it a surprise. We only told them what to prepare: a change of clothes, a sweatshirt or jacket, cameras, shoes/socks and flip flops, a bathing suit and binoculars. The trip we had planned was a day trip to Shenandoah Valley. The kids asked fo days, “Are we camping?” and “Are we staying overnight?”.
We got the kids out of bed around 5:30AM on Saturday the 22nd. We left the house at 7:30. Our first stop was at Luray Caverns. None of us had been there before, and we were not disappointed. We spent about an hour touring the caverns. Then we spent time in the Garden Maze. And the kids mined for gems and minerals in the sluice. We left in time for lunch.
I thought it would be good to picnic at a scenic point in the Shenandoah National Park. We were planning to drive Skyline Drive and see the sites. It was so cloudy, we could barely see 10 feet in fron t of the car. So, we had a picnic in the clouds. And then we all experienced our first toilet pit along the Appalachian trail.
We took a hike down Dark Hollow Falls Trail. Luke on my back and Jack strapped to Marcia, we all hiked down to the falls. It was a beautiful sight. THe kids played in the falls at the bottom, and then we hiked all the way back up to the top of the trail.
But when we got to the car, our adventures weren’t over. The car was very low on gas, so we consulted with our maps. Found the closest gas station, several miles south, and gassed up. Phew. We made it. It was quite an adventure. And we caught the bug on adventures!
Elizabeth turned 10 on Friday. Marcia’s quote on Facebook:
Ten years ago today I met the determined little lady that made me a Mommy. She is still living her life with that same fierce determination that brought her into this world. Tell her she can’t and she will show you five ways she can. We are so proud of you Liz. Your large family loves you so much. Stay determined the world is filled with endless possibilities. Happy Birthday!
I couldn’t have stated this better. Determination = Elizabeth. Have you ever met a kid who has been denied more times but keeps proving everyone wrong? And doing so with grace and humility. I’m proud, and also impressed that my daughter has some qualities that I have lost in myself. Such as humility … I have to brag on the kids all the time. I don’t like braggards, but I see so many mediocre kids have been put ahead of my kids because they have been hyped so much by their parents, yet aren’t as worthy as mine. So, I’m going to brag on my 10 year old.
She’s become quite the draw girl in lacrosse. She pulls the ball. Here she is against Perry Hall, she scored 4 in this game.
Liz in a 12-5 victory over Perry Hall.
On her Redshirts team, she is a 4th grader playing against 5th and 6th graders. Two weeks ago, we lost to a RGLC 2018 team (6th graders), 17-10. Liz scored 4 goals, including the last goal of the game as time expired, never quit, although she was the smallest girl on the field. Marcia and I are so proud.
Tonight, she wrote an essay for the principal at Hillcrest in order to be a safety next year. Her essay was on responsibility and being a role model. Here is what she wrote:
Dear Mrs. McVey,
Please consider me for the school safety position for next year. I would be happy to be any of the safety positions, but I am most interested in being one of the safeties that takes care of the kindergarteners. I like taking care of little kids because they are cute, funny and they make me smile. I would like to be a good role model for them. I care about safety and following rules, and I think I will make an excellent school safety.
One of the qualities that I think is important in a safety is responsibility. I show responsibility at home and at school. At home, I am the oldest of six children. I help my mother with my younger brothers and sisters all the time. Everywhere we go, I help get them in the car and put their seatbelts on. I also help with chores, like making their lunches in the morning or helping them at bath time. I have a younger brother and sister at school, and I make sure they get to where they are supposed to be before and after school. At school, I volunteer for the jobs that nobody likes to do, like the janitor. I think it is important to have a clean classroom. At school, I am responsible for myself and my schoolwork. For example, I always turn my homework in on time, and my library books are never overdue.
I think it is important that school safeties are role models for the rest of the school. I think I would make a good role model. I am always on good behavior. In class, I have always been on green. I am quiet and I always follow the rules. I am hard working and determined. Because of that, I am a GT student and have earned straight As. I also model good behavior at home and work equally hard at sports, including lacrosse, field hockey, basketball and swim team.
For these reasons, I think I would be a responsible and patient school safety. I hope you agree with me. I have wanted to be a safety since I was in 2nd grade, and I hope that you pick me. Thank you for considering me.
Sincerely,
Elizabeth Kennedy
As much as I am proud of her, I also am fearful that she will be denied something again by adults. I’m just so used to it at this point that it is discouraging. I told her tonight that all we can do is try our hardest at everything, and if others don’t notice or pick us, that is their problem; just as long as we know that we have done our best, that is all we can ask.
A few weeks ago, a man saw Liz and I playing catch and was very impressed with her skills. He’s associated with SkyWalkers club and wants Elizabeth to play there. He asked her to play in the Catonsville fall league. It’s a league for kids a few years older than Liz. She said yes. This morning, after she spent the night out at the Baecks, she was a little nervous about playing with the older girls (grades 5-8, she’s the only 4th grader).
But, when she stepped on the field, she did very well. She scored 2 goals. On one of the goals, she was tripled teamed, brought the ball out, juked all three and created an open lane to the goal for herself. It was very pretty, and many of the parents clapped. Marcia and I are very proud.
We are also worried. There are a ton of politics in Catonsville sports, and we’ve been hearing the ugly side of everything lately. I fear that Liz will not get her fair shot, and that Eden will also get her share of the shaft. Parents in this town are behaving poorly, very poorly, and I want to protect my daughters from all of the nonsense. I fear that I won’t be able to.
Also today, Liz’s field hockey team played the war hawks. Last year, the war hawks crushed every Catonsville team. Today, we beat them 11-0. Liz had a goal and she played very hard.
Eden played field hockey tonight as well and had a goal. Go Edie!
Noah played soccer yesterday with Jack. They play for Jack’s dad’s team. We are so pleased with Mike’s coaching, and the fun that Noah is having with his friend. They won 4-0, and Noah had a break away goal. It was great.
I am so proud. They are enjoying sports, and they are excelling. Elizabeth works as hard as any kid I know. I have a feeling that the others will as well as they get older.
Luke got his own lacrosse sticks today. PopPop and Grammy brought them over for his first birthday present. And he had fun with me on the floor, throwing balls to me, holding his stick, and putting the ball in the pocket of my stick.
“My first conscious memory was of my father crazy gluing a putter in my hand” – Tiger Woods (impersonator) – SNL sketch
Today was like any normal day, at least in terms of my activities. When I got out of bed and tied my tie, I went to work. Meetings, email, decisions. But, while I was having my mundane day, something extraordinary was happening in my family.
It started over a week ago. My father was getting nostalgic, and he wanted to do something special for Elizabeth. He started taking her for 3 or 4 hours a day. They’d go to the hardware store to buy 1000 feet of cord. Or drop some eel traps off of Ft. Smallwood Rd. Or assemble their trot line. Or build their contraption for pulling the line up onto the side of the boat. Or salting their eels. Or baiting their line. Or buying buckets to seal up all their equipment for afterwards. Yesterday, they were at it most of the morning. And Dad was still getting things together at 9 or 10 PM last night.
Today was the big day. Dad had made arrangements to rent a boat for him and Liz on the Wye River, a 16ft skiff. He knocked on the door at 4:15AM. Liz went to the door, he put his arm around her and off they went in the darkness. It had been almost 30 years since Captain Kennedy worked a trot line. But he was in his element today. He and Liz were on the water from 6:30AM til 3:30. They hauled in a bushel and a half of crabs. Big ones too.
When my mundane day ended, I got to realize what this was all about. I came home to a crab feast. Liz sat at the adult table with me, Pop Pop and Marcia. We all picked crabs as Liz and Dad told us stories of their adventure.
As I cleaned up late at night, and helped my mom unload all the stuff from their car, it reminded me just how much of an adventure my father’s life has always been, and how he has always made it an adventure for his kids and now for his grandkids. At work today, I interviewed someone for a User Experience director, someone nowhere near in tune with living life to the fullest as my father. My father crafted the ultimate experience for Liz.
Unloading the car, I looked at all the contraptions. I unloaded the weights that they made, that were tied to empty vinegar bottles which operated as buoys for the ends of the trot line. They had cut ropes with loops to easily attach the buoys to ends of the trot line, designed for easy assembly and disassembly. They had 1000 feet of trot lines neatly coiled in a bushel basket be bought used for $4. The kicker was the trot line assembly crafted out of pieces of wood, cut cords, PVC piping, a garden hose hanger, some small metal pieces, and, of course, some duct tape. Had it been me, I would have no idea how to do any of this.
A few years ago, I went fishing with George. We paid money. We went out on a boat. Someone baited our lines, and we cast our lines in the water. And pulled in fish. George married into money. And his in-laws bought a house on the bay, a pontoon boat, and crab pots and such so he can take his kids on adventures. He takes his kids out, picks the crab pots out of the water, and his kids think they are crabbing.
Pop pop did something different for Liz. She knows how to do it all now. And she worked. She assembled everything with Pop pop. Went to the stores with him and got all the supplies. Rigged it all up. And worked the lines for 9 hours. She earned her way. And provided a load of crabs for the family. She helped him haul it all in, clean up the boat, and pack up the car. She did it all.
A special experience. Much more than just a day of crabbing if you ask me.
(that melt my heart and make me laugh)
A lot has changed these last few months. Luke is getting bigger. And just the other day, he ate his first bowl of cereal.
Liz got straight As in school. And she went to a lacrosse camp and won first place in a long distance shot competition; she won a stick.
Long Distance Shot Winner - Elizabeth Kennedy
Eden just got her third spelling test in a row back, 100% all around + the bonus words. Basketball coming up this weekend and Liz is in the all star game. Both the older girls are preparing for the lax season and finishing up basketball. We’re thinking about whether or not to start Noah this year, but probably not, he’s too young.
Marcia is a fiend on the treadmill. Her ass is so fine… damn.
Tonight, Noah got an awful hair cut. Marcia and I gave it to him. We used scissors and dog clippers. Geez, I hope he doesn’t remember. I clipped his ear and he cried. Even through the drama, it probably looks better than it did beforehand. A few more weeks and he would have been Justin Beeber.
Tonight I got home from work and Maggie was dressed as a hootchie mama. Yes. Her grandmother brought her some bootie-licious outfits. Leather pants for a three year old. And the jacket… seriously. Marcia asked her to put it on. It lasted about 2 seconds and Maggie took it off saying, “I’m too stressed to wear this.”
But the kicker tonight, the thing I really want to look back on and belly laugh, comes from the other side of town. It comes from a psycho known as Barbie Siecke. You see, Barbie had a crush on my older brother George in Kindergarten. I guess she never got over it. This week, Audrey took the kids out of town to go to Florida, and Barbie invited him out for drinks! Really Barbie, really?
I’ve recently been putting things into perspective. Thought it would be neat to start a diary to record some of my thoughts.
We just spent a great weekend in Rhode Island. Jane married Tom this weekend. It wa
s a great event. It was a relatively stress-free weekend too, which is kinda crazy considering all the hours we spent in a car. The kids danced a lot at the wedding! Elizabeth danced with her godfather and learned some new moves. Eden already has moves, apparently. George tells me I’m in deep shit! Maybe he’s right.
This morning, in bed, Maggie said her name. I think it’s the first time I’ve ever heard her say Maggie. I asked her what her brother’s name was. “Whoah”. What about your sister, pointing to Eden. “E-ee”. So sweet her little voice and she laughed.
I read a really great quote this morning. “Life is for participating, not spectating.” Got me out of bed wanting to have a great day. So I took the kids for a run this morning, Elizabeth, Eden and Noah. Noah made it a block, Eden went about two blocks. Liz, of course, ran the whole way.
Later I took the kids up to Hillcrest. This was the first time Elizabeth rode without her training wheels. One of the moments in life I wish I had a camera, so proud. “I got past my fear Dad”, she said as she flew by me on the bike. “I realized it’s not as hard as I thought.” She got frustrated because she couldn’t make the turn on the short end of the parking lot. She tried it about 6 times unsuccessfully, and looked like she was going to cry when she ran into the curb and scraped up her leg. I told her that I guarantee that she’d be able to do it the next time we come up here. “No”, she said, “I’m going to get it now.” And she did, on the next try she started a wide turn from all the way to the right of the parking lot and nailed it!
Eden rode her bike the whole time. She’s gonna kick the training wheels before long. Noah rode his big wheel all over Hillcrest, with Maggie chasing him. They got disinterested before too long, and started playing with dirt and rocks. I didn’t mind, because they all were having fun.
Tomorrow I’ll be 33. Before we know it, we’ll have a fifth. Boy? Girl? We’ve kept it a surprise. Marcia has put up with a lot through this pregnancy. I’m hoping she makes it at least two more weeks so she can get her beach vacation…
Six With Sticks 