Zenna Mariani

a fun, social, sport

that makes you feel great when doing it

when you win you feel like you're on top of the world

where you make the best of friends

the best sport ever

Lacrosse

My Trip To Maine
I went to Maine this summer as our family's "Big Trip". We started out at my grandmother's house for a week. We went fishing and caught a giant nothing. Then went to a place we call The Jumping Rock where we go every year with our friends and jump off a rock a couple feet above a little creek. We also went bike riding and went down to a creek and caught two baby crayfish. Every two days we would get Perry's Ice Cream at the general store and eat our ice cream way too fast then get brain freezes. We also would go down to the Manor and eat dinner there. On the trip we saw a baby black bear on the front porch playing with our dog's chew toy.

After I went to my Grandmother's, my Grandma and I drove to my cousin's house and stayed there for two days. We went out to dinner and made cupcakes. We also went shopping and swam at my cousin's country club. My cousin and I played on her play set and threw a tennis ball to her dog, Finn. Sometimes we would just hang out and watch TV. After I went to my cousin' s, my Grandma, cousin, Aunt, Uncle, and I drove ten hours to Maine. There was a little problem though.....my cousin threw up, not only did she throw up in a tiny little car with the horrible smell staying in the car but she threw up all over the thing I was going to sleep on, my pillow! The wait and dreadful hours were all worth it when I stepped out of the car.

The view, the house, the people, the animals, everything was perfect! When I got there there was a rope swing and the house was right on the water. Once I saw everything I thought SCORE! After I was there for a little, we all went swimming at low tide which felt really weird because there was so much seaweed touching our legs that every two seconds you thought that some fish was wrapping itself around you and going to pull you under. My brother, sister, and I played in the water and then went on the rope swing, then we had a snack and hung out on the porch (my brother slept). The second day at Maine it was very cold, so we went to a gift shop (I didn't get anything). After we went to the gift shop my sister and I put Mall Cops 2 on, it was very funny. The second day there we went swimming at high tide and got a paddle board to try. Our neighbors were having a family reunion and we got to meet them. After dinner (6:30) my dad and I went out on paddle boards and canoes and we met up with our neighbors who had a boat. For two hours we were playing games and hanging out on the paddle boards. For the rest of the night we played outside, played games, watched TV, wrestled, and told stories. Once I finally dragged myself upstairs to get some sleep I couldn't wait to start again tomorrow. On the second day nothing special happened, we played outside, swam, rode bikes, and went to the store, and went to a beach a couple of miles from where we were staying. We did pretty much the same thing, rode bikes, swam at high tide, ate lunch and dinner out at lobster places (the lobster was amazing! So were the french fries), and just hung out for those couple of days. Thursday (we got there on Monday) our cousin and Aunt Heidi came to spend the rest of the trip with us. Once our Aunt Heidi got there everything started getting interesting because she grew up going to Maine. We went fishing and our dog got a fish hook stuck in his nose (long story) and we went swimming and hiking and went to the giant L.L. Bean store.

(New Marking Period 2) The morning of Sunday, my sister, brother, cousin, and I were playing at the clubhouse on our bikes and I tried doing a trickster move and did a front flip off my bike and landed straight on my arm. On Saturday my dad and mom rented a 17 foot boat that we rented for two days. The boat made the trip so much more fun. On the boat we drove to beaches, then jumped off the boat where it was shallow, then we swam to shore and had lunch and played for a couple of hours. We were docking the boat in the neighborhood clubhouse when my grandma and I saw a baby seal! The seal was so tiny and cute I was so excited I got to see it. The third to last day, we went canoeing and kayaking to a cafe for lunch(I paddle boarded). It was very tiring to paddle for so long and my arms were practically numb.... but it was still fun and afterwards I got the best lunch and scone. We did pretty much the same thing until we returned our boat. The ride to the marina was beautiful, and we saw what we thought was a seal, but it turned out to be TWO DOLPHINS! It was very funny the way my Aunt Heidi responded to that, she screamed at the top of her lungs "It's a dolphin!" in the strangest voice imaginable. Once we got to the marina I was very tired and also sad that we couldn't keep the boat. Our final day was up. We were packing and getting ready to leave, that was probably the worst part of the whole trip, preparing to leave. We were already and packed and I thought to myself, "See you next year." And we were on the road travelling back home.

My Revenge......CANCELED
I sprained my ankle playing Field Hockey a couple of weeks ago when the goalie fell on my leg. I had missed out on so many tournaments, games, practices, and parties for Field Hockey. Then, what do you know, my favorite sports starts, Lacrosse! Now while I'm sitting on the side line dilly-dallying will my cleats, all of my friends are playing in these awesome tournaments! Most of my friends and I have been playing Lacrosse together on the same team almost our whole lives, and now I can't play with them. Our team played in three tournaments that I couldn't play in and had to sit and watch. Even though we didn't win any of our tournaments, I still would have like to play in them. So, it was finally time to play in the Pumpkin Pie tournament the week before Thanksgiving, and my moment to gain revenge on all those times I watched our team suffer such tragic losses.....was canceled! The leaders of the tournament said the ballet (fancy word for players and number of players in the tournament) didn't have enough players and that was that, no revenge.......at least not yet.

My Lax Game

I played Lacrosse this weekend for the first time in a while. I have a lot of friends on my team. Alexis Brown is on my team. Mackenzie Malloy is also on my team. Cait Quinn is also one of my team mates. There are some other girls too. I made a couple of goals in the first half. Then I made a couple of passes to Cait in front of her cousins. That was Cait's first goal playing Lacrosse. We won the game 1-12. That was a good first game.

New Marking Period 3)
Basket-Ball

Dribble, dribble, shoot, score!

Everyone running across the floor

dribble, dribble, shoot, FAIL!

the basketball went flying through the air

you play, you pass, you have a blast!

the memories of playing will always last

Winter Break
This year the last day before winter break was December 22. Once the bell rung letting everyone know school was out for a while it was very relieving. Though I missed talking with Mrs. Steinen :).... I was ready for a break. During winter break we baked before Christmas came and also did some final shopping. On Christmas eve we went to church that night, then went to our friends house and played, then went to our grandparents. We talked and played with our cousin, Nathan. I got a black, STX, 4 pocketed gear bag for Lacrosse. I also got earphones that hook to your ears so they don't fall out. When we left that night we got all situated in bed and TRIED to fall asleep. I couldn't actually fall asleep until late. The next day we went downstairs and opened our stockings, I got some candy and other things. Then came the fun part...opening presents. I got some cloths, a lunch box, some other things, and a GoPro! The GoPro was my favorite gift. I still haven't tried it yet but I can't wait to finally get to. That night we went to my grandparents and got a Polaroid and new Patagonia jacket. We had dinner with my whole family then hung out until about 10 and left. For the rest of break we just hung out with friends, cleaned, and watched TV. I had a lot of fun and it was hard to go back to school, but I was ready to see all of my friends again and hang out with them.....also do work.

My dog Scout

Over the summer I got a dog. It was the first day of summer when I had gotten him. Ever since I was 7 years old I had begged and begged my parents for a dog. There were several paragraphs and poems and letters I wrote to my parents trying to persuade them to let me get a dog. My mom had finally looked into it and then said yes. After I heard that 3 letter word, I couldn't stop preparing for "the day". I would buy books for dog names and books on how to train dogs. I admit, I was a little to excited. My family and I were going back and forth trying to decide what to name the dog. My mom liked Bear. My sister liked Daisy. My dad didn't care. My brother liked Flash. Finally, I liked Ollie. We all kept looking for names since we couldn't decide. Once we had looked for about 2 months, we had decided on two names. Our two names were Utah for a girl. And our second name was Scout for a boy.

New Marking Period 4)

My Trip to Utah

My mom and I are supposed to go on a trip to Utah in a couple of weeks. We leave on May 5, and are going to stay for 4 days. The reason my mom and I are going to Utah is because my mom has a friend named Sunya. Sunya's daughter Sierra is graduating from college (University of Utah), and the family is throwing a party for her. My mom and I are staying in a house with a few of my moms friends whom she has known since she was just a kid. My brother and sister are not allowed to go because they are to young. The thing that stinks though is that I have to pay for everything myself. Even though I have never been there, I am hoping that we can hike, see Sierra's college,and maybe even go shopping. My mom has been there and she says that the trip is very fun, I am really excited and can't wait.... but just 4 more weeks.
We are finally going to Utah. I can't wait. Mom and Dad are going to pick me up early from school and then we will head to the airport. We are at the airport. I never flew on Delta before. We always flew with American Airlines. We are now finally boarding, here we Come Salt Lake City. We just got off the plane and it is amazing. There is snow on the mountains and it is 85 degrees out. The air smells like salt, almost like when you're at the beach. We are headed to Sunya's house. Mom has no idea where we are going. We have to use the map app on Mom's phone in order to get there. There is 17% left on Mom's phone and we are 20 minutes away. We only hope that we will make it in time or else we will be totally lost. We are finally there with 2% left on Mom's phone. Everything is red. There are red University of Utah banners everywhere. Red chairs. Red flowers. Even big fat red door. We ring the doorbell once, no answer. We ring it again, JACKPOT! There is Sierra in her Vet's uniform(her major was Veterinarian). She runs out quickly to go to a concert. I walk in and smell the food. Then I see everyone sitting outside. Once I walk through the doors to go outside, I know it will be a great trip.

I Am From

I am from Spaghetti at our grandparents'
15 people laughing around the table
I am from competitions about who can tell the funniest joke
repetitively hearing, "pass the Parmesan please"
I am from after dinner having pies, cakes, and ice cream
then the cousins playing tag until the sky is black and our legs are so tire we can't walk

I am from Lacrosse games in the yard
inviting friends over to have a catch
I am from practices at 6:00
with scrimmages at the end of each practice
I am from Saturday Games
Mom and Dad my coaches
I am from the weight of the pressure on my shoulders
the word SHOOT ringing through my ears

I am from beach days
2-hour car rides fighting with my brother and sister
I am from sand between my toes
what feels like the sand paper in Dad's tool box
I am from nights on the boardwalk
seeing the seagulls steal people's fries and food
watching them swoosh through the air and then attack
I am from a Dutch Wonderland at the beach
going on the annual log-floom ride
always trying to get the perfect face for the family picture

I am from sunsets in the backyard
watching the picture perfect combination of orange, pink, and purple
I am from races to the cow fence trying to see the last bit of sun for the night
when we finally reach the fence feeling like I ran a marathon
but then coming inside to a warm house, with great food and people who love me
I am from as good as it gets