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.