Axel was invited to the Upper School Award Ceremony on Friday May 24th. He was able to go to practice for an hour and 15 minutes and then we headed to his ceremony. He was nominated for the Love of Learning again. He received this same award last year.
Ms. Gargano gave the speech discussing the traits of students who are nominated for this award.
Ms. Horan and Mr. Barsky, the principle, gave out the awards.
Saturday through Memorial Day we had a swim meet that was a Santa Clara Swim Club Intrasquad meet that was in between preliminary and finals for the George Haines International Meet that we were hosting. Axel woke up feeling worse that he did the day before and ended up staying home while Keith and I went with Rubix and Phoenix. Rubix only sway the 100 fly because he needed a long course Far Western time and we wanted him to save his energy since he came down with the cold that Phoenix had the weekend before on Tuesday. Axel tried to come on Sunday, but felt dizzy and he started getting ear pain. He stayed home again on Monday and I was able to take him to the doctor that afternoon where he was diagnosed with an ear infection. He started antibiotics that day and managed to get through his finals that were on Tuesday and Wednesday.
On Tuesday, May 28th, Phoenix had her 5th grade promotion ceremony.
Her brothers were able to come and support her!
The excited, funny girl!
Here is her class of over 100 students. I think they have about 120, but I cannot remember exactly.
Phoenix was in the last row because they organized the students based on height.
Here she is receiving her promotion award from Mr. Yager, head of school.
After every child received their award the kids sang for us. Phoenix was in the back row.
The 4 of us getting a selfie :)
Afterwards they had deserts and drinks for the families. Phoenix managed to eat 4 desserts!
Here she is with Kylie, one of her closest friends who is transferring to Menlo next year. it will be sad to not have Kylie around anymore, but Menlo is closer to her home and has an incredible sports program. Kylie really wants to exceed in basketball and track and it will be exciting to see what opportunities she will have in high school (once she gets through middle school).
Speaking of track, here is the team photo. Phoenix is standing in the back row right in the center.
I think I mentioned that Rubix is obsessed with cars and knowing make, models and symbols of every make. Here is a picture of all of his drawing of the cars that he is learning about.
We were at a Senior Open Meet this weekend in Brentwood. Rubix was a trooper and came along. He was a bit bored, but managed to watch some swimming and get some "school" work donw. Here he is on Sunday pretending like he is sleeping. We had to be up and out of the house just after 6 am, so he was down on sleep.
Phoenix got to hang out with her buddy Audrey who moved to Pleasanton and is on the Pleasanton Sea Hawks. She also got to hang out with Emelie Wang, who is a phenomenal swimmer, and her biggest competitor. I did not include her in the picture because I wasn't sure she was okay with me taking a picture of her.
Axel managed to swim, although he wasn't feeling top notch. They both did the 1500 meter on Saturday and the 400 IM on Sunday, which are difficult races. Unfortunately, Axel started feeling ear pain again and another trip to the doctor ended with a second round of antibiotics, but now drops for swimmers ear, rather than oral antibiotics. He appears to have another cold and we are now uncertain how long he will be out from swimming and running. He starts AP chem on Monday and they have a test the first day on the first 90 elements. Hopefully, he can get over this cold and get back to feeling good.
We had an impromptu party on Monday, yes, the day before he felt worse and I needed to take him to the doctor. He invited his lunch table over. Six of his friends were able to attend which made for a fun, but loud afternoon. His friends and him played games, ate some food, and laughed a lot. It was really nice to have them hanging out and not stressed about school.
I fogot to mention that Rubix has lost 4 teeth over the last several months. I think I posted one of them in January, but three more have come out since. Phoenix got fitted for her expander and she gets it cemented in on July 9th. She will have it in for about 6 months and then she will get braces early next year! We will find out, also on the 9th, how much longer Axel has for his braces. I am thinking he will be done no later than the end of the year.
Phoenix has been using her free time to read and paint. Here are a few pieces. These abstracts are a couple of months old, but she made these frames out of carboard.
This painting she just finished adding the woman and umbrella. She also painted the jelly fish yesterday.
I also forgot to mention that she received the Coaches award for track. We were surprised because this year she did not go to practice nearly as much as last year, because of her swim schedule. You can see her promotion certificate in the middle, her lower school "Harker Athletic Letter" on the left above her rock collection and her other athletic awards.
I love how she is trying to take care of her room and make it her own. We have yet another swim meet this weekend. It will be 4 weeks in a row. I will be teaching in Oakland on Sunday and Keith will somehow manage a morning and afternoon swim meet session on top of getting Axel to and from practice. This is one of the last chances for the Phoenix and Rubix to get more Far Western long course times, so we will see how they do.
We are looking forward to Little Grammy and Aunt Josie/ cousin Hannah visiting at the end of the month. I am not sure if I will post before then. I do hope to find time, after this weekend to update the YouTube channel with more of the kids videos. I will try to post the link when I have it more up and running. Until then....happy summer weather!
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