This post is unfortunately, not in chronological order, but it will have to do for now. The kids and I have been of school and work this week (2/12-2/16). I decided to plan a few fun activities in between swim practice and some much needed down time. On Tuesday I took them to the Mystery Spot. I thought they would enjoy themselves and although the pictures reflect a good time, my very scientific, almost 15 year old, had much to say about its plausibility.
When I took Gma and Gpa Burgess this summer we had an amazing tour guide. This time, the tour guide was subpar. He did not say much, and his demonstrations were short, however, he did show us a few different "tricks" to try. One of them was, "the world's easiest push-ups".
The four of us tried and I would have to say, they were not the world's easiest push-ups. You definitely had to be prepared to push hard to get yourself back up to standing. As Axel said, an incline push up is easier than a push up from a flat surface and thus, they are easier, but not without effort.
Another cool trick was acting like "Spider Man" and pretending like you were lying on the wall.
It was actually fun to do this. I think Axel's looks the best.
Phoenix and Rubix were a little hesitant.
I think these next two pictures are cute. They are pretending to push each other.
Axel being silly.
Here are my two favorite pictures of the day.
Of course, I had to get one of the four of us. On the way home, Axel wanted to go over the dimensions and angles of the cabin and how the ball rolling up hill, was really down hill. He explained that we were leaning way more than 17 degrees, which I completely agree with, because of the angle of the floor. The question is, is there truly a gravitational anomaly, or is the house build in such a way to make it look like there is? I love how he uses his knowledge to decipher what is true and what can be optical illusions. He even had an explanation for the pendulum and how one side can be weighted more which would give the illusion that gravity is pulling it more toward the "mystery spot". Regardless of his skepticism, I am glad we were able to go.
If we back track more than 2 weeks ago, the kids had the Brian Malick Championship meet the last weekend in January. We were blessed with beautiful weather in the mid to high 60's. The kids had a great meet. Axel dropped in all 6 of his events! He dropped more than 7 seconds in his 200 IM. He finally did a 26 second 50 free and improved in all of his strokes. He was pretty excited! Phoenix finally swam a 30 second 50 free almost breaking the 30 second barrier at 30.13. This is a great improvement for her since she is a distance kid. She was able to swim the 400 IM for the first time crushing the 11 year old Age group time and nearly getting the Far Western Time cut. She clocked a 5:16 and she needs a 5:10 to make Far Westerns. Rubix's goal was to win high points for the 8 and under boys group. He managed to take the overall by winning every race except the 50 free where he came in 2nd to Albert, who is the tallest kid below. This is the boys A relay for both the free style and the medley. Rubix, Ethan, Albert and Miro took the win for both of the races. These boys are one year older than him and age up in the next few months to 9.
Rubix managed to get his first Age Group cut with his 200IM on Friday night. The big shockers were him winning the 100 IM against Albert and getting within a second and a half to the Age Group cut for that event. Even though he came in second on the 50 free he dropped down to 33.16, which will put him in the B relay for Age group champs if they end up having 2 relays.
Axel and Phoenix were also in relays. I was managing the boys relay and Keith has been working to become an official so he was busy. These two pictures are from Rueben, Cielo's dad.
Phoenix was in both the B medley and free relays. Her team is Cielo, Audrey, and Sarah Hyodo. I did not get a picture of Axel with his team, but teenage boys tend to manage themselves without a parents help, so he is/was pretty hands off.
Here is Rubix receiving his trophy for 8 and under high point boys.
All smiles.....
All of the Santa Clara Swim Club high point winners! SCSC took the overall win for the meet as well.
On February 1st and 2nd, Phoenix had her 4 performances of her 5th grade show, Camp Rubenuk. Axel joined me on Friday night for her last show. We had a blast watching her, despite her coming down with a cold. She had to sneak in a few sneezes and you could tell her nose was a bit runny. It was a good day to miss swim practice.
All of the kids came down with the cold so all of them, except Rubix, skipped swim practice on Saturday the 3rd. After sleeping most of Saturday, Axel got an itch to bake. He decided on pumpkin donuts. They turned out beautifully and tasted great too. I only had a nibble, but the kids managed to finish all dozen Saturday night and Sunday morning.
The rain and cold allowed for some good old fashion play. Axel helped Rubix build a "Skee Ball" game with the Magnatiles. This lead to hours of fun.
On February 5th I received a text message at work about 7:45 am, with this picture. Rubix lost his 5th tooth before school. The tooth fairy was generous as always leaving him $10!
Phoenix had 2 basketball games the first full week in February, however, their opponents ended up cancelling because too many of their girls were sick. Instead, they had an intrasquad meet, 5 on 5. Phoenix's team surprisingly won!
Phoenix and Kylie are the two girls who can dribble and shoot the ball so they were opponents. I thought for sure Kylie's team would win, but somehow Phoenix's team came together for the win.
Rubix celebrated the 100th day of school on Wednesday Feb. 6th. He made a Lego house out of 100 pieces of Legos for his 100-day project.
Phoenix had her second game of the week on Friday. This time the other team showed up in full force. The kids also had their Valentine's celebration. I found it funny to see what Rubix wore to school so I just had to grab a picture of him. I had left out the red dragon shirt with hearts on it that I purchased Axel some years ago and black pants with a red stripe. Apparently, he didn't like what I put out!
Phoenix ended up being the "point guard" because Kylie was home sick. Phoenix played out of her mind making 13 of the 19 points. She also put in her first 3 pointer. Her team played amazing defense providing her pick after pick and one double pick that allowed her to go in for the lay-up seamlessly. It was so much fun to watch the team play hard and so well together.
They have Coach K coaching them this year. He is helping the girls learn the game, play hard and work on their strengths and weaknesses.
This past weekend we had another swim meet. This one was in Santa Cruz. We lucked out with no rain, but it was still a bit cold. Rubix didn't want to put clothes on between events because he only had about 20 minutes, so instead I tried to bundle him up with his parka and my winter jacket. He looked too cute to not capture a photo. He had another great weekend, achieving his second Age Group time cut in the 100 fly! He missed the 50 fly by .05 seconds, but we are hoping he will be able to drop the .05 seconds at the Last Chance Meet in a couple of weeks. Phoenix also had a great weekend accomplishing the two goals she set out for. She managed to get her first 11-12 Far Western Time cut in the 200 back and the Age Group Cut in the 200 breast. This was her first-time swimming both of these events so she was very pleased with the outcome.
On Sunday we managed to get home in just enough time to go for a run (me) and swim (Keith) before our guests arrived to watch the Super Bowl. Axel invited over Jonathan and Kris, his two classmates. We had invited Tyler over, but then Phoenix's friend and family came over as well.
Here is Savanah and Phoenix chowing the snacks. Savanah's sister and mom also came over.
Rubix was a bit tired and mesmerized by the game. He reluctantly let me take this photo.
The 11 of us enjoyed yummy appetizers, soup and Axel's delicious carrot cake. Axel made a double decker for his 2nd attempt at carrot cake. It was absolutely scrumptious and Kris managed to eat 4 pieces. Apparently, it is his absolute favorite. We were bummed that the 49ers lost, but were happy with how very entertaining the game was up until the very end!
When I put Phoenix to bed I was surprised to she made her bed. I was proud of her for cleaning her room before her friend came over. I was also a little dismayed at how many squishmallows and stuffed animals she has accumulated over the past couple of months since Christmas. So much for the garbage bags full of stuffed animals I donated to Good Will a couple of years ago. She already has replenished what we got rid of. Oh well!
Today, we did a family escape room. We went to Omescape and did their beginner room, Kingdom of Cats. We had a lot of fun. It took us 46 minutes to escape. We had a few hints along the way and wish we did it all on our own. We had such a good time we hope to do the sequel Kingdom of Cat-Tastrophy which is a 4/5 difficulty and a 90-minute experience.
We are looking forward to Axel's swim meet this weekend. He has a big weekend of the 500 free, the 1650, the 1000 and the 200 free. We are hoping the weather cooperates.
I hope to post for sure after Rubix's birthday party, which we plan to have on March 9th. Maybe if I am lucky, I will get in a post before then, but until then.... stay warm and dry!
