Summer Fun

I posted last time during nap time on Daddy's birthday so I did not get to include pictures of our little celebration that evening. Daddy requested chocolate vegan cake and ice cream. 

 Everyone thoroughly enjoyed both.

 I think Phoenix liked the ice cream a little bit more!

 Last weekend we had a long weekend with a swim meet and two big BBQ's/ gatherings. Our first gathering we had two families over that included new incoming 4th graders for Harker. It just so happens that the 4th grade boys also had siblings that are going to be new to Harker as well. The kids got along splendidly and we were able to answer the questions that the parents had. I really enjoyed helping these families out as we really appreciated the advice and help we had last year as a new family.

On Sunday we had Keith's work team over. It was really fun. I didn't realize that half of his employees are fresh out of school. Granted some of them are PHD's, but they are in their mid to late 20's. I really enjoyed the energy they brought to our house. They were all really great with the kids as well.

A pretty significant summer cold has slowly worked its way through our entire household. Phoenix was the last to come down with it. She slept almost all day last Sunday with a total of 4 naps. She also missed two days of summer school. I can't remember her missing a single day of school all year from being sick. I was surprised at how much it wiped her out. Axel had it the week before and he went to bed at 5:00 pm right when he got home from summer camp. He did go to school the next day but I picked him up after the morning academic portion of camp.

Rubix has been home for 2 weeks as Angela's has been closed. It was really fun hanging out with him as I stayed home for a week on vacation to care for him. The second week we had Camryn one day and Marlena the other two days to care for him. Rubix is essentially potty trained. He still doesn't necessarily tell us when he has to pee, but he is able to hold it for 2 hours. He holds it during his nap times most of the time, but we are still putting a cloth diaper because I rather not have to wash the sheets more than I already have to. He is very good about going number poopoo in the toilet, which is very nice.

Rubix continues to amaze me at his physical abilities. He jumps off a surface over a foot off the ground by himself. I want to say he can jump off something 2 feet high without assistance. This amazes me because he has the confidence to do so. The funny thing is he isn't overly risky or dangerous. He really does seem to know his limits. Today, at the park, he started climbing the climbing wall and then said, "too high, too dangerous". He also will ask me to spot him while climbing up the big ladder. I love how he makes good choices at just 2 years old.

Rubix and I took down the crib about 2 weeks ago and that amazingly solved our problem with him waking frequently in the night. He sleeps through the night 80% of the time. He does cry sometimes in the night, but he falls asleep pretty easily, either by himself or once I go in there. Sometimes, I think he had a bad dream, but the great thing is he really does not wake to drink milk anymore!

Phoenix continues to amaze me at how well she reads and her basic math skills. The ability to do basic addition and subtraction up to 20, count by 10's to 100, and to count to 1000 is pretty remarkable to me. She can also do addition and subtraction of 2, 2 digit numbers, but it does take her a bit longer to solve and sometimes she gets frustrated.

Axel amazed both of us at how much he loves to read. The kid is the ultimate reader and goes through books like they are candy. He is also really passionate about coding and designing computer games and programs. He really wants to do more, but we have to restrict him as his behavior still appears to be effected by too much computer time.

This Thursday the Gators had a paint party to make posters for Champs. Axel made a vomiting alligator. He still likes to make people laugh.

I was impressed with Pheeny's gator!

 Westgate Gators won champs. Axel tried really hard and swam well. He finally broke 20 seconds in his 25 yard free style and he also PR'd in his 100 yard medley with 2:01. Phoenix had fun and did great considering she didn't swim all week and was sick in bed for half of the week. Rubix had fun too!

 Yesterday afternoon we enjoyed a quiet evening at home.

 We played outside and went for a nice short walk.

Everyone has been talking about Venus. If you look closely you can see this bright spot just below to the right of the moon. So cool that we can see Venus with our bear eyes. 

 I will leave you with a baby lizard that Rubix and I observed today at the park. We are headed to the pool for the swim team pool party. It will be a late night for the kids, but everyone will have fun. Axel has been at the pool since 3 pm playing with his buddy Kristin. Luckily, he is home tomorrow as summer camp is over for him so he can sleep in as late as he wants.

Mom's 39th, 4th of July, Dad's 43rd birthday

We celebrated my birthday, on my birthday (June 28th), with a nice low key evening.  I was welcomed with wonderful cards in the morning. Axel's card made me cry. I have it posted below. My biggest purpose in life is to make sure that I am doing God's will and passing on his love. For Axel to write these words give me the hope that God's love is at work in our lives despite my short comings. 

I dropped off Phoenix and Axel and then raced home in time for Marlena to watch Rubix while I got in a quick ride. I always love to ride up the hill on my birthday. It is one of those things where I feel so at peace being in God's company while I bask in his beautiful creation. Afterwards, Rubix and I had our usual day of story time at the library (which he still can't sit through) and some play at home.

Daddy had plans to pick up Axel and get sushi and ice cream cake. He thought he was really clever with the Happy "Bri"thday. Our sitter, Marlena works at Baskin Robins and apparently decorated the cake for us. She did a lovely job.

Keith found the same beautiful dark purple Calla Lilies that we had at our wedding. We hope to plant them in our backyard soon. You can see Axel is upset in this picture. All three kids were crying and having a meltdown just before dinner. I actually took a video of it. I did not choose to post it though. It was one of those moments where all you can do is laugh. I just wanted a nice evening with my wonderful little family and it turned out to be a bit of a cry fest. Despite the grief Axel was processing from his adventures at Golfland, Milpitas (where his prizes were stolen), I felt so grateful to be alive and well. I usually pray for health for the kiddos, Keith and myself, but I realized I didn't pray for that as Rubix was quick to blow out most of the candles himself. It was very cute!

On Friday, Axel went to morning practice before summer school. Rubix always gets really excited about going to the pool, but doesn't always follow through when he actually gets there. Here is a cute picture of Rubix in his excitement to go to the pool when he heard Axel was going swimming.

We had a nice low key 4th of July as well. We have been extremely busy and will be extremely busy starting next weekend again, so we planned a low key 4th and weekend. Here is a picture of the Szolusha boys at Kevin Moran park for the 4th of July celebration. We all tried to do red, white and blue.

Here is a family picture that Tyler took for us. It was a very exciting morning as we saw Tyler with Jade and Zoe, Axel R. and his family, Kyla and her family and Axel's teachers Mrs. Ferreti and Mrs. Russell.

I wanted to include one picture of the ceremony as I love how they bring back old traditions like praying to God in public and as a community and replicating the apparel worn in colonial times. It is really cool to see people of all ethnicities come together to celebrate our countries freedom.

We stayed well past when the event ended because the kids were having so much fun playing with their friends. You can see Phoenix was exhausted and was in the stroller and Axel is being his charming, big brother self, walking hand in hand with Rubix.

Daddy wanted to get a picture of me, so I made sure to include it :)

I captured another picture of Axel being his charming self when the kids were making birthday cards for Daddy. It is amazing how good Axel is with Rubix when he wants to be. 

 Daddy ordered me an amazing cast iron griddle for my birthday. It arrived last night so I was able to use it for the first time to cook Daddy's birthday breakfast. As you can see it is HUGE! Apparently, the gentleman who was helping us purchase it didn't realize it fits "most two burner outdoor grills" and not "most two burner indoor stove tops." The awesome things is I will never have to complain about it being too small! I think I will be able to cook up to 10 pancakes at a time. It is reversable so I can also grill meat on the other side that has grates.

Phoenix insisted on serving Daddy breakfast in bed. She also was sweet enough to ask her head of school if she could take another thermos for her Daddy for his birthday. Challenger school had been giving out these thermoses and water bottles for free for a couple of weeks. Keith saw the one Phoenix brought home for herself and she understood that he really liked it and wanted one for himself.  I was really proud of her for being so thoughtful.

 Daddy thoroughly enjoyed reading his cards and the surprise breakfast in bed.

 I included this picture below as you can see Rubix stealing Daddy's breakfast sausage from his plate.

To be funny Daddy put a sausage in his mouth to claim it. Rubix, unfortunately, did not want to be apart of the picture. 

 We have had a very blessed 10 days celebrating both of our birthdays and the 4th of July. We feel so very grateful for each day that we have! God Bless!