Six With Sticks

by Six Kennedy kids and their parents

Category Archives: Maggie


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Luray and Shenandoah

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!


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Welcome home Daddy!

I had a long day at work today.  I was at work until about 7:30.  When I walked in the door an hour later, Maggie came running from the other room to see me.  Daddy, daddy, daddy.  Giggle, giggle, giggle.  Hide behind Daddy, then run away giggling.  With her little pigtails.

Maggie and Noah welcoming me home from work

Some days I get home and the dogs are barking.  Well, that is a given.  The dogs bark every time I walk in the door.  Some days though I walk into a hornet’s nest, everyone grouchy, and it’s high tension until the kids go to bed.  Well, really til they go to bed, and then finally go to sleep after several trips to their room or yells up the stairs.

But tonight, I walked in the door late, and everyone was in a good mood.  Noah hugged Maggie.  Then he lifter her up, she was giggling.  Then Edie wanted in, so she picked up Noah while he was picking up Maggie.  They were all smiling and giggling.

Then, Marcia let me have my little Lukie while she got everyone ready for bed.  I sat him next to me while I ate my dinner.  And we made faces at each other.  He smiled at me a lot.  It was some night.


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Cold February Memories

(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. 

  Now Marcia is making her own baby food.  She is a chef I tell you.

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?


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Thought I’d start a diary

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 was 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…