shawnwright.blog

Seems like not all that long ago Darby was entering her double digits. And like only yesterday she became a teenager. Looks like there's no going back, as she turned fourteen this week. Next year comes high school. Then driving. Then... life.

Here is Darby and I at dinner on her 14th birthday.



This is an awesome picture of Darby having fun opening her gifts at a dinner with her friends tonight. She had a blast!



Darby went to dinner and a movie with friends for her birthday.





Here's a short clip of Darby's friends singing happy birthday to her outside the movie theater.

Labels: birthday, Darby, video

Darby has been feverishly practicing for a piano recital at school this evening. Unfortunately she started feeling bad yesterday and woke up with a fever this morning. She missed school today, in fact, but the recital is a grade in her major and we were told there were few make-up opportunities left in the semester. So, she showed, and she played.



I was supposed to leave work a bit early in order to swing by home and pick-up the camcorder. But I couldn't leave as early as needed and so had to head straight for school. And as my point-and-shoot camera was flashing low-battery, in addition to being low on memory card space (again, didn't have time to go home), that left my phone as the remaining video capture source. That might have worked out great, but I forgot to change the default format from MMS quality so the frame-rate is low AND the predefined length is one minute. Really frustrates me that I didn't think to change that setting. So anyway, here we have the first minute of Darby's ninety-second song.

Labels: Darby, piano, school, video

The girls had their first orchestra performance tonight at school. Even though Darby is in her third year at this school, it's her first year in the orchestra, and of course this is Shelby's first year for both this school and orchestra. As Shelby is a strings major, there will be a lot more of these for her. Darby is not a strings major, but has really been enjoying it, and so may keep doing it as well. Darby, being a piano major, has a piano recital on Friday (what, you're not watching the calendar?), so keep your eyes out for pics from that soon.

Here's a picture of Darby's orchestra (Beginning Orchestra).



Here's a picture of Shelby's orchestra (Intermediate Orchestra).



I took some video with my actual video camera, but not sure any of that footage is going to make it here. The girls neglected to let us know where to optimally sit for the best view, so in both cases the conductor obstructs our view of them.

Labels: Darby, orchestra, school, Shelby

The girls and I visited the Christmas lights in Yukon, OK tonight. I highly recommend them. Much to see. Biggest I've seen that's for sure. Plus two animated light shows. However, expect it to take awhile, the secret is out and the lines are L-O-N-G...

Labels: Darby, holiday, Shelby

We took family pictures today. The girls look beautiful as ever. I'm not super happy with how I represented the family this year. But what's done is done.

Here's a couple pictures of the girls from just before and then during pictures. I'll upload the finished product when they're ready.







UPDATE

Okay, here they are, the finished products. Just ignore the part that includes me.










As always, you can find these and many other pictures in the family album.

Labels: Darby, family, holiday, pictures, Shawn, Shelby

Of all the places you'd expect to run into an "international music sensation", a craft fair in small town Oklahoma (Owasso to be exact... population <20000 is still small, right?) is not one I'd expect to find on the list. Or at least not high on the list. But wouldn't you know it, Darby happened to bump into one while working a booth at the fair in support of her mom's business. Nice.

Here is a picture of Darby with Garth Brooks. Who knew he was a Mets fan. Gah!

Labels: Darby

Halloween came and went pretty quickly. Here are some pics from the weekend.


Friday night I went to a friend's Halloween party. I'm supposed to be a Jabbawockeez, though I think my results varied.



Here's Darby and Shelby before heading out on Saturday night, followed by a pic of each of them out trick-or-treating. Notice Darby's live pet rat in her hands, which she took with her, saying "witches always have their pet rats with them".

Labels: Darby, holiday, Shawn, Shelby

Darby and Shelby had a choir concert at school tonight. Here's a video of one of Darby's numbers.

Labels: choir, Darby, school, Shelby, video

Darby had a piano recital at an area nursing home this afternoon. Due to short notice from the piano teacher, many of her students couldn't make it, so it was a shorter than usual performance (about 35 minutes). But that was good because we had much else to do today.

Labels: Darby, piano

Darby has been an altar server for four years, but today was Shelby's first day as an altar server at church. I was a little nervous about them serving together, because as siblings they argue at the most inappropriate times. Unfortunately, they HAD to serve together since Darby is a senior server and responsible for Shelby's training. But much to my delight, I was pleasantly surprised by how smoothly things went between them up there.

Labels: church, Darby, Shelby

After the disappointing OU loss, we cheered ourselves up with some pumpkin carving.

Never the conformist, Shelby insisted on carving her pumpkin the old-fashioned way.



While Darby took a shot at a complex stencil.



More carving pics can be found in the album.

Labels: Darby, holiday, pictures, Shelby

Darby went on her first parentally sanctioned "date" today. We're just talking three hours of shopping at the mall, so very tame. Things seem to have gone well. And, of course, I was "around", as Shelby and I also shopped, but stayed away from Darby and Mike.

I spoke with his mother pretty extensively before hand. He seems to be a good kid and seems to come from a good family. So, while I'm still a cautious dad (with access to firearms), I'm generally pleased thus far, as it could definitely be much worse.

Labels: Darby

We got the girls' school pictures back today. Darby doesn't like hers and wants re-takes. Thoughts?


More pictures of Darby are in the album.

Oh, by the way, that's not Shelby's real hair in the back. She's wearing a clip-on hair extension thing she got for her birthday.


More pictures of Shelby are in the album.

Labels: Darby, pictures, school, Shelby

Darby's softball team finished their spring season last week, with tonight being trophy night. They went 8-2 in their division to take second place, shy of first by only a game. Their overall record was 12-4-1, with the 2 additional losses going to upper division teams, and the tie going to an older team (14U vs our 12U team). Not a bad season looking back, and probably the most diverse for Darby, who played 1B, 2B, SS, 3B, and C during the season (mostly 1B and SS). The most frustrating aspect had to be our narrow loss to a division team we had beaten handily earlier in the season. Had our offense not slumped that game, we would have tied for first at least, and possibly would have done better depending on the tiebreaker rules.

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Labels: Darby, pictures, softball

These two pictures were taken about 45 minutes apart. The oldest daughter had a choir performance at school, followed immediately by a softball game. Actually, the softball game started while we were at the choir show. The coach placed her at the bottom of the lineup, so, due to our hustle (including a creative changing effort in the back seat of a moving vehicle), she didn't miss an at-bat, though did miss a half-inning in the field. She had a great performance at the choir show and a very nice ballgame that included a base hit and a couple nice defensive plays, one involving a diving stop at short.

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Labels: choir, Darby, school, softball

Caption: Darby on third base just moments before stealing home
on a passed ball to tie the game.

For the majority of the game, we led 4-1 over a superior team (higher class, better record), but a few key mistakes on our part allowed them to catch up and overtake us, 4-5. As the visiting team, and with just a few minutes left in the game, we began what was sure to be our last at bat if we didn't get any runs on the board.

Labels: Darby, softball

Thursday morning I dropped the eldest daughter off at school and she was fine. Totally fine. The picture of health as far as I knew.

When she got home from school, she called me at work to say she had a headache and body aches. I had her take her own temperature while I was on the phone with her... 99.9. So, I had her take a tylenol and get in bed to rest. She had the flu back in February, and thus far it had seemed like a recurrence.

Friday morning the fever was up to 101.4. Given that it was Friday, I went ahead and called the doctor for advice, which was to take her in.

At the doctor's office a few tests were administered. Flu, negative. Strep, negative. Blood test were done but we didn't get results right away. At that point the daughter was complaining of pain everywhere, particularly in her abdomen, but she was not vomiting or anything like that. She did also get a couple antibiotic shots while at the doctor's office. But the doctor was concerned about her hydration and the nature of the infection, and decided to admit her to the hospital so she could be further tested and monitored.

I couldn't believe it. Twenty-four hours earlier she was at school and fine. The next day we we're on the way to the hospital. Ugh.

At the hospital they took a chest x-ray to make sure she didn't have pneumonia, which she didn't. They hydrated her by giving her a liter of IV fluids within two hours, keeping her on a slower pace of fluids and IV antibiotics for the rest of the stay.

We ended up being at the hospital for 26.5 hours, but left with as few answers as we arrived with. Miscellaneous infection of unknown origin. We have to visit the doctor today (a Sunday!) for another antibiotic shot. And tomorrow we have a follow-up appointment. The daughter hasn't had a fever since Friday and is feeling much better, but we sure didn't plan on such a big chunk of the weekend being taken up by a hospital visit.

Labels: Darby, hospital

Darby performing Sonatina in C Major by Latour for her 7th grade school piano recital. Some mistakes, but she had a bad morning. Woke up late, didn't have time to practice before the show, etc. Pretty good all things considered.

Labels: Darby, piano, school, video

Blurry and way too distant camera phone shot of daughter #1 at her school piano recital this morning. Similarly distant and blurry video forthcoming.

Labels: Darby, piano, school

We've been practicing for awhile now, but tonight was the first game, and certain schedule mayhem awaits as the season progresses.

We got off to a great start. For forty-five of the seventy minutes we were in the lead. But a series of "rookie mistakes" allowed the opposing team to run-rule us in an inning, giving them the lead. Even so, we pulled back to within one run with less than ten minutes to play. And with five minutes to play, daughter number one was at bat with the bases loaded. She did get a hit, but a play was made on the force out at home, preventing the tying run from scoring. In the end we lost by that one run, but all the issues we had can be fixed, so there's not too much disappointment for a first game. We're supposed to play in a tournament this weekend, which has a four-game minimum, so we will be all softballed out in less than a week.

The weather was very uncooperative and unspringlike tonight. Somewhere in the upper forties I believe with a 20+ mph wind. Though we were all bundled up, it was still darned cold.

Also of note, we actually had batting practice for an hour before the game. At that time, our ONLY pitcher (eek) was still at a track meet over an hour away. So who was going to pitch in her stead? You guessed it, daughter number one and her six weeks of pitching lessons. Boy did that make her nervous, and boy was she relieved when our pitcher arrived about five minutes before game time. We warmed up her pitching arm between at-bats at practice, and it was promising but spotty, though it would have been interesting to see how it would have gone for her, nerves aside.

Update
2009 softball pictures will be added to the album as the season progresses. In the mean time, there are tons of pics from the 2008 season.

Labels: Darby, pictures, softball

I enjoyed having the opportunity to see the girls try on their junior attendant dresses this evening, though I can't say it wasn't a little bit awkward considering the dresses are for their mom's (my ex-wife) upcoming wedding. Probably more humorous was either Shelby's propensity to hug the mannequins (annoyed that I didn't take a picture of that) or my embarrassment with being the only guy in the bridal shop.

Labels: Darby, Shelby

Tonight's game was both highly anticipated and somewhat feared, as the girls' were going up against a team that quite handily trounced them in the winter league. However, our team has improved quite a lot since then, so it probably shouldn't have been much of a surprise that we help up decently against them.

They came out of the gate with an early lead, but we tied it back up two-all. Darby drove in the tying run! They went ahead again, but we also tied it back up once again. There were numerous exciting plays to keep things alive, such as a "phantom triple" which started out from a dropped third strike. A single that was stretched into a double with a tag-avoiding slide, and the most exciting play of them all that pretty much ended the game.

Our opponents were poised to re-take the lead with runners on second and third and no outs. Our girls were tiring and so not making the good pitches or throws or catches. In fact, the coach changed our pitcher (something rarely done) in an effort to hold the line. But we thought it was all over for sure when the opposing batter hit a tower shot to deep center field. I guess, given the situation, we (the parents, the crowd) didn't really imagine the possibility that it would be caught. And given the reaction of the other team, they quite certainly didn't think it would be caught. But it was, in fact, caught. Not only that, but the heads-up center fielder got the ball back to second, and the second baseman had the wherewithal to throw the ball to third (though barely in time to make the out). And just like that, we were saved. Yes, that's right... by a triple play. You heard me. A TRIPLE PLAY. How often does THAT happen at this level? It was awesome to see. Not only that, but even I had trouble believing what I had just seen. I had to check with the coach to make sure. But sure enough, a triple play it was.

Suddenly, and unexpectedly, we were back at bat with an opportunity to take the lead and, as home team, to win the game. But time was no longer on our side. There was only seven minutes left on the clock (which starts at seventy minutes). While we did get runners on base, the hard fought game had taken its toll, and we were unable to drive in those potentially winning runs. The game was called, and ended in a tie. But that must have been the one of the greatest tie games ever played. At least for this team. Certainly for Darby. And though we didn't win, as good as the other team was, a tie with us most certain will be viewed by them as a loss. And thus, a victory for us.

Go team.

Labels: Darby, softball

During Saturday practice Darby's softball team does pop fly drills, and they make it into a contest, the winner of which is dubbed the "Queen of Flies". Darby is typically in the top two, and today she was won two out of three times they played (she was second the third time). So, for today at least, she is the Queen of Flies.

Labels: Darby, softball

After winning only two of the ten games they had played since the beginning of April (and those were early wins), Darby's softball team had a much needed win tonight, with the difference being that they never lost the lead. With solid defense and better offense than they've had recently, I think this one will be a huge confidence boost. We'll see if it sticks come next week. Darby had a great night defensively, though wasn't as productive behind the plate (not due to lack of trying... good contact, tough time beating out the throws).

Labels: Darby, softball

Darby's (non-school) softball regular season started today. We lost the game pretty badly largely on little mistakes, a couple of which Darby made. Another game on Wednesday, so hopefully the girls shake it off and find a groove.

Some pics from the game in the album.

Labels: Darby, softball

Darby had another softball tournament today, while I've been in Texas for a wedding. I talked to her on the phone tonight to see how it went. She says they lost all for games, three by a lot and the fourth by 1. What's nice about that one slight loss is that we play that same team again on Monday during a regular league game, so now we know we can take them with a little more effort. Darby says she got a double (awesome!) and had some good outs, but that the team started to get cranky with all the losses and could have had a better attitude about it. Very good observation, Darby.

I'll have you know these are probably the first games I've missed of Darby's in years, if ever, and she's been playing since she was 4. If I weren't the best man in this wedding (i.e. just a guest), probably I don't miss those games.

Also while I've been away, Shelby got to have a blast at a birthday party at Incredible Pizza tonight.

Be home tomorrow girls...

Labels: Darby, softball

Darby had a piano recital today. She was nervous and didn't play as well as I've heard her play her piece at home (and I've heard it A LOT), but she played decently under the circumstances (probably the biggest audience she's ever played for).

Labels: Darby, piano, school, video

As previously promised, the calendar has been updated with the games from Darby's other team. As usual, let us know if any of you family or friends are interested in attending some games and I'll send you details.

Labels: Darby, softball

Even though it was just last week that the team took official pictures for this year's softball season, we already got them back tonight. Man, that was quick! And Darby's pic looks great!


Update
The photographer of Darby's very first ball picture suggested a side-by-side comparison with this year's photo. So, here it is. My, where have the years gone?

Labels: Darby, softball

I could be wrong about this, but Darby was called out sliding into home tonight. Yes, it's a blurry photo, but I feel there's enough room to cast doubt. REALLY, the root cause of her being called out is a slight hesitation on her part about halfway home. Had she not done that, she would have been safe without question. But I prefer to blame blue. It just feels right.

She got into scoring position to begin with by drawing a walk and stealing twice. She then tried to steal home on a passed ball. No such luck.

However, during her prior at bat, she had an infield hit, and later scored. What was nice about tonight's game was that she was batting 2nd instead of at her previous 6th spot. Not exactly sure why she was moved, but I like it. And I think her value higher in the order was apparent, so hopeful it's a permanent change.


As usual, the traditional photo album update has been made.

Labels: Darby, softball

While Darby's first independent league softball game was on Tuesday, her first school team game was tonight (technically the school team played their first game on Monday, but Darby was at practice for her other team). She didn't have as many defensive opportunities as at the Tuesday game, but her offense was solid. She did ground out once, but she also had a solid RBI single, drew a walk, and scored a run (from first) on a triple by the following batter. Unlike Tuesday's game, Darby's team won today, though we definitely need some help at pitcher. Thought we might walk-in the tying run for a minute there.







The album has been updated with these pictures.

Labels: Darby, pictures, softball

Darby had her first softball game of the Spring season tonight, and though they lost, they had an excellent game defensively, especially Darby. The coach essentially said she was the defensive player of the game at shortstop, and it started right away. The very first pitch resulted in a grounder straight to her, which she charged, and zinged to first for the first out of the game. It was the most textbook play I've ever seen her make, and it really set the tone for the game.

She had several other good put-outs, including a nicely caught fly that looked for sure like it was going to get by her. Also she had a nice diving stop that saved extra runs from scoring.

The only scary moment was a missed fly that hit her in the chest. It so barely missed her head that every parent in the crowd gasped because we all thought it hit her face first. But she bounced right back up like it was nothing and got back in the game.

Overall it was a very impressive effort. I think all the extra practice the last month or so has really paid off.









The album has been updated accordingly.

Labels: Darby, pictures, softball

We're a few weeks into Spring softball practices, and this week, one of Darby's two teams asked her to be their backup catcher. She's played catcher before, years ago, and then again for one game this past winter/indoor season.

So this morning, following regular softball practice, the team had pitchers and catchers practice, and Darby did pretty well (better than expected). If she can keep with it, it will further improve her value to the team (which has become more competitive for positions this season). Maybe it will also further her options as she develops over the years into high school and college.

Here's a picture from the album.

Labels: Darby, pictures, softball

Darby bears the unfortunate burden of a winter birthday. For a kid, particularly of her age, this is a terrible thing. Contrast that with Shelby's deep-Summer birthday of August, and my nicely timed Fall Classic (October), and well, Darby doesn't much like us for that.

The trouble with a winter birthday is, of course, finding creative new indoor venues since a picnic in the park is inadvisable at best. When she was younger, not so much the big deal perhaps. In these recent years, however, she's begun to notice the shrinking original (to her) possibilities.

But this year, she finally got her summer birthday. So to speak.

We're fortunate to live in a building with an indoor pool. And equally fortunate the management allowed us to push the capacity limits of the small lap pool to have a bunch of screaming pre-adolescent girls running walking around. She had SUCH a blast! Hopefully photos will be published to the album before long.

Labels: birthday, Darby

So I've been gone for awhile. What's it to ya? I'm not even sure I'm back for good yet, so hold your tongue.

I have no good excuses. But the last time I blogged it was at the end of the school year. And tomorrow begins the next school year, so we'll just say I was on summer vacation for lack of a better reason.

I wrote many a blog entry over the summer, but didn't post for various reasons I'll not get into now. I may back-fill some of those blog entries, but I'm not making promises for the time being.

So, here's a brief summary of our summer...


Softball Camps and Clinics
Darby participated in a softball camp in June. Says she learned a thing or two. She also participated in an NCAA softball clinic.



Baseball
Darby played on a co-ed baseball team that experienced a "make-up season" instead of make-up games due to all the rain in June. There are photos in the album in addition to the below sample. She got to pitch quite a bit, and hit a couple homers of the inside-the-park variety.



Kingfisher
The girls spent two separate weeks with their grandmother in Kingfisher. The first week was rainy and indoors. The second was outdoorsy, but Shelby took a nasty spill off her bike. Guess it's good they got all that out of the way before Kingfisher ended up underwater.

New York
We took a trip to New York City in August, which was quite an adventure. We visited four of the five boroughs, took many subways and buses, went to both a Yankees game and a Mets game, and spent a lot of time in Central Park, among other activities. Additional pictures are available in the album.



Philadelphia
After NYC, we went down to Philly to visit family, friends, and landmarks. We went to the nations first zoo, fully experienced Six Flags Great Adventure, BBQed with friends, and spent a good amount of time in the historic district re-visiting Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, and other sites. Naturally, we also took in a Phillies game. Additional pictures are available in the album.



Got Hitched
Okay, so this is a complete fabrication. Pick your jaw up off the floor. But in all seriousness, I did meet someone rather unexpectedly, if you can believe that. I'm quite fortunate, and things are going rather splendidly in that regard, but I'll not be going into that much here or now.


Well, that covers most of the highlights. Hopefully this will not be the last you hear from me in awhile. Trying to get back into the swing. Bear with me.

Labels: baseball, Darby, New York, Philadelphia, Phillies, pictures, softball, trip

Labels: Darby, piano, video

Could you ask for a better Monday morning than having your daughter puke in the car on the way to school in the middle of heavy stop-and-go traffic on a major highway?

I didn't think so either, and that's what I got! How awesome is that?!?

Out of the blue, the previously healthy Darby yelped out, "Daddy, I think I have to throw-up!"

So there I was trying to avoid cars, reaching under my seat where I keep some plastic bags for muddy shoes or other such emergencies, and then trying to hand one back to her while she had both hands over her mouth making yack-heave sounds like it's coming any second...

Well, we made it. Mostly. Shelby yelped out in disgust because apparently Darby missed the bag slightly and got a little on the seat, but she was too busy yacking to pay much notice to anything else around her, including my incessant griping about the poor timing (like literally a minute sooner and could have pulled off at a gas station or something). Almost the entire rest of the time we were on the highway she was gagging and heaving into the bag. And that's EXACTLY the kind of soundtrack you want in the morning, let me tell you.

So we got to the school to drop Shelby off and I looked at Darby, who had as big a look of relief on her face as I've ever seen when I ask her... how do you feel? She says fine. I say, like how fine? I mean, I need a no crap answer, do you feel fine enough to go to school or are you staying with me? She says she can go to class. I say are you sure, cause I don't want to be driving back here in an hour. She says, really, it's out of her system, she feels fine. So... she heads into the school (having already cleaned-up and what not). I head to work with what is quite the sigh of relief as well, thinking also that that is the end of that.

I get to work. Sit down at my desk. Begin the arduous login process. And my phone rings. It's Darby. Daddy, I just can't do it, she says. Can you come get me?

Ugh.

I just get done packing my stuff back up and the phone rings again. It's Darby's mom. She offers to pick-up Darby. The first good news all day. I unpack, and begin the day semi-anew.

Darby never puked again the rest of the day. Just a headache and some initial queasiness. I asked her when I picked her up after work if it may have been due to anxiety about getting braces, as we had an orthodontic appointment later in the day that has since been canceled, but she insisted it was not that.

Hmmm. I don't know. Psychosomatic responses can be quite powerful...


The only other good news of the day was the receipt of school picture proofs. The photo album has been updated with the proofs for those interested in viewing, and they'll be updated with the actual versions in a few weeks I presume.


Update, 28 May
Replaced the proofs above with the actual pictures, which the kids just brought home. The album has been updated.

Labels: Darby, pictures

We finally held Darby's family birthday dinner this afternoon, effectively concluding her 11th birthday festivities. Her choice for location was the "OG" (Olive Garden), which is always tasty, but I wasn't particularly keen on their refusal to take reservations on weekends. So, I had to show up thirty minutes early to get a table for 14. Other than that (and a small screw-up on my part with invitations) all went fairly well and the food was very good.



I updated the album with a few pics from today's activities.

Labels: birthday, Darby, pictures

After postponing Darby's 11th birthday party because of what I refer to as a "warmth wedgie" (above, and in other words, we canceled it for nothing), we finally held her party today (a mere sixteen days late). Though not without having to gasp at the fact that it was snowing when I looked out the window this morning. Fortunately, it was just a flurry, and the party went on mostly with out hitch.



I've posted a few additional photos in the album.

Labels: birthday, Darby, pictures, snow

Darby had a piano audition today for the school we hope she will attend next year. Below is a video of her rehearsing last night. She has been quite stressed about this audition for some time, and is quite glad to be done. We have one more hurdle to overcome and then it's a matter of waiting to find out if she gets in.



Prior to her audition, the teacher asked her a question: "Why do you want to go to this school?"

Her answer: "Because I know it's a good school and I want to go to a good college"


I was personally shocked that she would come up with such a perfect answer. And the teacher concurred that it was the right answer at the right time.

Labels: Darby, piano, school, video

I must say, if there were ever a better use for a ballpark in December (aside from Fall-ball for those with the privilege), I haven't seen it. The last couple years they've been converting our downtown ballpark into a snow-tubing facility, and while it's not a cheap adventure, it's quite a lot of fun. The manufactured snow-hill slides you right into second base (and I have to wonder if that was by design), so I can't say I've ever slid into second in such style.

The girls had a blast, though Shelby was frightened to tears (literally) at first because of the height of the hill. I sort of guilt-tripped her into going through with it, but she led the way on subsequent attempts since she liked it so much. We continued our tubing fun for more than an hour before walking a half-mile to the Botanical Gardens to check out the Christmas lights.




The whole deal (and more) is part of OKC's "Downtown in December" events, which I highly recommend. If you live in the area and haven't partaken, shame on you. You can catch more pics of our adventures in the album.

Labels: Darby, OKC, pictures, Shelby, snow

Sure they can. But man, they've got to try real hard to prove it.

After going back to the mall for a second straight weekend to get yet more stuff for Shelby with her gift cards, we stopped by a McDonald's to get a couple ice cream cones. First, while waiting for the cones to be made, I caught the girls on my camera phone in video mode in a rare moment of getting along. Ever since they've started Rhythm and Movement class at school, they've been dancing with each other during idle moments with enough floor space.



Not ten minutes later, while eating her ice cream, Shelby decided that she suddenly had to visit the restroom, much to my dismay (because she was maybe a quarter finished with her just-purchased ice cream). Here's a video clip of her potty dance (note at the end, Darby trying to snag the leftover chocolate coating that fell from Shelby's cone).

Labels: Darby, Shelby, video

After I picked up the girls from their mom's today, we went to check out an open house at the Museum of Women Pilots, which was pretty cool, and I hope inspirational for the girls. Aside from the exhibits, they got to see a Black Hawk helicopter up close. They each even got to sit in the cockpit.








They also got to watch the helicopter take off from less than a hundred feet away. Of course, in the spirit of the day, it was piloted by a woman. Warning, the girls are NOT in the video. Just neat seeing a helicopter taking off.




Upon completion of a short visit to the park and then dinner, and keeping with the themes of they day, we went to the Women's College World Series, as we have for the last two years. We got to see the closing innings of the Tennessee/Arizona State game, and then watched Texas try really really hard to beat UCLA. While it looked like Texas actually played a little harder, they just couldn't score, and lost the game despite the HUGE Texas fanbase that showed up. There were more than seven thousand in attendance, which was a record for a non-championship WCWS game. While Shelby is never generally into such things, Darby was pretty into it. At least until the day caught up to her and she fell asleep (photo courtesy of Shelby).

Labels: Darby, Shelby, sports, video, Women's College World Series

When we left Oklahoma it was under 40 degrees and the high that day was supposed to be like 44. Today in Tucson it got up to 78, and it was awesome. We LOVE Tucson in the Fall.



As a reward to the children for their mostly good behavior during our 16+ hour journey, after lunch today I took them to the best park in town (Reid Park), and let them enjoy themselves for a couple hours. What made it particularly swell was the fact that all of the Tucsonian children were still in school (my daughters are in the fortunate position to go to a school that takes the entire week of Thanksgiving off), so it was almost like we had the park to ourselves. There were a few below-school-age children along with their parents, but I don't recall seeing any older kids. We left right about when school was letting out locally, knowing it would probably get a lot more busy. It really is a very nice park. Several playgrounds, an awesome duck pond with a waterfall system, and a rose garden. There are ball fields and a performing arts center, but we didn't get to make use of those.

In between checking out playgrounds, the girls and I took-in the extensive rose garden. There's a gazebo in the center with some benches, where we sat a good long while and took in the peacefulness on such a nice, quiet day, with the aroma of roses filling the air. I know it sounds lame for a guy to describe it, so if it helps, Darby said it was one of the most peaceful places she had ever been to. I also used the opportune background to take cute pics of the girls.



The rest of the day was pretty much reserved for family visiting.

Labels: Darby, Shelby, trip, Tucson

Darby's next science project is an experimental one. She has to state a hypothesis, carry out an experiment, and report the results and conclusion.

I wanted her to come up with something she could largely do herself, though I expected we might need some help in the materiel support department. After discussing my ideas with her, we came up with the title "Which Ball is Best?"

The idea is to create a reasonably constant environment with which to experiment, so that only the ball we use will vary. We intend to hit several softball brands, from generic to premium, to see if the brand matters in terms of distance the ball travels.

As I have virtually no physical skills whatsoever, I enlisted my father's help. I explained the idea and gave some suggestions, and the mechanically inclined grandfather of Darby hit the ground running. After just a couple days of measuring and wood-working, we now have a contraption with which Darby can conduct her experiment. Below are a photo and video of it in action.





Darby will do the actual experimenting. She will load the device and pull the string to release the bat probably dozens of times. She will measure the distance of each hit ball, and she will do the math (average distance per ball) before writing-up her conclusions.

You might think it would all end there, but then she has to present her results orally AND via a tri-fold presentation board with photos, diagrams, etc.

Labels: Darby, school, video

Darby's end-of-season party for softball was tonight, at the new Incredible Pizza (link is not to the OKC site, but you get the point), which is basically a steroid-injected Chuck-E-Cheese meets SpeedZone. It's housed within an old WalMart building, so it's quite huge. For eight bucks you get an all-you-can-eat buffet and five bucks on a game card to play games or play mini golf or ride go-carts, or ride bumper cars, or bowl, or I'm not sure what else because the place was so huge... Anyway, the kids had a blast, as if they couldn't in such a place.

After they ate dinner I couldn't keep them in the party room to save my life. They (ALL the kids, not just mine) burst out of the there and headed for the game/ride area faster than I could keep up. When I first reached the game room, I couldn't find either child. While I did finally find Darby clamouring to the ticket-yielding games (she's into winning those "valuable prizes" like gross fake teeth), I still couldn't find Shelby at first.



Then I saw a bunch of parents gathered by the go-cart bleachers and I asked if any of them had seen Shelby. They pointed inside the go-cart raceway, where I saw that several of the girls had gotten in line, and there was Shelby, also getting ready to race.



I should have had someone take a picture of my jaw-dropped face, because I couldn't believe it. If it weren't too late I would have gone after her, because I thought for sure she'd freak out with all those other cars out there. But to my surprise she did quite well. She didn't crash once and handled the track and car like she'd done it before many times (she seemed way more focused than what is typical for her). I was amazed, considering how often she crashes when biking or skating. One of the parents suggested she had found her niche as the next Danica Patrick. I think that would give me a heart attack before the age of 40.



We were there close to three hours, which was far too long if you ask me, and of course the girls didn't want to leave. It is a pretty neat place, though I'm not sure I'd want to have a party there, as it is just so chaotic with all those kids running around (seriously, picture a WalMart entirely filled with kids running around in all directions, in many cases with food in their hands).

In fact, the one thing I really didn't like too much about the place was that they didn't stamp kids' and parents' hands with matching invisible ink patterns like the Chuck-E-Cheese does to make sure kids don't leave with the wrong adults. As much as I hate to admit it, there were a couple times when I just flat couldn't find my children in that huge place, and they would NOT stick with me (and couldn't/wouldn't hear me when I yelled for them it was so loud in there). I get very anxious about places that aren't child-tracking-friendly. Though I will say that the place was crawling with security personnel (both rented and local police) and there were security cameras everywhere. While I would never want it real-world tested, I'm sure they're prepared (or hope they are anyway) for counter-abduction scenarios.

Labels: Darby, Shelby, video

Darby had an excellent game tonight, and the team had what I would call their first quality win of the season (i.e. we won it vs. the other team losing it). Darby had two singles and a run scored, and she had a couple good plays in the field. I can't really think of any glaring mistakes she made.

Well, maybe just one. I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to eat the chalk that marks the foul line, but Darby got herself a nice taste of it. She would have had two singles and two runs scored, but after her first hit (which was really a single that Darby stretched into a triple due to bad throws), as she rounded third for home, the ball came in and she had to turn back for third. In doing so, she lost her footing and did a face-plant into the chalk-line. Below is a video clip. I stopped recording right after she fell, but she basically came into the dugout crying and the ENTIRE front of her uniform was covered with dirt and chalk (she later said she had dirt in her throat). I gave her a big hug for doing so well out there and coaxed her through walking it off while I reminded her of my similar dirt-eating experience during the Fall season, which got her smiling a bit.




We have another game tomorrow, our first of the weekend tournament games, but it's going to keep us away from the Oklahoma RedHawks home opener. If we can get out of there at a decent time, we may still try to catch part of the RedHawks game, especially since there are fireworks afterwards and Shelby can't get enough of the fireworks.

Labels: Darby, softball, video

Darby had a school musical tonight. It was called Father Knows Best. She did well, though she said she was very nervous the whole time. She's not one for the spotlight. Here's a clip from the show.




Shelby had her last fencing lesson before her tournament in Tulsa this weekend. She won one of her two bouts. We'll see how it goes on Saturday.

Labels: Darby, fencing, school, Shelby, video

We did some first communion dress shopping today.




Update
Even though that is the dress she says she wanted in the video, it is not the dress we ended up getting. Personally, I like the final selection.

Labels: church, Darby, video

It was a Foxy day, and I was glad to have it. But the day ain't over yet. You still have time to make the switch, so that you, too, can have a foxy day.


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In kid news, I zipped across town after work to hopefully catch Shelby in a fencing bout. But that did not work out, as there was no bouting for her. She should most definitely be bouting on Thursday though, so I'll have to try again.

Darby has a school musical on 9 December, so you interested family types have been forewarned. It has been posted to the calendar. Contact me for details if you're going.


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I must say that I'm not super keen on this time of year from the where-next-will-there-be-a-thanksgiving-party perspective. The kids each have one at school. There will be at least two family-related t-day gatherings. And I know there will be two work-related festive-feasting-fests.

I'm already confused about what dish I'm supposed to bring to which function. Just tonight I was trying to figure out what to do about Darby's party. Her mother sent money and goods to school with her already, but now we're getting the impression from Darby that that wasn't good enough. So I have to "have a talk with the teacher" just to get the straight story. Bleh.

Labels: Darby, fencing, school, Shelby