An Afternoon Of Tennis

So Dad delivered today on his promise and took the girls to play some tennis.

This time, only one court was occupied (with some of the world's worst tennis being played on it) and there were no puddles of water for stray balls to find.

Unfortunately, not everyone was in the mood, so very little tennis was played. However, Lauren held out the longest - and earned a "private" lesson with Dad. She is now proficient in standing in the "ready" position and hitting with both her forehand and backhand.

Here are some photos you can compare with our previous tennis outings in October of 2006 and August of 2005.
Olivia did not want to play tennis.
Veronica enjoys shagging balls and dragging a racket around.
Julia probably should have pulled her hair back.
Emily insists on hitting the ball as hard as she can.
Lauren is making solid contact with the ball these days.

Night at the Playground

Veronica enjoyed riding the motorcycle.
We went down to the park to play tennis tonight. But there were a few puddles of water on the courts and a few people with wooden rackets were embarrassing themselves with balls flying all over the place. So we opted for the playground instead.

Emily decided the girls would build a big sand castle. So beneath one of the play structures, the girls started making a huge pile of sand. Soon, other children (many of them non-English-speaking) began helping out. Lauren found this to be very annoying, while the other girls didn't seem to mind.

Eventually, the pile of sand was huge. But it was also time to go. So what took minutes to build was wrecked in seconds.

As we were leaving the park, Julia was hit in the face by a soccer ball. It hit her so hard that you could see the indentations of the ball on her face. Ouch!

(Emily also wants it mentioned in this space that she fell out of a wagon today and scraped her arm up pretty good.)

The huge sand castle, nearing completion.
Emily, Julia and Veronica on one of several trips down the slide.

She's Our 'Wonder Woman'

Mom isn't likely to be confused with Lynda Carter.
This is the front of the card Dad presented to Mom for their 14th wedding anniversary. With a little help from Uncle Jon (OK, a lot of help), Dad conveyed his theme that Mom is a lot like "Wonder Woman" when it comes to being a great wife and mother.

Mom and Dad enjoyed a nice dinner Tuesday at the Texas Roadhouse steakhouse, then about froze to death in Hy-Vee getting some groceries on the way home. You would have thought they were hanging meat in the aisles with how cold it was in the store. It probably didn't help that the temperature has been hovering around 70 degrees these days. (Who said anything about global warming?)

Can You Believe It's Been 14 Years?

Fourteen years later and the T-shirts still fit!

The Women of Indy

From left: Danica Patrick, Sarah Fisher and Milka Duno.
Watching the Indianapolis 500 in the YD house is a tradition that Dad started when Emily was born. Mom isn't necessarily a big fan of the race, but she'll willingly pick a winner just to compete with Dad.

This year's race featured three women - a first at The Brickyard. Dad took Sarah Fisher while Mom, Lauren and Olivia took Danica Patrick. Dad took Milka Duno (you can't pick two women?) and Emily and Julia didn't make picks. As it turned out, Danica had the best finish (eighth place).

A little-known fact: Veronica was nearly named "Danica Patrick Weide," though Dad (once again) lost out on gaining the naming rights to one of his daughters.

The YD Girls' First Concert

They may be a bit older, but the B-52's still sound the same.
Saturday night, we were one of thousands of Omahans who converged on the new shopping mall in LaVista to see the B-52's in concert.

There's a backstory to this: The girls once saw the B-52's video for their song, "Roam." They liked it because it's funny and the lead singer (whom they refer to as "Funny Dude") makes weird expressions. They also like the group's song, "Love Shack." So when we heard the band was playing a free concert in Omaha, we definitely had to go.

Unfortunately, our plan to leave the house about an hour before the concert started didn't materialize. We left at 6:34 and arrived 10 minutes before showtime. Talk about a lot of people - and cars! We drove around and around and around and around. All the time, listening for the concert to begin (which it did, 12 minutes late). After a half-hour of tailing people coming out of Hy-Vee to try and snatch their parking space, we finally got one fairly close.

We staked out a place off to the side of the stage (but still pretty far away) and heard "Private Idaho," "Love Shack" and "Roam." In between those hits, we had to endure a host of new ones. One, though, wasn't too bad. It was called, "Julia," which brought a smile to Julia's face. Apparently, this was the first time the band had performed those new songs live in concert.

After we heard "Love Shack" - which was introduced as "Here's a song made famous by... us!" - we headed for the parking lot. As we climbed into the Suburban, the band said good night and walked off stage (only to return for at least one encore). But our timing was good to avoid a ton of traffic leaving the mall.

The New Roller Coaster

The girls watch the new coaster in operation.
The new roller coaster is up and running at Fun Plex and we got to watch it in action on its first day in operation.

When Dad checked it out earlier this spring, the go-cart track did not go around the coaster like it does now. On Friday night, only one car on the coaster was in operation - most likely because there were fewer than six people who were ready to ride it.

We spent about 20 minutes watching the same group of girls (and an employee) take ride after ride on it. Even Dad (who is afraid of heights) said he's going to ride it. When Emily heard that, she said, "Oh boy, Dad, you're real brave! It's not exactly the Mamba."

(Editor's note: When Emily was seven, she rode the Mamba at World's of Fun. Surprisingly enough, she made the minimum height requirement.)

Mom's Trip To Seattle

Danielle and her friend, Dana, traveled to Seattle together.
Mom and her brother, Karlie, who showed her the sites of Seattle.
Mom and her high school (boy)friend, Moosehead.
Dana and Tante Shirl in the mountains of Leavenworth, Wash.
Atop the legendary Space Needle on a rainy night.

Big Fred's - One Week Later

An annual tradition of the YD family is to join the sports media at Big Fred's pizza parlor after the first night of the State Track Meet.

This year, we were unable to take part, though, since Mom was out of town. So, a week later, we made our own trip to Big Fred's. The best thing about Big Fred's - other than the food - is that it is now smoke-free. The onion rings and pizza taste so much better without the smell of cigarette smoke wafting around.

We devoured nearly an entire large pepperoni pizza, two orders of onion rings (the first one was a little too crispy, but we still ate most of it) and two pitchers of Shirley Temples.

Ouch!

If you haven't filled up at the tank lately, you're in for a big surprise.

First, did you know you can only pump $100 worth of gas at a time? Unfortunately, Dad has learned this on two occasions in the past month. Secondly, did you know when gas costs more than $3.50 a gallon, you can't fill the entire tank of a Suburban on $100?

One question the girls asked Dad the other day was how much gasoline cost when he was growing up. To that, he has a very specific answer. Being one of those students who quietly sat in the front row on the school bus, Dad recalls checking the price of gas at a station near 52nd & Leavenworth every day on the ride home from Holy Cross School.

Year after year, the price hovered around 50 cents a gallon. The lowest price he recalls is 46.9. The highest was 52.9. That spans first through fifth grade - about 35 years ago.

Remember These?

Dad is pretty sure this is the only remaining public phone left in the city of Omaha. He stumbled upon it while walking along the outer reaches of the Henry Doorly Zoo, just past the area where few venture to see animals "the old fashioned way" - i.e., outside the comfort of "The Desert Dome" or "The Lied Jungle" or "The Gorilla Complex."

If the the phone company did forget about this phone, it's destined to remain a part of the landscape of the zoo for a long time.

Trip to the Zoo

About a month ago, Lauren invited Dad to join her on her only field trip of the year - a trip to the Henry Doorly Zoo. For those of you who don't know Dad and his experiences with animals, here's a quick recap.

For some reason, Dad doesn't really like animals. It probably stems from his upbringing, when Grandma YD kept him away from dogs, cats and other animals. Because of this, the school field trip that he took to the zoo in second grade (when he was seven) was a very uncomfortable experience. At that time, just to get into the zoo's regular exhibits, you had to pass through a petting zoo. To have video of him tiptoeing past animals and holding his nose as he ran for the exit gate would be priceless footage.

Anyway, from that fateful trip in 1975 to 2002, Dad did not make a single trip to the zoo - as it eventually became a world class animal facility. So when he did return five years ago, a lot had changed - and that darned petting zoo was long gone.

So you can almost imagine Dad's enthusiasm at joining Lauren for her field trip. Combine that with an unseasonably cold day and morning rain showers and you had the perfect combination for one miserable day (for Dad, at least).

But it wasn't that bad. Dad really didn't turn up his nose at any of the animal exhibits and he kind of enjoyed the Kingdoms of the Night and the large aquarium with the sharks, etc. It was also kind of fun to watch some fish get fed.

As for Lauren, she had a ball running around with her cousin, Maya, and two other classmates (pictured above). It may have been her only field trip of the year, but she said it was awfully fun.

The before and after pictures of our day cleaning the garage.
Here's the million dollar question of the day: What goes in your garage? That was what Dad asked the girls Sunday before we started cleaning out the garage.

Here's what they came up with:

Vehicles

Bikes

Lawn care equipment

Snowblower

Outdoor toys and balls

So after we took out of the garage (see picture above), those were the only things we put back. Everything else was thrown away or given to Goodwill. (Dad wishes!)

Actually, the remaining items - after a quick sort - were neatly organized and stacked on one side of the garage for Mom to sort through upon her return from Seattle. At least we got one car in the garage!

Stowaway

Lauren fit nicely into Aunt Dee-Dee's suitcase.
We haven't detailed Mom's recent trip to Seattle yet (that story is still to come). But we can show you some of the pre-trip hijinx that took place before she took off to see her brother, Karl, last Friday.

Aunt Bridget encouraged Lauren and Julia to try and squeeze into her suitcase. Apparently (and Dad doesn't remember this all too well), Uncle Neil was able to do this when he was a lot smaller than he is now.

We'll spare you the pictures of the girls inside the suitcase with the lid closed. Trust us, they fit. But we also emphasized to them that it is not funny to ever play "fit in the suitcase," just like it would not be OK to play "fit in the dryer" or "fit in the refrigerator."

Shrek The Third

Mom and the four oldest girls got quite a treat tonight when they took in the sneak preview of the expected summer blockbuster, "Shrek The Third."

The girls seemed to enjoy it and Mom said it matched up to the quality of the first two movies in the series. Dad still hasn't seen the second one, so he stayed home with Veronica.

The theater was passing out promotional masks - and, thanks to Mom's friend, Larry - quite a few of them went home with the YD girls, who then shared them with their classmates. Imagine the look on the face of a school visitor as this little troupe of Shreks made their way down the hallway.

Night Out With Dad

Veronica and Dad got to spend some quality time together Tuesday night when the four older girls and Mom went to the sneak preview of "Shrek The Third."

First, they went to FedEx to mail a package. Then it was off to Wendy's for supper. Veronica got to sit in a booster seat while she munched on chicken nuggets and french fries. She ate all five nuggets and sucked down half of the lemonade drink you see pictured at right.

We had one more errand to run, so we headed west to the Apple Store to pick up Dad's MacBook. While he waited to be helped, Veronica played on one of the four Macs set up for children. She also managed to chew into the top of a box of "Cat in the Hat" software.

Sensing she was still hungry, Dad and Veronica stopped off at Cold Stone Creamery for some cake batter ice cream with Reese's peanut butter cups mixed in. Yum!

Veronica's Struggle To Stay Awake

Veronica got a little "tye-tye" at lunch today.

Dad's Officiating Crew

Here is a picture of the officiating crew for the National Collegiate Cycling Championships in Lawrence, Kan.

That's Dad on the far left. Uncle Neil is third from right. You might be wondering about all the different shirts and uniforms. The Chief Referee is picture in the front row on the left. Diane Fortini is a UCI commissaire and was the crew chief. Dad and Dave Fowkes (far right) were commissaires, thus the navy blazers.

The officials wore powder blue shirts while the motorcycle referees wear zebra stripes to make them more visible out on the course.

Where Have You Been?

Suffice it to say, it's been crazy busy for all of us here at the YD household. Dad's been working out of town, Mom has been trying not to go crazy and the girls are anxious for school to get out.

So, while Dad waits for his MacBook to come back from the shop (it went dead Sunday morning), here's a picture of him from the Collegiate National Championships in Lawrence, Kan. He was the official starter Friday for the team time trial. The picture below is of him starting the U.S. Naval Academy team. The one below that is of Whitman College, which won the women's Division II category.

Our Cousins From Afar

Our cousins back east are certainly growing, as you can tell from the picture at left.

According to their parents, Declan and Ronan are spending quite a bit of time talking to each other (in a language only they understand). We're hopeful that we can see them again in person sometime soon. Knowing the way Olivia and Veronica like to take care of people smaller than them, the two boys are sure to get quite a bit of attention.

Do I Have Something In My Teeth?

Veronica gives Mom that
"why are you looking at me like that?" look.

Lu Makes A Stop At the YD House

Lu (our personal tooth fairy) stopped by our house overnight. Boy, did she ever get a surprise!

First, the reason she dropped in: Julia was eating a piece of sandwich bread at supper last night and suddenly realized she had lost a loose tooth. Lauren suggested she check the bread - which led to the discovery of the tooth.

Flash forward to bedtime: Julia's knee hurts (doesn't it always when she doesn't get what she wants?) so she plops down next to Dad in his bed - but not before leaving her tooth under her pillow. Emily and Lauren, deciding that they are spooked by a spider crawling on their ceiling (Dad said it was Spider-Man), take their blankets and pillows and head downstairs to sleep on the living room floor.

So, under cover of darkness, when Lu shows up to retrieve Julia's tooth, Julia isn't in her bed. Deciding that she'll go see her old friend Emily (who has lost all her baby teeth), Lu is startled to discover that Emily (and Lauren) aren't in bed either.

Dad's comments: If I was in Lu's shoes, I would not have left either girl anything - money, notes, books, etc. If they can't sleep in their own beds, they don't deserve to get a visit from the tooth fairy.

Anyway, when Emily and Julia awoke this morning, each had a note from Lu. Julia also had money under her pillow and TWO books. Dad didn't get a chance to read Lu's note to Julia, but he did snap a picture of the one Lu left for Emily (seen above). It says (essentially) that she is very happy to have stopped by to see Emily - only to discover Emily wasn't even in her bed.

Dad will try and get his hands on the notes and post the messages verbatim later on.

It Doesn't Get Any Better Than This

Have you ever seen a cleaner bathroom sink and mirror?
Typically, there's little to get excited about when it comes to cleaning a bathroom sink (and mirror). But not in the YD house.

That's because Mom took several hours last night to do something that's on Dad's "chore list." Yes, Dad is charged with cleaning the bathrooms, the kitchen, mowing the yard and maintaining the computers. Mom maintains the vehicles, does the laundry and helps with the bedrooms.

The "several hours" comment is actually the truth. If Dad is not mistaken, the bathroom sink and mirror were last cleaned when we moved in sometime in July of 2004. He knows the toilet and shower were cleaned last week (by the girls), because he supervised them. But the sink was nasty and you couldn't even see yourself in the mirror because there was so much hairspray, dried toothpaste and water spots on it. (Well, that might be an exaggeration - but it was darn dirty.)

So thank you, Mom, for doing Dad's job. He believes this is the first time she's taken on one of his chores. (Not really.)

By the way, did Dad mention the front yard got cut last night? Yes, it stopped raining long enough to get the mower out!

Lauren's Picture of Dad

Our resident artist drew this tonight.
This is a picture Lauren drew and colored of Dad. The caption reads:

Dad on the computer (as always). Love, Rainman 5/4/7

How sweet!

You Never Know What You'll Find Online

Dad was looking for a story Wednesday about his bike racing team competing in New Mexico when he stumbled across the story - which included a quote from him.

Sean Weide, communications director for Toyota-United, said the Tour of the Gila is the favorite race of the year for Swindlehurst because he loves the climbs, as well as the views.

"I don't know how they have time to look around while they're ripping through those hills, but I guess they get a chance from time to time," Weide said.

Here is the article in its entirety.