Axel is MVP

Although Axel did not medal in the IM at Champs, he had a stellar session. Out of all the 9/10 boys he accumulated the most points for the team for the season, which made him MVP in his age group. We are so proud of him for trying so hard and being such a good team leader. Many of his teammates and parents commented on how much they appreciated Axel leading by example. Several parents told us how they were impressed with Axel's humbleness. They would say, "He is so strong, but you would never know it outside of the swimming pool because he never boasts and is always encouraging and supporting his teammates." Keith and I loved hearing the comments because they are very true. We just secretly laughed inside knowing that Axel isn't very competitive so although he tries his best, it really doesn't bother him at the end of the day if he isn't the best. I am going to cherish this trait because Phoenix has enough competitiveness for the both of them.  

Phoenix had a stellar session herself and came home with 3 medals from champs. She was really scared because of the business of the meet with all 5 teams there. When I arrived with Rubix she was crying and didn't want to get in the pool. I was really nervous for a second that she wasn't going to swim, but she overcame her fears and did all 5 of her events, placing in the top 3 for 3 of her events. 

 This weekend was action packed. We hardly saw Axel. He was at Bounce of America in Morgan Hill with Kristin on Saturday and on Sunday he was at Beibei's house for most of the day.

The world's largest inflatables were there with his 900 foot obstacle course that they are starting here. Apparently, they went as fast as they could through this 900 foot obstacle course in 90 degree weather which put him over the edge into heat exhaustion. The good thing is he communicated this to Carmen so they left after just 2 hours of play, rather than the 3 hours they intended. 

I took Rubix and Phoenix to the car show in downtown Saratoga. The first car we came across was a flashback to Back to The Future. 

 They loved the little race car.

 Rubix loved "the black car".

 And coolest car of all is this one built in 2016 which was the fastest car manufactured in 2016. I of course, forgot what it was called.

 Keith was so excited to come home from work and see the boys playing "ships" together. It hasn't been very often where the two boys play together. Axel plays with Phoenix and Phoenix plays with Rubix, but the 7 years often makes it difficult for Axel and Rubix to play together. This was one of those times where Axel is being amazing Axel and loving on his brother.

 I worked all week last week and yesterday getting my 6 days of work for two weeks all in a row. I now have Tuesday through Friday off with all three kids. I finally decided it is about time we do something fun heading into my 3rd week with them. So we went mini golfing this morning. I was so proud of the three of them. They were all very patients and took turns on who went first. I do have to say Phoenix has amazing hand/eye coordination. If I could just get rid of her perfectionism she would be a great sport. Unfortunately, she inherited that from me and it took me a long time to grow out of it. I pray that she will grow out of it sooner than myself.

 Tomorrow we have a mid week birthday party for Phoenix and Axel goes to his friends house for most of the day. We head to the orthodontist in a couple of hours for Axel to get fitted for his expanders. He had his head gear removed 2 weeks ago as he has full correction. After the expanders he will then have a retainer until all of his permanent teeth come in. The final stage will eventually be braces, but they will be only for 1 year to 18 months as most of the correcting is being done now.

Our Little Swimmers

I am not sure if I have shared this in the past. This is Axel's Spanish refrigerator project. He made 10 food items and then had to describe and talk about them in Spanish. It was really fun to see him make his fruit with clay. Phoenix and I were able to help. I took a picture because I just recycled it. We went through all of the kids rooms and tried to "tidy" up by recycling, throwing out and donating clothes, toys and books, etc. It was 2 full days of constant work, but we were able to get it done. I don't know how happy the kids are about it, but Mommy is super pleased!

 The kids are regularly watering the front of the house as Phoenix planted her Sunflower seeds a month ago. It has grown quite a lot. Here they are watching the water run through the rocks to the roots of this bush. I need to get a picture of her Sunflower. She is super proud of it.

 Rubix seems to be just like the other Szolushas and able to build and create things. Here he is holding a heart that he made. He is so proud of himself.

We have been deep into swim season and today we will be attending the end of year swim party. It is always bitter sweet. I love the kids swimming and having fun, but it is a very long 3 months for me to get them to swim practice 3 to 4 times per week. The 5 meets are really not bad so I can't complain about that, especially because Keith is the one who does all of the volunteering and work during the swim meets.

This year has been especially fun as the kids have really improved. The biggest improvement was enjoying going to practice and playing with their friends. I did not get very much push back or complaints about going to practice from either Phoenix or Axel, which was an awesome change. They also really improved in their swimming form and times, which is a bonus to the enjoyment of being apart of the team. 

 Rubix was also a champ on spending 5 hours on 5 different Saturdays cheering on his siblings. Here he is giving Phoenix a hug before her event.

After our swim meet on July 13th we went to Tyler's for a BBQ. His kids and Mike and Vanessa's kids were all participating in the swim meet. Jade and Zoe are on Westgate and Josie and Delinger are on Los Ranchitos. Here is a cute picture of Rubix on Tyler's hammock.

I love this picture of Rubix as well, because he reminds me of the other kids concentrating on completing this puzzle. I am so impressed with how all of the Szolushas like challenges like this.

Rubix was a champ with his swim lessons. He is now able to do front and back float. He can dunk his head and grab something in the shallow end of the water when in a crouched position (feet first) and he can kick, scoop and blow bubbles all at the same time. This means that he could swim if he was ready, but he is not. Since we stopped his 4 weeks of lessons he has decided he doesn't want to go in the pool at all. I am hoping he will get over whatever it is that took his excitement and enjoyment out of swimming so that he can enjoy the rest of the summer swimming with the family.

My 40th, Little Grammy/Grampy visit, 4th of July, Daddy bday too!

One of the main points of doing the blog is to be able to put down on paper important events and milestones because I feel my memory is quite poor and I am unable to recall these events. So when I go an entire month without doing the blog I forget to document important events.

One that I missed in the last blog is that Axel completed his first Triathlon on June 1st. He had a blast and did well in his age group. He practiced running on the track with Kristin, Phoenix and Rubix. 

 He went on some rides with Daddy as well.

 He lost most of his time in the transitions, despite practicing quickly putting on socks and shoes after his swim. Here he is at the bike transition with Phoenix.

 The three kiddos at the event.

 A medal for 7th place out of 47 10 year olds. From what I was told there were hundreds of children from 6 to 18 years old competing.

 A podium shot, although he missed the podium by a few slots.

The other big accomplishment is that he won his age group for the swimathon again. He did 68 laps in 30 minutes. Here he is receiving his award at Pasta in the Park. 

I also forgot to post a picture of the poster the kids made Keith. Axel thought he was funny putting "Fat"hers Day. It also says, P.S. you're an owl. 

 Since the last post I had my 40th birthday, Carol and Kevin came for a week long visit, we had the 4th of July and Keith's birthday.

For my birthday I asked Keith to take the day off of work and go for a bike ride with me. We finally made it to the top of Skyline since the road caved in and was closed a couple of years ago from the large amount of rain after the long drought we had. They did a great job repairing the road and I was pleasantly surprised my body handled the 5000 feet of climbing. That afternoon Carol and Kevin, Keith's mom and step dad flew in and my mom and sister Shannon arrived for a birthday dinner out at Flight's in Los Gatos.


I asked Shannon to bring her nice camera because I really wanted pictures of the family for my birthday. Shannon took great pictures. I was/am so excited about the amazing pictures she was able to capture.

 
Daddy and Phoenix. Here are several family photos that we managed to take. Not sure which one I like the best. I want to order one for our wall and some for family members so if anyone has a preference please let me know.
 


Here Auntie suggested they do a silly one. I love how the boys are being silly and Phoenix is finally being her smiley self. 

I also love this photo with Phoenix being her mature, caring and sweet self. We don't often get to see this side of her.

This is the one I will likely order for family members. I haven't decided yet though.

 Grandma Susan with the three kiddos.

 Little Grammy with the three kiddos.

 Grammy and Grampy with the three kiddos.

 My favorite picture of the kids. Wish I had a picture like this with the kids. Way to go Auntie!

 Me and my little princess.

 Daddy and his cute boys doing a muscle picture.

 First picture together since the wedding.

 Shannon and I trying to recreate the picture we did together as teenagers.

 

 So much fun getting photos taken with my sister!

So if you couldn't tell I had to bribe Rubix with a lollipop to wear the shorts and cooperate. I was so incredibly proud of him for wearing the nice shorts and cooperating through the twenty minutes of pictures. As soon as we were done he took off the shorts. Here he is picking a flower to give to me, shortless. 

After dinner and pictures my mom, Shannon and I drove to Pacific grove where we rented a little cottage for the weekend. Saturday morning we headed to Garrapata Park for some beautiful hiking. 

It was such a lovely place to visit. 

Here we are at the top of the hike overlooking the ocean. 

A quick selfie. 

 On a boardwalk next to Asilomar Beach.

Asilomar beach after lunch. 

A fun picture for Daddy Keith on our way to Lover's point overlooking the sunset. He is always taking funny pictures of himself when he travels so I thought he would enjoy this picture of me with a statue. This was our 3rd year doing our annual mother's daughter weekend. It is so wonderful to be able to do this and reconnect without the kids around. Shannon and I are so glad that my mother suggested this a few years ago. We hope to be able to continue this in the years to come. 

While I was away the kids had another swim meet. Here is Phoenix with Little Grammy and Grampy. They had a blast watching Axel and Phoenix swim. Rubix was able to stay home with Camryn which made for a much easier day for everyone. 

When I returned on Sunday afternoon the kids were excited to tell me about the cake they had made for me. Rubix helped daddy order it and Phoenix helped Daddy pick it up. Phoenix was too tired to join us because they went to a swim meet play date in the park for over 2 hours and then to a birthday party at another park for another 2+ hours. Rubix's best friend, Daniel, from Angela's turned 3! 

The boys and I. 

 Rubix with his friends. Daniel is the one in red.

 So exciting. Rubix loves going to his friends parties.

 Keith took his mom on lots of adventures during the week. Here they are at Vascona park on the paddle boats.

 

 Here they are at Hakone Gardens.

Wednesday Phoenix had to get another cavity filled. It was rough, but she has now had all 4 filled. 

This was her on the last day of school after the 3rd one was filled. Let's just say Daddy is able to work magic and get her to somewhat cooperate. 

Here they are at Sanborn park going for another hike.  

 And the kids at Ghost Rock. 

We went to Kevin Moran Park for the 4th of July celebration again. This is a picture of when we arrived with a not so happy Phoenix. 

Rubix and Axel lying down during the programming. 

Here is a picture after the celebration and little parade with a happy Phoenix, and of course a gleaming Rubix and a complacent Axel.

After lunch we enjoyed a nice walk around the neighborhood with Grammy and Grampy. It happened to be Rubix's nap time so after we passed the horse and stable, Rubix fell asleep in the stroller. 

We had fun celebrating Daddy's birthday this weekend. We went swimming, had some In N Out Burgers, played card games and then visited him at work yesterday, on his actual birth day. Daddy finally got a couple of new water bottles and a new pair of shorts. 

 He loved all of the cards and gift cards he received from family members as well, so thank you for sending your love.

Phoenix received seeds on the last day of school to grow a Sun Flower. Here it is 5 weeks later. She is taking care of it and watering it. She also planted some wildflowers this past weekend all around this area, so we are excited to see the front yard become more beautiful from her hard work and inspiration. 

Yesterday the kids even created a flower garden at the library. The next two weeks are low key with me being home on vacation. The kids are doing private swim lessons this week and Kids Camp at church, next week. This is the first year I get to volunteer and be a group leader because I finally have the week of Kids Camp off of work.