Well, I unfortunately was not able to find time to write sooner so this blog is going to be a long one. On Thursday, March 14th, Keith headed to Axel's swim meet while I headed to Hollister with Rubix and Phoenix for Age Group Champs. Instead of a 2 queen bedroom with a pullout couch we received a King size bed with a pullout couch. This was a little frustrating and would mean that either Keith or I would have to drive back every night to be with Axel because there was not enough room for all 5 of us. The room worked out well for one parent and two kids.
We had to ask for another little fridge because the fridge the room came with was a micro fridge that could hardly fit anything at all. We had an early wake time on Rubix's birthday, in order to get down to breakfast and to warm-ups before 7:30am.
Rubix completely forgot it was his birthday because he was so excited to be at "JO's" (Junior Olympics or a.k.a. AGC, Age Group Champs). I made sure to capture a quick picture and give him one present.
His present was waterproof Uno/Uno Flip cards that he could play with his friends/teammates. He had wanted a waterproof deck like Phoenix, but when I saw the Uno cards, I thought they were even better than a plain deck of cards.
Friday Rubix competed in the 200 IM and the 50 Fly. He did not have the best race times, but he did have fun with his friends/ teammates.
Phoenix competed in the 200 IM, 100 back and the 500 Free on Friday and made all of the finals. Phoenix had a great day finishing 4th in the 200 IM finals, 6th in the 100 back finals and getting the Far Western Time cut, and 3rd in the 500 Free dropping almost 10 seconds in the morning and an additional 2.3 seconds during finals. She missed the Far Western Cut by 3 seconds, but boy, did she swim hard.
Rubix was apart of the boys 200 Free relay on Friday night. Here he is with his teammates waiting for the 10 and under relay to begin.
Saturday, Rubix woke up determined to have a better day. He had the 100 fly and absolutely crushed it not only getting a Far Western time, but making the finals! He celebrated by getting a JO t-shirt.
More card playing with only one event for the day!
Saturday night was the 200 medley relay where Rubix did the 50 fly and his team got 4th place! They were just one second behind their A relay team.
Phoenix had the 200 back and the 1000 Free on Saturday. She managed to drop time and get 4th in the 200 back final and get 2nd in the 1000 final. She was again disappointed because she really wanted to get the Far Western time, but only dropped 2.5 seconds, and not the 12 seconds she needed.
Sunday Rubix had his bonus events. He did the 200 Free and dropped over 13 seconds, missing the JO cut by 1 second. It was a great race! He also did the 50 back and dropped 2 seconds getting the JO time cut and missing the FW time cut by a half a second.
Phoenix had the 50 back and the 1650 on Sunday. She was determined to get the FW time for the 1650 and she did! She had never swam this event, but qualified based on her 1000 time and she went out an crushed the time cut by 17 seconds! She finished 2nd getting her 3rd medal of the meet. She finished 4th in the 50 back final missing the FW cut by .27. She had a phenomenal swim meet reaching all of her goals. To age up less than 2 months ago and then to get 3 medals (two 2nds and one 3rd), three 4th places and one 6th place was an amazing accomplishment. She was also the team leader scoring the most points amongst the girls in her training group.
We went away happy campers learning how to overcome obstacles and keep trying despite some frustrations along the way.
You might wonder, what about Axel? Well, Keith and I took turns driving home to make sure Axel was able to get to school, get to swim practice and have someone home at night. We also had help from one of his teammates to bring him home from practice on Friday night and Saturday morning. This allowed both Keith and I to be with Rubix on his bday and make sure Phoenix had the timers/lap counters she needed for her 3 distance events (the 500, 1000, and 1650 yard free style).
On Sunday, Rubix was excited to open his birthday presents from Gpa Brian. Initially, he was like....mom another laser tag, but then we all realized how cool it will be to have 8 people play laser tag, instead of just 4!
He also received a metal dinosaur building kit that he is slowly working through.
Rubix received 3 Lego kits from the 3 friends that came to his birthday party. It was fun to see Axel and Phoenix helping him. It has been a very long time since the 3 of them built Legos together.
Axel has been having weekly swim meets since high school swim season started a month ago. Keith has announced at his two home meets and I managed to go to his away meets.
I asked Keith to get a picture of Axel at his first swim meet which was a home meet and because he forgot, at the end he took a picture as they were headed out. They were literally the last to leave. :)
This was the meet I went to at Menlo School. Here he is talking to one of his teammates.
Here he is at the blocks. I find it funny how small he looks compared to the other swimmers and adults next to him.
Getting ready for his 200 Free.
He is swimming in the far lane. The other swimmers are still doing their underwaters. You can see them all in a row half a body length in front of Axel. He was placed in the fastest heat based on his seed time so there were some pretty fast swimmers in his heat.
The weekend after JOs was the "last chance meet" for Far Westerns. It was held at Morgan hill. On Friday night Phoenix and Axel did the 400 IM and Rubix did the 500 Free. In preparation for the swim meet, DaddyO made sure to pull Rubix's loose tooth, to make sure it didn't come out during the swim meet. Unfortunately, I can't seem to find the picture, but it was his 5th tooth. He lost 4 when he was 6 years old and hasn't lost any since. Now, back to the swim meet. Phoenix managed to drop more than 10 seconds exceeding the Fare Western cut by 6 seconds. Axel dropped more than 13 seconds getting a 4:50.00 (these are times we joke are fake because it is rare to get a "4:50 flat". Rubix crushed the 500 free dropping over 34 seconds on his second attempt and getting the JO cut! It was a great night.
Axel had a great meet swimming events that he normally doesn't and dropping time in everything. Phoenix also swam events she normally doesn't and dropped time in her events. Rubix also did well, but missed the cuts he was looking for, which was the FW for the 50 fly and the JOs for the 200 Free and 100 IM. It was a great weekend though and all of the kids were happy with the weather and the meet. Here they are with Coach Sveta, who use to be Axel's group coach and is such a great encouragement to all 3 of our kiddos.
The overjoyed 8-year-old after his 500 free JO cut was accomplished!
One afternoon, after the last chance meet, while Keith and I were riding our bikes, Phoenix was painting, as she often does. She showed us on Monday night after swim practice and I just had to capture a picture. She is not as pleased with the outcome, but I think it is beautiful!
I can't remember when Axel sent us this picture, but they had an assembly or day about innovation and business, so of course, the new Cyber truck had to be apart of this.
On Thursday, March 28th, Rubix and the 2nd grade glass had their Ogre awards which is a fun way to have the kids work on their speaking skills as they act out different fairy tales. Here is the group of 2nd graders all together.
Rubix was Wiley in Wiley and the Harry Man. He did such a great job and spoke clearly and articulated every word.
He even won the ogre award for best trickster.
Phoenix received MVP for basketball and came home with the certificate on Friday, the last day of school before Spring break. Her and Kylie were co-MVPs which was awesome because both girls really lead the team.
The last weekend in March was all about Jesus and Axel as we celebrated Axel's birthday and the resurrection of our Lord and Savior!
Axel invited a few friends over to celebrate his birthday with him. Jonathan and Nirav were the first to arrive and they were kind to include Rubix and then Phoenix in their game playing.
Christine came next and a serious game of Clue commenced. Phoenix was on Axel's team and Rubix was on Jonathan's team.
The kids enjoyed tacos for dinner.
Heather arrived just in time for dinner and laser tag!
All 7 of them got suited up for an hour of park laser tag.
Axel was beyond kind to have Phoenix and Rubix be apart of his entire "birthday party".
They started with a game of Szolusha kids vs. friends. They then went to boys vs. girls, and preceded to mix up the teams for fun game after game. Keith and I happily watched to make sure no one got hurt and that the younger Szolusha kids did not get upset or cry. Surprisingly, the younger ones were happy campers and the high schoolers were enjoyed themselves regardless.
Once it got dark the kids came in for birthday cake and more card games!
Here is Jonathan, Nirav, Axel, Christine and Heather.
Don't forget a father son photo opportunity!
We somehow managed to get Phoenix and Rubix to sleep by 9 pm as his friends departed one by one. The next day, Axel wanted to go to an optional long course practice on Easter morning to prepare for his upcoming long course meet. The little ones and I made pancakes and sent Axel a picture of his birthday breakfast number 2, since I made him eggs for before practice.
Rubix, Phoenix and I went to church while Daddy sat and worked pool side while Axel swam for 2+ hours. Axel said it was by far the most fun he has ever had at practice, and he was so glad he attended.
After church and swim practice the kids opened their Easter baskets and Axel his birthday presents. Here they are looking at the painting Phoenix made Axel for his birthday.
Happy Easter/ birthday picture!
Axel opening his bday card from Gma Susan/Gpa Brian.
Happy Easter!
We had our traditional outdoor Easter Egg hunt with a total of 89 eggs hidden in our park and yard. I am happy to say all 3 of them still enjoy this.
Ready, set, go!
The kids managed to find all 89 eggs in about 40 minutes!
While Keith and I were on our bike ride they hid 45 eggs in the house for us to find when we returned. We had such a blast finding the hidden and not so hidden, but difficult to see eggs. It is becoming a tradition for them to do an egg hunt for us now that they are older and understand the true meaning of Easter.
After Easter the kids were on Spring Break. They spent the early part of the week working on school projects. Phoenix did a fabulous job of helping Rubix print and cut out pictures for his state project, which is due in a couple of weeks. He has Indiana for his state report. Axel was able to get some much needed down time and a head start on his homework and studies for this upcoming week. On Wednesday, Axel was also able to get his last volunteer hours completed and I took the day off to prepare for the 4 day Far Western Swim meet in Pleasanton, CA. Rubix lost his 7th tooth, or I should say, Daddy pulled it out, so it would not be a worry during the swim meet. He has two other teeth on the opposite side that are loose, so we will see how quickly those two come out too.
Thursday morning I left with Axel at 5:40 am to get him to swim practice and Keith left at 6:20 am to with Phoenix and Rubix to head to the swim meet. Rubix had the 100 fly and Phoenix had the 50 back and 1650. I was able to make it down in time to see Rubix's and Phoenix's event and to help time the 1650 for Phoenix. The meet had about 1000 swimmers from all over the Western States.
I hardly ever take pictures so thought it would be fun to capture Phoenix and some of the people/tents.
Phoenix making a silly face in the very long tent village.
It was really cold and raining on Thursday and was a tough day for many swimmers. Phoenix and Rubix added in their events. Keith and Rubix went home on Thursday and Friday after prelims to attend soccer practice (Thursday) and get Axel to practice (Friday). Phoenix and I stayed at my friend's house for the 2 or so hours we had between prelims and finals. On Saturday, Phoenix and I went alone, and Keith managed to get Axel to and from swim practice and Rubix to his soccer game. The boys headed down in the afternoon for finals as the kids both had relays Saturday night.
Albert, Robert, Rubix and Bennet did the 200 Medley relay together.
Here is Rubix and his crew again playing cards on Saturday afternoon/evening.
Rubix managed to get another Far Western Cut in his bonus event, the 200 IM on Friday, but missed the cut for his 50 fly on Sunday. He was only able to compete in 3 events because he had one FW time and 2 bonus events.
Phoenix managed to pull out a full swim meet with 7 events, but the competition was much harder because it included all of the "far western" states and all girls age 11 and 12. Although she did not do as well as she wanted overall, she managed to make one consolation final for the 200 back and she got her one medal in the 1000 finishing 7th place. Luckily, at Far Westerns they give medals to the top 8, not just the top 3 because the competition is so deep. She also managed to get the FW cut for the 1000 Free, which puts her at a total of 5. She is very close in the 50 back and 200 IM, so it wouldn't surprise me if she is able to get another couple when long course season starts in May. Here is the tired girl asleep after the 200 back final on Friday. She usually NEVER naps so you know she is tired when she falls asleep in the car.
Saturday during finals, Helen showed up. Her dad dropped her off and we took her home. It was so nice to have Helen there. She started attending practice about a month ago after an 8 month break.
Olivia, Phoenix and Helen.
Phoenix with her 7th place medal for the 1000 free.
Sunday morning, last day of FW, all the boys had their FW hoodies. No better way to end the swim meet than hanging out with buddies playing cards.
We feel so very blessed for the life lessons the kids are learning during each swim meet. This was a very challenging meet for Phoenix. She is learning how the mind is powerful and attitude is everything. She is learning how to be a good teammate, despite her circumstances. She is learning how to persevere through difficult moments and how hard work can pay off, but doesn't always have to pay off in the immediate. Rubix is learning how to be more independent and self reliant. He had to warm up by himself, since no parents were allowed on the pool deck. He is learning responsibility and we are excited to see how he matures this summer being at summer school without his sister and hopefully, becoming less dependent on others for his basic needs.
Axel and Rubix having a pinball tournament yesterday afternoon since we were able to come home after prelims. I was a bit sad for Phoenix not making the 400 IM finals, but so excited to be home, clean the house, go for a bike ride and cook dinner at a reasonable time.
The kids are back to school, Keith is in Taiwan, and I have two days of vacation before I am back to work. I am praying for a miracle in updating the course I teach in a couple of months and finishing continuing education that is also due soon. I am feeling so grateful and blessed for this life, this family, our jobs, the kids school and the community we are a part of. I am not sure when the next time I will post, but it will for sure be no later than early May when school track (Phoenix) and swim (Axel) ends. I might even manage to make it to one of Rubix's soccer games this season. I forgot to mention I missed a goal he scored in his game on Saturday and haven't been to anything soccer related the entire first month! Until then....
