Rubix and Axel's birthday parties!

I make eggs three times a week and at least once a week I make a dozen eggs for scrambled eggs. I have had twins several times in 2 different sacs, but I have never had identical twins with two yokes in one sac! The thought of it kind of grosses me out and makes me not want to eat eggs, but at the same time, I couldn't pass at the opportunity to snap a picture and show the kids!

Last weekend after Saturday's swim practice Phoenix got right to work to make Rubix a pinata for his birthday party. We also managed to grab the last 8 Rubix cubes at Target and a couple of bags of candy for the pinata before she got started on her 4 hour project. 

I think she did a great job and it turned out really well. We used the stable gun and reinforcements on the corners which seemed to help it stay together longer than her chicken did for her party. 

Daddy helped take over and decorate the cake because Phoenix the rest of the family was busy doing something else. He drew 100 flies for Rubix's favorite event, the 100 yard fly!

Eight of Rubix's friend's came over, along with Aury's brother, so that made 9 young, energic boys to entertain. They first played soccer, or should I say, half played soccer and half played on the hill. 

After soccer they played basketball. 

After some free shooting, the two dads played against the boys. Everyone seemed to have a great time. 

After basketball, the pinata went up. 

Rubix got a good hit in before the surprises came out. 

After the pinata it was pizza and cake time. Half of the boys had to leave right at 6pm, but a few were able to hang out a little longer to enjoy the pinball machine and indoor play. 

We were able to take a family photo, which was really nice. 

While Rubix had a blast with his friends, Phoenix spent the afternoon drawing.  

She worked on 4 different drrawings. Three anime and another portrait. Her history teacher asked for a portrait of herself. Once she completes it, I will make sure to post. I think it looks really good, but she is putting the final shading touches on it. 

I think she is getting better with her faces and shading. 

This is Rubix the day after his birthday party. He was really tired and had trouble getting up in the morning. I thought he looked really cute so I took the opportunity to take a picture. He was in such a deep sleep. 

Exciting news for Axel is that he has been running again for 2 weeks. The appointment with the orthopedist went really well and she said Axel is clear to run, 3 times per week starting with 2 miles every other day and then doing 3 miles every other day the second week. If all went well he has the green light to do a day of intensity and race. He is cross training on the bike 2 days a week and then has a lifting day, which gives him a full day of rest on Sunday. Here he is at his first track practice with his cross country/ distance track buddies. He was beyond happy! The head track coach, Coach Costa, got fired, so the cross country coach, Coach Kevin, was asked to take over. Things have been very organized and the team is really coming together. The entire team has been really happy, along with all of the parents, since Kevin took over 2.5 weeks ago. Axel plans on racing the mile next Saturday. It is going to be interesting because he hasn't done any intensity, except for two , 800's yesterday. He said, he just wants to give it a go and see what happens. I will be driving back from Pleasanton on Friday night to take him to his track meet Saturday morning and then heading quickly to Pleasanton after he races to get back to Far Westerns in time for Phoenix's 1000 yard race. 

(Sorry I didn't flip the picture)

Rubix went to the San Francisco Zoo this week. It was cold and windy, but it looked like he had a great time. 

These pictures were posted by the mom who was his chaperone. 

I was a little sad that I couldn't be there, but glad he had a good time. 

This week, Axel had a spirit week at the high school. I was really proud of him for joining in the fun, every day. I unfortunately, didn't think of getting pictures every day, but he got great reviews from dressing like a baby boomer. He wore a belt with dress shorts and a polo. Apparently, all of his friends thought the outfit suited his personality and look. I personally thought "Jumanji" day was even better, as he wore his dad's hiking shorts, my hat and binoculars around his neck. The class of 2027 was quite spirited, but couldn't beat out the class of 2025. They plan on winning next year, according to his friends. 

Speaking of Axel's friends, a whole crowd of them joined us for his sweet 16 yesterday. Axel spent the morning making his cakes. This one is a chocolate layer cake with an Oreo whipping cream layer in the middle and cream cheese frosting on the outside. 

The lunch table crew enjoyed good old fashion fun. 

They loved the taco bar I prepared eating seconds, and sometimes thirds. I was very pleased that they ate well, considering the diverse food requirements and the fact that I tried two new recipes. They had grilled salmon, Mexican pulled chicken, ground beef, grilled peppers, and fajitas peppers and onions to choose from, along with all of the taco condiments a person could desire.  

Rubix and Addy played Rubix's new Monopoly basketball game and Phoenix read most of the afternoon. 

The lunch crew eating!

Elizabeth arrived with her gift that Axel put on right away. "Milk makes my tummy hurt."

Axel and others laughing hysterically....

Axel getting Phoenix out of her room to join us for cake and ice cream. 

Axel's pumpkin bundt cake with cream cheese frosting. 

Happy birthday time!

Axel and his friends had a great time. He said, this was exactly what he wanted and he couldn't stop talking about how much fun he had last night when he woke today. The house was finally quiet around 10 pm, and I was excited to go to bed. 

Rubix and Phoenix had a private lesson with Coach Nick today. Phoenix's breast stroke looks totally different. Her fly and free style flip turns also looked great. We are really hoping she is going to have another good swim meet. She just decided she is not going to swim the mile, but focus on the 1000 and improving her other races. She will do the 200 free and 50 back on Thursday; the 200 IM and 200 back on Friday; the 100 back and 1000 on Saturday and the 400 IM on Sunday. Rubix's breast stroke and free style also look much better after this morning's brush up. He is hoping for another great meet as well. He is going to swim the 200 free and 100 fly on Thursday; the 200 IM and 50 back on Friday; the 500 free and 100 back on Saturday; and the 100 IM on Sunday. The kids will also be in a few relays and they are both hoping to make some finals. If all goes well, Rubix should make all finals. Phoenix, if she swims her best, may also make a few finals (consolation) as well. 

I am extremely grateful that the kids are on Spring Break starting tomorrow and we can all get some much needed rest and down time before our long weekend. I hope to post videos of the kids swimming and Axel racing is 1 mile within a couple of weeks. 
 

Videos of Age Group Champs, SCSC block party and Rubix's soccer goal from today

 I have been meaning to post videos of the kids. They had such great races at Age Group Champs and today Phoenix had another 3 drops in the SCSC Block party. Rubix's soccer team also had a great win and Rubix scored 2 of the 6 goals. Noah's mom was kind enough to film and send it to me while I was at the swim meet with Phoenix. Axel was volunteering for State Math Counts, finishing up his required volunteer hours for high school graduation. 

Rubix's soccer goal.

Phoenix's 100 Free, 59.95 seconds. 

Phoenix's 50 Free, 27.4 seconds. 

Rubix's 100 back Final at AGC.

Phoenix's 100 Back in prelims at AGC. She went 104.88 seconds!

Rubix's 9th birthday, Age Group Champs and more!

Rubix finally had the opportunity to go to a friend's birthday party. He went to Noah's LaserMaxx birthday on Feb. 23rd. This is one of 5 parties that have been there and this was the only one he was able to attend. The parents, who we are good friends with made sure they picked a time that Rubix could attend, which was very thoughtful of them. I was surprised to see 14 other classmates of his. I was also able to go in and play Laser Tag with him and his friends. About 5 of us adults played the first game and more played the second game. 

Rubix happened to win the first and second game! Can you believe it! He was very excited. He has a mask on because he came down with a cold the day before. He was very upset about his cold and said he had to make Noah's party. We checked with his parents and they were fine with Rubix coming with a mask or without!

Here is the official score board!

Rubix finding out he won the second game!

During games the kids played in the small "arcade" area, which was just as fun as playing laser tag. 

Air hockey was there too! Rubix patiently waited for his turn. It was the longest air hockey I have seen with the game running until the score hit 7. His friends played for nearly 10 minutes!

Rubix enjoying a racing game. He was actually pretty good for not playing video games. He had fun racing his classmate who was next to him. 

After the two games it was time for pizza and birthday cake. 

The crew of kids! Happy birthday Noah!

The following weekend Rubix and Phoenix had a swim meet, called "Race to Age Group Champs". Phoenix happened to get Rubix's cold and did not feel well, so she pulled out of her races on Sunday. She had also sprained her ankle during her basketball game on Friday which didn't help the matter.

 Rubix ended up getting a couple of good drops in his 100 back stroke and 50 breast stroke. His other times were adds, but he hadn't gone hard since his cold. 

Axel had his first track meet on Saturday. I managed to take him to it and watch him race the 3200 meter at 7:45 am. We were there at 7 am for sign in and warm ups. No other teammates were there that early and we left at 8:20 am so I could drop him at home and head to the swim meet in time for Keith to official and for Phoenix who was in the first event of the day at 9 am. 

Axel was pretty cooled and collected for his first track meet. 

He warmed up by himself and did his strides on the field while the girls were racing . 

It was time for his race. He went out pretty conservatively, having never raced 2 miles on the track. He looked good coming in at 10:50 minutes, although he was a little bummed and said he could have continued at that pace for another mile. The following week during his track workout on Tuesday he had pain in his left shin, so we ended up pulling him from running and his track meet on March 8th and 15th. We were able to see a new orthopedist who said he was good to run, but he had to stick with running only 3 days per week until May. The doctor gave him the green light to add intensity and even race in a few weeks if he feels ready. Axel has his head on quite well and is very optimistic and said, he has no expectations, but will just go with the flow and see what happens. The most exciting thing for him is that he gets to go to practice tomorrow for the first time and run 2 miles with his friends. He plans to go out to dinner and then to his school musical. He is so excited! Unfortunately, he has been dealing with the cold that Rubix, then Phoenix and dad had this week, but he swears he is going to feel well enough to hang out with his friends and stay up until 10pm watching the musical. 

If we back track to the Last Chance swim meet, I was excited to see Phoenix wear her "chicken" swim cap that she received for Christmas. She wore this underneath her Santa Clara cap. So cute!

Phoenix has been getting treated for her allergies that we discovered she has. She is allergic to olive trees, grass, some other trees, dust mites and more. Having her on Zyrtec has been helping and having her use an inhaler has started to help her lungs heal from the walking pneumonia she had in December. 

I surprised her and bought her a new tech suit in preparation for Age Group Champs. I was hoping it would be a motivating factor to help her drop time and have good races. Here she is with Daddy, excited that it fits! 

Last Friday through Sunday we were in Pleasanton at AGC. The kids had to miss school on Friday as we headed down Thursday after school for warm ups and to make sure the kids got enough sleep before their big day on Friday. Rubix was going to swim his first day of the 200 IM, 100 back and the 500 Free. This makes for a lot of swimming/ racing, as he made finals for all three events. He had a 9 second drop in the 500 free in prelims and was ranked 3rd going into finals. He was ranked 2nd in the 100 back and was 4th in the 200 IM. He was really bummed to finish 4th in the 200 IM, 4th in the 100 back and 7th in the 500 free, out of medal contention. He also had the 200 free relay with his team and the boys ended up taking 3rd out of the 17 teams entered. Here are the boys relays with Coach Victory. Rubix had Albert, Anay and Jeffrey on his team.

Phoenix had a great day on Friday dropping in her 100 back for the first time in a long time getting a 104.88 and went into finals ranked 4th. She wasn't able to go as fast for finals, but she still did a 105.37 and finished 5th. She also did the 500 free, having a big drop of 7 seconds. She went into finals ranked 4th and even though she swam .17 seconds faster at 533.52, she ended up 6th overall. I was beyond excited for her to finally be able to push her body and have big drops. I basically was brought to tears after her long 6+ month struggle of adding and being sick. 

Saturday was a big day because it was Rubix's birthday! Here is the birthday boy at 6:55 am eating breakfast. 

Phoenix was extra nice to Rubix and allowed him to cut twice for his starts to prevent him from waiting in the cold. I love these kids!

In Prelims Rubix swam out of his mind and dropped nearly 3 seconds getting a 1:11.90 in the 100 IM. He dropped a second and a half in the 100 fly getting a 1:10.69. Phoenix also had a great morning dropping almost 2 seconds in the 100 IM getting a 107.11 which was another Far Western Cut. She dropped just as much in the 200 back getting a 2:18.53, which was another AAA time. 

After prelims we celebrated Rubix's birthday with some friends at In N Out! Double doubles and milkshakes, yum!

Ethan, Anay, Albert, Aury and Aury's brother, along with a few other girl swimmers came. 

Afterwards the boys had a group hug before we left to rest before finals. 

So sweet!

I had the kids take a short nap while I exercised, but Phoenix insisted on finishing her gift to Rubix before she took a short nap. I think it turned out well. Rubix enjoyed his surprise self portrait. 

I honestly can't believe how talented Phoenix is. I love this!

I made sure to get a photo with the birthday boy before finals started. 

And I snuck one in with Phoenix as she yells "NO" to me. 

Rubix knocked it out of the park with his two finals getting a 1:11.17 in the 100 IM, which is a AAA time and then a 109.22 in the 100 fly taking his first individual medal (3rd place) and his first AAAA time cut! He is not the 59th ranked 10 and under child in the country in the 100 fly! Here he is with proud Dad!

Phoenix did not drop in her 2 finals, but she got the time cuts she needed in the morning which made for a great day. 

Rubix finished off his "best ever" birthday with a first place in the boys 200 medley relay. Albert, Anay, Jeffrey and him are just 2 seconds off the record and coach is hoping they will be able to get the record at Far Westerns in a couple of weeks. 

Here the boys are showing they were number 1!

Sunday was an even better day for Rubix and Phoenix. Rubix dropped 6.5 seconds in the 200 free getting 2:16.32 and 3rd place in prelims. Phoenix dropped over 5 seconds pulling off a 207.63, getting the Far Western cut and 8th overall to make finals! This was really impressive because she was seeded with her long course time in a very slow heat so it was exciting to see her lap the field and push herself without anyone to race. Both kids did the 50 back and both dropped. Phoenix finally got the FW cut and dropped below 31.3 that she was stuck at for 11 months! She swam a 30.92 and snuck into finals with a 9th place. Rubix, who had dropped his 50 back on his birthday to a 33.52 swam even faster at a 33.06 getting 2nd place in prelims. He was able to swim even faster in finals getting a 2:15.09 and taking 3rd place in the 200 free and a tied for 2nd place in the 50 back with a 33.32. Here he is with Cayden, the 10 year old boy he tied with in the 50 back. They met a couple of years ago at the All Star Meet in Santa Rosa. 

Phoenix was able to drop another half a second in the 200 free, but hit quite the wall during the race. She swam an unbelievable first half and then struggled to get to the finish. I was not only shocked that she made all finals, but I was even more shocked that she was able to pick up 3 more Far Western cuts helping her half seven AAA times and is within a fraction of a second for 2 more AAA times. 

Rubix also out performed out expectations, taking 3 individual medals being the 2nd youngest swimmer there and he easily made all finals. It is so impressive to see all of their hard work pan out at a big swim meet. I am praying that Far Westerns will also go well. 

This weekend Rubix has another soccer game and Phoenix will be at a "Block Party, Mini meet" with her team to try to improve her times in the 50 free, 100 free and 200 IM before FW. Rubix has his birthday party on Sunday. Axel will be having his party/gathering on the 30th, the first day of "Spring break". Far Westerns is April 3rd-6th. I am hopeful to post a blog before FW, but I might not get to it until after. 

Another picture Phoenix drew a couple of weeks ago when she was suppose to be studying. Apparently this picture is drawn primarily with thousands of dots and then shaded. Her drawings never cease to amaze me. 

One last cute photo of Rubix this past Monday on St. Patty's day. He was so hungry when he got home from school that he ate two BBQ chicken sandwiches and a hot dog. Needless to say that ended up being his dinner because he was too full to eat anything else. And yes, he was too hungry to sit down at the table. I gently walked him to the table carrying his plates for him after he finished the first chicken sandwich. 

Since I don't proof read these anymore (who has time for that) I hope everything makes sense. 

I will leave you with this thought: Our hearts are full of joy and love for what we have and the journeys we are blessed to experience. Every day the kids are learning the struggles and delights of life and we are grateful to have the privilege to enjoy the ride. Until next time...