Thanksgiving, Winter Age Group Champs, End of Basketball, Soccer Party and Cross Country Banquet, and end of Semester 1

It has truly been a whirlwind since my last post. After our crazy weekend of sports (swim meet, soccer tournament and CCS XC we had our Annual Friendsgiving. Unfortunately, Eileen's family and the Ingardias could not make it. It was a small gathering of Mark with his two kiddos (Ryan and Hazel) and Tyler with Jade and Zoe along with the 5 of us and Axel's friend Christine. Everyone appeared to enjoy themselves and Rubix did a great job entertaining little Ryan (age 4). 

I told Tyler a couple of years ago that we were done preparing the turkey and that this was on him. He is so great about enjoying the preparation of the turkey, stuffing and mashed potatoes. Here he is with his masterpiece. 

Keith still does the carving. I prepared the ham, sweet potatoes, green beans, dinner rolls and dessert and dinner came together very smoothly. 

Here is the crew before I said grace. 

Axel managed to capture all of us with a "selfie". I am grateful for this tradition and do hope we are able to continue it. 

I only worked Monday of Thanksgiving week and we had parent teacher conferences via Zoom for all three kids on Tuesday. Keith, Axel and I lifted together after the conferences and then Axel headed to Samara's house to hang out with his friends the rest of the day. Wednesday was primarily prepping for Thanksgiving, along with swim practice. On Thanksgiving we woke up and were driving to Grandma's house by 8 am. This allowed Keith, Axel and I to go for a run. Axel and I ran 5 miles together and Keith went longer for an hour (likely 6- 7 miles). Rubix and Phoenix hung out with Grandma. We were able to come back from our run, shower and take a family photo! Thank you Grandma!

 We then headed over to Auntie Shannon's house for our Thanksgiving feast. Ryan cooked the most amazing turkey and we all gobbled it up. I think Phoenix had 4 large servings, it was incredible! Here is a picture of Phoenix and Braylin. They are about the same height. We debated who is taller. Phoenix apparently is 5'5" and Braylin 5'6", but you cannot tell from this picture. 

Rubix had a blast playing corn hole with varying people, one of whom was Auntie. I was able to capture a few pictures of their fun. 

Shannon's in laws and sister in laws family was also there. Ainsley was born in May, Braylin in August and Phoenix the oldest in January. We have pictures of the there of them together as babies and now they are all three nearly full grown!

Grandpa Brian celebrated another birthday on the 24th of November and wore a fun ostrich shirt he got on vacation with my mom. It was quite the shirt!

Rubix and Aya played chess. 

A cute picture of Axel and Phoenix. "Why big brother are you squishing me?!"

Rubix and Aya tried to break the wishbone, but it was still too wet and kept slipping from their hands rather than breaking in half. We had a lovely day and managed to get home at 8:30 pm, just 12 and a half hours after we left home. It was a lovely day of visiting family and we are glad that we were able to attend, despite still being a little sad at not being in Fresno for Axel's State Cross country meet. 

The day after Thanksgiving we enjoyed decorating the house and Christmas tree. There was quite a bit of drama this year as the top portion of the tree almost could not be used because the insert went missing. Axel and I made a fix that was just good enough to keep it on. I surprising came across the missing piece the next day once I finished decorating and found the piece in a random box! I was incredibly grateful because the top of the tree was starting to lean. Axel and I were able to replace our contraption with the plastic piece and now the tree is fixed and will hopefully last another few years. It is only 15 years old and I was hoping to get another 5 years out of this tree. 

Phoenix decided we need to decorate the tree in rainbow order . It is hard to appreciate from this photo, but the top of the tree is all red ornaments, then gold, green, blue and so forth.  

 Done...for now.

 

The funny thing is Phoenix was annoyed with how many red ornaments we had so the next day she took off all of the ornaments and redecorated the tree in reverse order with the red ornaments at the bottom and ended the top with white and silver to match the tree topper. I think she did a great job! It actually only took her an hour which was really impressive. 

Rubix's school is really good about filming and taking photographs of different school events. Here are professional photos of Rubix's first home game that Keith, Phoenix and I attended on November 4th. 

The intramural boys were cheering for the 4th grade travel team that Rubix was on. They had so much spirit and energy!

You may be able to see Phoenix, Keith and I in the stands. 

I love these action shots of him!

With the busy schedule of basketball and swim practice came later nights and more tired kiddos.....so I thought, until Rubix woke with a cold on the Saturday before Age Group Champs. We did our best to let him sleep in every day to fight his cold. I tortured the poor kid by having him do no physical activity on Sunday. 

On Saturday, I noticed Rubix's cold while at Axel's cross country banquet. His nose was running like crazy and he was really congested. 

Here is Axel getting recognized for being MVP of the team along with All Team All League, which is a few select runners in the league. 

Phoenix sitting with Axel after the varsity boys were recognized. 

Here is Keith recognizing the coaches. The coaches were very invested in the kids this year. It was a bit different without Coach Kevin and Latke, but Coach Jorge, Liz and Dave were also very involved which made for another great season. 

Axel, Ava and Samara ready to hand out the gifts. 

Right after the cross country banquet was the soccer team party that was rescheduled. I was sick a few weeks ago when we were supposed to have it, so we did an impromptu pizza gathering with the entire team on Dec. 5th. Here Keith is recognizing each player with a certificate and trophy. 

Rubix trying to relieve his congested nose!

The soccer crew, which took up a big portion of the restaurant. 

Rubix had another busy week with basketball and swim, but we somehow managed to get to Friday December 12th a bit healthier. I picked up Phoenix at 1 pm from school to head to San Ramon. We were lucky to check into our hotel before heading to the swim meet. At school I was able to go to the ceramics display where her wedding cake was on display. Phoenix made this beautiful cake entirely out of clay!

I think she did an amazing job. I feel extremely blessed that she is able to exercise the creative part of her brain at school. We are very lucky that Harker has just as good of an art program as they do math!

Keith picked up Rubix and headed straight to the meet to set up the tent. The kids were swimming the 500 free and then the 400 IM (Phoenix) and the 200 IM (Rubix). These events are normally prelim and final, but in the winter they only run them at night as finals. I was officiating so I do not have them on film, but I was able to watch Phoenix swim to her first victory. That is right... she won with a blazing fast time of 5:17.17 which puts her at number 13 in the country! She is less than 7 seconds away from sectionals, which is her goal come the Spring season that starts in January and ends at Far Westerns in April. Rubix toughed out a great swim dropping a fraction of a second to place 2nd with a 5:45.14. 

Phoenix managed to turn around an hour later and swim the 400 IM, finishing 2nd in the 12 year olds. She only added 2 seconds from her best time, which is great considering she just completed the 500 free.                                                      Phoenix 400 IM

Rubix had a much tougher second race. He said he really struggled during the fly portion of the race and had to work really hard to catch up from being behind. He was really bummed to finish 4th, but I was really proud of his effort, considering the circumstances. He is wearing his new pink cow tech suit. 

Rubix 200 IM

Luckily, Saturday I was not officiating, but Keith was. He did both prelims and finals while I helped Phoenix and Rubix with their events. It was a busy day. Phoenix swam the 200 back, the 200 free and the 200 breast. 

She was ranked 2nd in the back, 1st in the free and 3rd in the breast going into the meet. She finished 2nd in the back and free during prelims and 5th in the 200 breast. She was really tired and decided after prelims that she was not going to swim the 1650 (mile) the next day and would stick with the 2 shorter events. 

Here is her 200 free from prelims. 

Phoenix 200 free

During finals she finished 2nd in 200 back (which was her first event). Thirty minutes later she swam the 200 Free in got 3rd by .1 seconds and 45 minutes later she swam the 200 breast were she finished 6th. 

200 back from finals. 

Phoenix 200 back- finals

Phoenix 200 breast-prelims

Rubix also started his day with the 200 free where he was ranked 2nd and finished 2nd in prelims and finals. He then did the 50 back where he was ranked 2nd, finished 2nd in prelims and tied for 2nd in finals after a very delayed start. He also competed in the 100 fly where again, he was ranked 2nd, and finished 2nd in both prelims and finals. Here are his videos. 

Rubix 200 free-finals

Rubix 50 back-finals

Rubix 100 fly-finals

In addition to the individual events, Rubix was in the mixed 200 free relay after prelims and then the boys medley relay after finals. They ended up 2nd for the mixed free relay and won the boys medley relay. 

Phoenix also did the medley relay after finals where her team finished 2nd almost beating her teammates on the other relay who came in first. She did the breast stroke leg of the relay, where Rubix did the fly portion of his relay. His team won by a large margin. 

On Sunday I officiated perlims. They took a picture of all of the officials. I texted Keith over so he could join the picture too since he did 3 sessions and I only did 2 sessions. As you can see it takes a lot of volunteers to run a swim meet!

Keith managed the kids, but luckily, it was a much more chill day. Phoenix swam the 200 IM coming in 3rd. Rubix swam the 50 fly finishing 2nd in prelims and finishing the closest he has to Robert Legg, his biggest competitor and friend. He was really excited going into finals because he felt he could beat him for the first time. Both kids also swam the 100 back and both finished 2nd in prelims. 

By Phoenix swimming the 100 back rather than the 1650, it allowed us to leave the meet and rest at the hotel for 3 hours! Keith stayed back for Rubix's mixed gender medley relay. They finished first and managed to have a couple of hours of rest at the hotel. 

Sunday night was a big night because the kids were determined to end strong. They were both 2nd in high points for their age group and wanted to stay there. 

Phoenix started the night out with a bang dropping time in her 200IM and almost coming in 2nd. She couldn't quite catch her teammate Catherine, but she dropped a second finally breaking the 2:19 barrier she has been at since last year. She finished in 2:18.31.

Phoenix 200 IM- finals

Rubix also started the night out on fire, finally breaking the 30 second barrier on the 50fly that he has been stuck at all season. As excited as we were that he accomplished this difficult feat, he was devasted to finish 3rd, especially because he was hoping to win the event. His competitors Robert and Ethan had incredible races beating his speedy 29.96 by 1 second (Robert) and .1 seconds (Ethan). 

Rubix 50 fly - final 

As upset as Rubix was at finishing 3rd in the 50 fly, Phoenix was just as upset about her 100 back where her teammate out touched her by .34 seconds bumping her down to 3rd place in the event and in the overall high point competition. 

Phoenix 100 back - finals

Rubix managed to swim his heart out and finish 2nd in his last individual race of the season in the 100 back. It was not a personal best, but awfully close. I am so proud of how hard the kids worked and how tough they were swimming in freezing cold weather where the adults and officials were complaining about the conditions. I can only imagine how difficult it was for all of the swimmers. 

Rubix 100 back - final

Both kids swam the 200 free relay at the end of the night. Rubix's team managed to crush it for 1st place again, and Phoenix's team finished 3rd. Phoenix finally broke the 27 second barrier in her 50 free as the anchor of the race with a speedy 26.56 second split. 

It was an incredibly long weekend. I feel extremely grateful that we are able to support the kids in their endeavors. It was quite the accomplishment that both kids finished 3rd in overall high points, both losing their 2nd place slot with the last races of the meet. They both learned many wonderful life lessons this weekend and I hope they continue to grow their character from their many activities. 

Axel had a long weekend of studying for finals, but managed to take a break and go on a long hike with his old running buddy, Harris, who has been home from college. He is in the midst of trying to figure out colleges, his summer and finishing his finals strong. 

 Phoenix has finished her first 2 days of finals and is looking forward to finishing this week with strong grades. She seems a little uncertain of how her tests have gone so far, having never taken a final before, but she is hopeful she will finish the semester with straight A's and finally earn her second ear piercing that she has been working towards for an entire year! 

We are looking forward to celebrating the birth of Jesus this weekend and a relaxing time in Palm Springs with family next week. We want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. I hope to post in a couple of weeks after the fun holiday festivities. 

Axel's WBAL Championship final, Folsom Classic, Rubix's Basketball Game 2, Axel's CCS XC Race

It has been quite a busy couple of weeks since Halloween. Rubix had another three basketball games, on top of two swim meets and a soccer tournament. I will get into both of those later. Axel had his League Finals on Friday November 7th. Unfortunately, I was driving to Folsom with the R and P for the Folsom Classic Swim meet. Keith made sure to attend Axel's cross country meet. 

Here is the start. Axel was able to get into good position right away. 

He came up the hill leading the pack with three guys off the front (two from Menlo and one from Crystal). 

Here he is cresting the hill. 

Axel leading 4th -7th. Menlo is one of the strongest teams in the state with all 5 of their guys running sub 16:30 and their top three runners sub 16 minutes. 

Axel continuing to lead the "Menlo Crew"

Axel raced a good race coming in 6th place at 6:14, 15 seconds off of his PR and a bunch better than his last race after being sick. 

Sprint finish just a second off of 4th place. 

Another view of the sprint finish. 

Axel was pleased with his performance and felt like he would only be better for his next race, Sectionals (CCS), the following week. His team qualified for the 2nd year in a row which is a big step up from Harker not qualifying for CCS when Axel was a freshman. Instead a handful of kids, including Axel, qualified as individuals Axel's freshman year. This year was the first year that both the girls and boys teams qualified for CCS, which is also a big deal for the team and hopefully their future. 

Robinson was Axel's co-captain, but spent the first half of the season injured and not running. I was lucky enough to continue to have Axel bug him and help him get back to running. He was way off of his personal best, but helped the team get to CCS. Robinson will be greatly missed next year as he ventures off to college.  

Rubix started basketball in mid October and had his first game on Oct. 29th. I forgot to mention this last time. He has played 4 games since and is starting to get a hang of the game. He can shoot the ball, dribble and pass, but is learning how to get his hands up to rebound and how to guard. These skills are not as innate, considering he has spent most of his life just shooting around and playing with Daddy. 

It seems like we waited for ever for this moment, where he can play school sports, and interestingly it has been a bit of a surprise that he doesn't get to play very much. The coach appears to pull him out every time he goes in and makes a basket. Rubix plays for 30 seconds up to 2 minutes. The good news is, he maintains a good attitude and continues to try his best in practice. 

I wasn't able to make the first game because I was at Axel's cross country meet and then Phoenix's swim practice, but I was able to make his second game. 

Here are a few videos of him from his second game. 

Rubix's steals the ball for a lay up

Rubix scores from the outside

Rubix makes another shot

Rubix assists Emmen

Rubix assists again!

They managed to win their first two games (both at home), but lost their second two games (both away games). He doesn't have another game until after Thanksgiving break, so we will see if anything changes with playing time or learning how to rebound and become more of a defender. 

I try to get Christmas shopping started in October and sometimes that means I end up giving a Christmas gift early to one of the kids. It was no different this year when I found a really nice tech suit for Rubix on sale and ended up giving it to him for the prelim / final swim meet at Folsom. I had planned to give it to him 10 days early for Age Group Champs, but I am a softy and felt like a new tech suit at this swim meet would help with confidence and results, which it did. 

Rubix had a fantastic weekend with several new personal records. I have these on video below. The 100 Fly he went a blazing 106.49 in prelims and then dropped down to 106.35, placing him 11th in the country. The 500 free he dropped more than 12 seconds finishing in 5:45.20 and incredible time for a 9 year old. This puts him at 14th in the country for all 10 and under swimmers. The two other highlights for the weekend were the 200 free where he dropped a total of 5 seconds, finishing in 2:09.30, putting him now at 12th in the country and the 50 free he finished in 28.01, .6 seconds faster than the last time he swam it. Here is the 50 Free. 

Rubix's 50 Free prelims

Phoenix also had a noteworthy weekend. Her 500 free she dropped to a 5:23.15, which is a AAA time for 13/14 girls. Her 100 back she dropped to a 1:02.32 finishing first in her heat and winning the final at night as well. Here is her prelim back stroke prelim race. 

Phoenix 100 back prelims

Other good drops were in her 200 free where she went 2:02.61. This time ranks her as the fastest 12 year old for Age Group Champs in December. This event being a strong suit is new to her, so we are both excited to see how much more she can improve this difficult event (not quite a sprint, although a sprint for her, and not quite a distance event). 

Folsom Classic is extremely fun for the kids because they have the ready tent and the red carpet out for "A" Finalist, which is the top 10 qualifying swimmers. Here is Daddy giving Rubix a high 5 before his first final, the 100 fly. 

Rubix's 100 Fly Finals walk out

Rubix 100 Fly Final

Rubix enjoyed the hot shower in between races and after his warm up to stay warm before heading to the ready tent. Below you can view his 200 free walk out and final. 

Rubix's 200 free finals walk out

Rubix's 200 final at Folsom Classic

Here is a special picture of Daddy/ official helping Phoenix with the backstroke ledge. It is a bit of a rare occurrence to have Keith or myself now, officiating the lane that Phoenix or Rubix are in, but it was extra special for Phoenix to be seeded first in the 100 back and have her dad help her get ready for her race. Truly a moment I will always remember. 

Phoenix in the ready tent and her walk out. 

Phoenix 100 back final red carpet procession

I did not include her final race because she PR'd in the morning, although this was, I believe, her first time that she was able to keep her first seed position and win in the final. She happens to be a better morning swimmer, where most girls, from what we have discovered are better "final" swimmers. My friend says it is due to hormones and that most females are faster in the evening because of this. I am hoping this was a big confidence booster for her and that she can become a better "final" swimmer, especially since she is ranked in the top 3 for all of her events for Age Group Champs this December. 

The Folsom Classic also has relays. I was able to capture a picture of Rubix's relay. They were very excited because they beat the "B" relay from SCSC who were 11/12 year old boys in the 200 medley relay. They are just a second off of the SCSC record and they hope to break it in the spring before half of the team ages up to 11. 

Axel had a last Santa Cruz practice the week before his WBAL final that I forgot to mention. The team drove down in 2 of the Harker vans, ran, ate lunch (and ice cream) and went to Natural Bridges. I think it is great how Coach Jorge is working in some team events to help them grow closer as a team. The unfortunate thing is not all of the varsity runners are able to make it due to other commitments. 

Here is Axel with half of the boys varsity team. 

The boys and girls varsity team, and some JV invites. 

Team outing to Natural Bridges. 

Ice cream surprise!

This weekend was the Last Chance Meet Friday through Sunday, Axel's Sectional XC Meet and Rubix's soccer tournament. This was after a week of 2 basketball games a soccer practice and of course swim every day! I told Rubix, I don't think it is going to work out in the future to have 3 sports to play, even if it was only for 4 or 5 weeks, it was just too much!

Friday night was a great success for the kids. They came off a hard weekend of racing and then had another big day. Phoenix was testing out doing the 400 IM and the 500 Free in the same night back to back. She went into the 400 IM fresh this weekend and went a blazing 4:46.75, which is a 13/14 AAA time and puts her 15th in the country and just under 7 seconds from sectionals. After this amazing effort she still managed to finish the 500 in 5:25, just a couple of seconds off her PR. 

Rubix did the same thing first swimming the 200 IM, dropping down to a 2:27.61, placing him 14th in the country! He then finished the 500 free in 5:51, which is still an excellent time for his age. He was a bit upset for adding 6 seconds from his time last week, but the point was to see if he can mentally and physically handle the big load for Age Group Champs. Both kids are ranked 2nd for these two events and I believe they have both decided to take on this task at Age groups. 

The two highlights for Phoenix the rest of the meet were the 50 breast, which she hasn't swam in more than a year and the 200 back, which she has been struggling to get an accurate time. The 50 breast she finished in 34.42, more than 4 seconds faster than the last time she swam this and is a AAA time for 11/12 year old girls, a huge improvement from the BB time she previously had. 

Phoenix 50 Breast, Last Chance Meet

The 200 back was a bit of a saga again! She had a decent race and finished in 2:13.37. It displayed on the board and then for some reason this time was lost and 2:30 was put into the system. Since they knew she won the heat they put down the hand time, which was slower than her actual time (this rarely happens because the hand timer usually pushes the button later than the light flashes). So she ended up with a 2:14.08, which is not the end of the world. It is still a AAAA time, but not where she wants to be. It also changes her seed from 2nd to 3rd at AGC, but that shouldn't change the outcome.  

Phoenix 200 back, Last Chance Meet

Phoenix and I ended up leaving after these two events on Saturday to go home and get Axel. We were able to pick up Axel and get him to Hallmark Park at 11:45 am in time for his 1:30pm big race. Axel as ranked 5th in the Division 4 schools which would mean almost a guarantee ticket to the State XC meet. 

Here is Axel pre- race. Apparently, I was caught on camera too, in mid sentence. 

The team warming up at the line. You can see Axel and Michael starting a stride. 

Team cheer before the race begins. 

Axel flexing his muscles before the race start. I love how relaxed he is and how much fun he has racing now. 

And there off.......

The start was incredibly fast and Axel did not get a good position. He was 20 guys back from the lead guy. 

Axel, CCS XC Meet 2025, The start

You can see Axel make a huge effort in this video to bridge to the front of the pack. 

Axel Bridging at half a mile in

Axel comfortably settled into the lead group of 4 up the hill. 

Axel at the 1 mile mark, heading up the hill.

The front guy took off again after the hill and now he was with two other guys in small group of 3. He was in the middle. 

The downhill after the big hill.

One guy must have bridged to his group of three because now Axel is 4th in his group trailing behind three runners plummeting down the hill. 

Axel coming up around the corner.

Axel remains in 5th position, last in the group of 4 that he is with after Cardiac Hill. 

Axel after cardiac hill

He continues in 5th position until he is out of site after the 1K to go. 

Flat section before the last mile.

The last flat section before the last 1K

Some how, when he is out of site, another couple of kids were able to catch him and Axel had to work exceptionally hard to hold off them for 6th place. He finished in 16:06, just 6.5 seconds off of his personal best. He ran a hard good race. A race that should have guaranteed him a ticket to states, but for the first time in 30 years, according to his coach, all 5 top finishers were individuals and not apart of a qualifying team, which meant that Axel would not be going to the state championship meet. The 7th runner was the first finisher for Mills Academy and the first runner apart of a qualifying team, which meant that all of the medalist except, Axel would be going to States. 

The finish!

This was the first time in Harker history that two Harker kids finished in the top 10 and neither of them were going to States. Michael finished in 16:21, a time faster than the last two boys who went to states from Harker. Both Veyd and Robinson were 16:30 something and 16:41. Everyone was shocked that Axel would not be going. 

Axel apparently face planted after the finish line as his left leg buckled when he was decelerating from his sprint. 

He was, of course, in good spirits about it. He has a few scrapes and a bruised rib, but luckily, nothing was injured, per se. Phoenix was there right when he finished to congratulate him. I didn't see it until much later because I stayed to cheer on all of his teammates. I assumed when I saw Axel cross the line he was safe, boy was I shocked when I heard and saw what happened to him. 

Good news for the girls, they finished 4th, just one spot away from qualifying for states as a team and our freshman Sophie finished 13th and qualified as the last individual girl runner. The Harker girls team also had the highest average GPA of all teams in division 4, hence the picture below of them receiving this award. 

Phoenix grabbed Axel's glasses for the award ceremony like he asked for. DJ captured most of these pictures and he happen to catch this moment as well. 

I love this photo!

Robinson congratulating Axel with a double high five!

Axel, happily receiving his 6th place medal at Sectionals, a huge honor. 

DJ capturing a photo of us! Thanks DJ !

While Phoenix and I were at the swim meet and cheering on Axel at CCS, Keith and Rubix were at a soccer tournament. The Fog, their team were 10-0 for the season and the #1 ranked team going into the tournament. They had a very tough match for their first game and won 1-0. With rain in the forecast they were uncertain if their second game was going to happen, but the rain held off and they won their second game with ease. Keith and the kids were beyond ecstatic. 

Here are the boys celebrating with their trophies!

One of Rubix's goals. There are a couple of moms who take videos of most of the game. I am very grateful to see some of the game through these videos. 

Rubix's goal

The trophies that both Keith and Rubix are proud of. After 7 seasons, Keith now feels accomplished having won the soccer tournament after their first undefeated season! Job well done Szolushas and team!

Although it is bitter sweet that Axel doesn't get to go to states, he is excited about trying again next year and going for the school record which would be a 25 second drop from his current PR. We are excited to see family next week and have some down time. I hope to do a blog with our Pre-Thanksgiving get together as well as Thanksgiving time with family. Axel will have his XC banquet Dec. 5th and the kids will have their big swim meet the second weekend of December. I hope to write a blog for sure before Christmas, but I might be able to get in two blogs, one on the rest of November and a second on the beginning of December. Until then.... Happy Thanksgiving! I can't believe we are already in the Holiday Season!