June 24 – My Mom told me that I am going to go with the Washington Bayhawks to San Francisco! I get to ride on the plane with them, go to practice with them, breakfast, the game, dinner!!! All I can think of is “WOW” and “why me?” My league, Eastern Loudoun Lacrosse got two slots to go with the Bayhawks. The co-owner of the Bayhawks, Jeff Harvey, is letting me come along, I bet he is really cool. My league (Coach Peter and Mr. Madigan) voted me to go. I am really wishing my Dad was here so he could go with me but he is in Iraq and has been gone since October. He won’t get home until December of this year. But this will be an AWESOME trip!

July 12 – I meet my Grandpa Marlin (my Dad’s Dad) at the Pentagon City Mall. He has just flown in from Tennessee and met us here. We have to leave really early in the morning so me and Grandpa are going to get a hotel room at BWI tonight. My mom called the airline and I have to check my stick! I wanted to bring it on the plane with me.

July 13, Friday – We had to get up really early, like at 4am. We got to the airport by 5 am. That was the first time I talked with Kyle Dixon. He asked me how old I was and where I lived. Cool! I felt really cool!

We got on the plane for a 6:50 flight, and it was a regular plane. Some of my friends were sure it would be a private jet. Still, this is pretty cool. I sat with my Grandpa but Chris Garrity was sitting just a couple of seats away. I really like him. We talked about what it was like playing in pros. “It is hard, they shoot pretty hard!” Chris said. Then he was telling me about this gnarly bruise he got on his shoulder that one of the Rochester Rattlers gave him. Awesome!

The plane ride was really long, we had to make 1 stop. The airline did not have the Bayhawks sticks on the plane when we got to California!!! My stick made it and everyone said “Great, we can use Lane’s stick, no problem”. We were laughing about it but I think they were a little worried. The bus ride to the hotel took long too, over an hour I think but I didn’t care. I was talking with Kyle some more. He was sitting sort of next to me. He said he had a head he was thinking about giving me. Everyone was talking to me, Tom, Matt, Buggs, Chris, Ronnie, Casey, Shawn, Christian, Bill, Kevin, Mike, Brendan. Tom said he wanted to throw the ball with me at practice later. I thought “oh yeah!” So awesome!

We got to the hotel and I took a nap. I have had lots of fun already. These guys are really cool. They don’t act like they are too good to talk to me. I called my Mom and told her that “this is the trip of my life!!” Then I told her all about the guys I talked to AND that Kyle was maybe going to give me a head. She could not believe it. My Mom had talked to my Dad that day and he was going to try to call Grandpa’s cell phone at breakfast tomorrow. I hope he can.

Practice field (Friday night) – The sticks got to California! I was really hoping that they would let me play on the field with them but my Mom and Grandpa had told me not to get in the way. The Bayhawks came out on the field and Kyle, Tom and Matt ASKED ME to throw the ball with them. I was thinking that my friends will never believe this.

They gave me a helmet to borrow. Tom taught me how to shoot between my legs. Kyle taught me how to shoot behind my back. I also got to shoot on Chris and I totally juked him and scored. I really know that he let me score but he made it look pretty good. Matt passed the ball with me too and I was out with them for awhile. I didn’t want it to end.

They started practicing hard so I left the field. They kept coming back and bringing me on the field. I watched the entire practice and they worked really hard. They wear their helmets and gloves only. It had to hurt. They never fooled around and they were playing like it was a real game. At the end of practice, my Grandpa asked if he could get a picture of me with the team and Coach asked them to all get together. That is going to be a great picture!

Back to the hotel (Friday night) – I was really tired. I did not want the day to end but I was so tired that I fell asleep thinking that I still had the rest of the weekend with the Bayhawks. I am so lucky.

July 14, Saturday – Got up and went to breakfast with the team. My Dad called from Iraq and Kevin Frew, Chris Garrity and Ronnie Staines all talked to my Dad. They were thanking him for what he was doing – MY Dad! Totally awesome that they think my dad is cool.

Got on the bus and went to the field. Went out and practiced with the team again. Ronnie and Kyle threw the ball with me again. They are really nice. Before the game started, Mr. Harvey took me out on the field and threw the ball with me in front of everyone. That was pretty incredible, he is cool, I thought.

THE GAME – So awesome. They were so good. We won (16-15) in the final seconds. It was crazy. I was right on the sidelines with the team. I even took water to the team during time-outs. ESPN did an interview with my Grandpa and me which was really fun. I held up a picture of my Dad holding a sign saying “Go Bayhawks”. I went with the team into the locker room at half time. Ok, just so you know, they do swear a little. I got to run out the tunnel with them. I loved it. Sort of like I was a Bayhawk!

Dinner (Sat) – I remember that Matt almost got attacked by a seagull and Kyle and I saw some rats climbing trees (when we were on the bus). We ate at a fancy restaurant. I got pork chops but I think most of the players got lobster. I was sitting with my Grandpa and Kyle came over and asked me to sit at his table with a bunch of the other players. They just grabbed a chair for me. My food wasn’t out yet, so the guys at the table cut off a bunch of their food so I could eat, awesome. I talked to Ronnie’s wife and she was really nice to me. She is a math teacher. Everyone felt good about the game, especially me. Kyle gave me the head. A Warrior Stiffi!! My mouth hung open because this head isn’t even out yet. Whoa! My friends are going to be amazed. I think Kyle is like a big brother to me, the whole team acted that way. They are the best.

I talked with Kyle, Matt, Brendan, Bill, Tom, Buggs and Shawn – every single player talked to me, I think. Wow, this was way cooler than I thought it would be. My mom said that they might not have a lot of time to spend with me, but they spent all their time or a lot of their time talking to me and teaching me. This is the best ever and I will always remember this trip and these guys. I talked to them about my Dad and told them that I missed him. They all said that they knew and they bet it was hard for me.

Back to hotel – went to bed, we have to leave early again.

July 15, Sunday - Bus to airport. Pretty much everyone slept, we were all tired. I talked with the guys some more on the plane. I couldn’t believe it was finally over. What a great weekend.

I keep wondering how I got to go on this trip. Eastern Loudoun was so awesome to let me go. And I keep thinking of the Bayhawks, Coach, Brad and Mr. Harvey, who let me come with them and see what their weekend was like. They spent so much time with me and took really good care of me. My Grandpa told my Mom that he really didn’t need to be there as a chaperone, the players, Coach or Mr. Harvey had me all the time.

I told my Mom that I will always remember this trip, for as long as I live. I asked my Mom if she thought they would remember me. “Yes”, she said. “As much as they have touched your heart, I am sure you have touched theirs”. I told my Mom that was kind of, you know - sappy - but I liked it. This has been a really bad year for me with my Dad gone. I am really proud of my Dad but I am worried that something might happen to him in Iraq. But the Bayhawks made this my best year ever. You guys Rock! We are having a huge Welcome Home party for my Dad in December, I told my Mom to invite the Bayhawks, everyone from the Bayhawks. She said she would. Cool!

Oh, I got my head from Kyle strung at Mad Lax and everyone there wanted know how I got that head. I just said “Kyle gave it to me.” They answered “you mean Kyle…Dixon?” “Yep”. Too cool.

GO BAYHAWKS!

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