On Wednesday, April 2nd Phoenix and Axel had an orthodontist appointment. Phoenix had her expander removed and they both had 3D molds (now done digitally) taken of their teeth for retainers. Phoenix picked up her retainer this past week and Axel will pick up his tomorrow when he gets his braces removed! He had to cancel his appointment for this past week because he forgot about his speech that he had to give during lunch, which was the exact time of his appointment. He ran for secretary for the National Japanese Honor Society. Good news is that the reschedule was worth it because his speech went well, and he was voted in as secretary!
After Phoenix's appointment we headed to Maisey's birthday party. Yes, it was in the middle of the week at 1:20 pm! She was lucky that her birthday fell during Spring Break and that most of her friends were available to join her. Phoenix drew these pansies for her since she said she loves them.
The funniest thing about Maisey's birthday party is that it was at LaserMaxx, the exact place that Rubix has been invited to a half a dozen times for his friend's birthday parties.
Rubix swam the 100 fly and was ranked 4th going into finals with a 109.05!
It was incredible! He was excited to get his black Far Western cap, which is given to the swimmers who make the "A" finals.
Keith drove Axel home on Thursday night so that he could get a good night's sleep and ready for his first track meet back since he had the "shin pain". On Friday both kids swam the 200IM. Phoenix had a huge drop of over 5 seconds getting a 2:19.88 placing 10th and getting into the consolation final.
Rubix had a 2.6 second drop but missed the A final by .1 seconds.
He was happy making the consolation final though. Phoenix swam the 200 back dropping over a second allowing her to make consolation finals. It is incredible that she finished 10th again with how deep the field was. Souther California and Arizona have some crazy fast 11/12 year old girls. Rubix swam the 50 back finishing 6th place, even with a small add. He finally dropped below 33 seconds during finals, which was a goal for him.
I drove home after finals on Friday so that I could take Axel to his track meet on Saturday morning.
The orthopedist told Axel to pick an event and stick with it, so he chose the 1600 meter or 1 mile race. Coach Kevin also signed him up for the 800 meter just in case he felt great. Only a couple of kids from Harker were there bright and early. Here are a few pictures of Axel warming up.
He was seeded in the 1st heat because he did not have a time. It was somewhat of a good thing because he was able to go at his own pace. He went out hard and ran a 5:01 lapping a few kids from the field.
He was by himself after the first 100 meters. He slowed down more than he wanted to starting from the second half of the second lap through the third lap, but he had a great last lap and was close to his goal of sub 5 minutes. I think it was pretty remarkable considering he has only done one small intensity workout of 2 x 800 the week before and had only had 6 runs and a total of 15 miles in his legs from the 2 weeks before. The doctor asked him to only run 3 times per week through May, although he could build a mile per week from the 2 miles per run and he could do 1 day of intensity per week.
While Axel was running, Rubix and Phoenix both swam the 100 back. Phoenix had another good drop finishing 11th (1:04.2) and getting herself into the consolation final. I was able to make it to Pleasanton in time to see Rubix swim the 100 back and finish with a three-way tie. He tied a boy in his heat with a 1:11.09 and a boy in the heat before him also finished with a 1:11:09. This was after Rubix swam an incredible 500 free making the A final with a 5:58! This was an incredible time for him. Phoenix swam the 1000 dropping 16 seconds, but just finishing outside of the top 8. The two girls in front of her finished just a second faster. I was really proud of her effort. I know that she wanted the AAAA time of 11:16.99 and a medal, but the 11:20 was oh so close, considering how tough the previous 9 months have been for her. Rubix managed to drop another second for his 500 free during finals, although he added in the 100 back. Phoenix did not go sub 1:04 like she wanted, but did manage to drop another .04 from prelims. After all of this racing Rubix had the 200 Medley relay. It was the teams goal to break the Santa Clara record. The boys needed to dop 2 seconds. Unfortunately, they missed the team record by .38 seconds, but did manage to win the Gold medal and take first!
Albert, Jeffrey, Annay, Rubix
Sunday was our last day of racing and we were excited the Phoenix and Rubix were able to focus on just one event each. Rubix had the 100 IM and Phoenix had the 400 IM.
They both had to swim their best to make finals. They both hit it out of the park. Phoenix dropped 9.5 seconds finishing 5th overall and making the A final! Rubix dropped a second finishing 4th going into finals!
Phoenix swam about the same time during finals, which she was a bit upset about missing the AAA time and dropping to 7th place. Rubix swam a little faster dropping another tenth of a second, but finished 5th overall. Both kids had the 200 Free relay after their events.
Rubix's team swam outside themselves dropping 3 seconds and taking 2nd! Albert, Rubix and Jeffrey went 28 seconds (Rubix 28.7) and Anay went 29 seconds, all swimming personal bests (except Albert). Phoenix had fun in her relay and ended up swimming her best time 27.27, helping their team drop half a second and finish 10th gaining Santa Clara points and helping SCSC take the win over Nova Aquatics who had been leading the entire 4 days until the end.
Albert, Rubix, Jeffrey, Anay
Anay, Rubix, Jeffery, Albert, Coach V, Aury, Adam, Yuri and Ethan
Daddy officiated every final and managed to capture a picture with Phoenix on Sunday. We are grateful for all of his hours volunteering! Far Westerns was extremely successful. Phoenix and Rubix both have 9 AAA times which means they applied for Western Zones. It will be amazing if they are both picked to swim this event since it is close to home in Sacramento this year. Fingers crossed both kids get in!
Rubix with his 7 medals, 5 from A finals and 2 from the relays.
The kids returned to school a bit tired from their "Spring Break" and Far Westerns.
Rubix's class went to the Academy of Sciences on Friday. It looks like he had a lot of fun. I remember chaperoning this field trip for Axel. I really enjoyed it myself!
They watched an IMAX movie about planets and...
apparently, Rubix loves the soy butter and jelly sandwiches. I forgot to tell him that I ordered the turkey and cheese sandwich :)
On Wednesday this week Axel was able to participate in his first WBAL league meet. He ran the mile again. His coach decided to not put him in the fastest heat again (because more of the heat went sub 5 minutes) so that he could pace himself again. He managed to do another great job of running by himself, this time reaching his goal of sub 5 with a 4:59. He thinks he is ready to run in the fastest heat for his next track meet this coming Wednesday. He has played it conservatively and not run another other events, because he really doesn't want to get injured. His coach has been signing him up for the 800 and a team relay each meet, but apparently, kids scratch all of the time and it is not a big deal. I was able to make it to Kings Academy in time to watch him race.
He was out alone for the first lap, but a couple of kids caught him when he slowed down the second half of the second lap. He took off again for the last lap finishing 4 seconds ahead of the guy behind him. He had such a nice kick at the end, he realized he really needs to figure out how to not slow down so much. He is excited to give it a go again and see what he can do!
Axel had his last driver's lesson today and the instructor said that he is ready for his test. Good thing, because he is taking it on May 1st! Besides, gearing up for this, he is also gearing up for his AP exams which are the first week in May and then finals which is the last week in May. Before you know it, school will be over! I am hoping to try to slow time down and enjoy each moment I have with these precious kids! Most likely, the next time I post, we will have another driver in the house!
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