Phoenix is 13!

Although the Szolushas were unable to do our normal family New Year's hike together because of swim practices, Keith and I were able to manage to run St. Jo's trail, which is a hilly 5 mile loop in Los Gatos. We were able to sneak away on Friday, January 2nd. Here we are at the top. 

Here is a view from the other side. It was perfect weather and the trail was surprisingly runnable/ walkable, despite the inches of rain California received the preceding two weeks. 

On Saturday, Phoenix and I headed to her Pacific Coast All Star Swim meet in Pacifica, while Daddy took Rubix to get soccer cleats. Here is a cute picture of him with the big blow up soccer outside of the store. He was able to get the same cleats he had a size or two up, but this time they are purple instead of teal and pink. I love that he doesn't care about the color. Rubix's school soccer started upon the return to school, January 5th. 

Phoenix and I left the house and saw rainbow after rainbow, after double rainbow all the way to Pacifica. It was really nice that we had a 10 am arrival and a 2 pm start to the meet. Phoenix was able to meet her teammates, receive swim gear and eat lunch before warm ups started at 12:30pm. I hung out in the car reading until the officials check in and meeting started at 12:30pm. 

Phoenix was in 2 relays and 3 individual events per day. Saturday and Sunday were difficult for her because her 3 events were right in a row. She swam the 100 back, 100 breast and the 500 free on Saturday. She dropped in the 100 breast down to a 1:12.99, very close to the 13/14 year old far western cut. On Sunday she swam the 200 IM, 50 breast and 200 free, dropping in all 3 events. She also had the privilege of leading off in the 4 x 100 free relay, which meant her time counted and she dropped in that race too! It was an exciting weekend for her after coming off the holidays. 

I drove home after the meet ended at 6 pm on Saturday and then drove back Sunday morning for the 10 am start. I barely make it by 8:50 am because I was in an absolute downpour and there were many parts of 280 that had standing water. Phoenix stayed the night with the team in a hotel near SF airport. Her roommate was Greyson. Here they are before we left on Sunday. We drove very cautiously home because there were cars all over the road that had spun out due to standing water. We couldn't believe how many accidents (single car) there were. We felt lucky to make it home safely. I forgot to mention that Keith brought the boys up on Saturday after Rubix's swim practice to cheer on Phoenix and Axel and Rubix did the lap counter for Phoenix during her 500. It was very sweet. I wasn't able to take many pictures because I was working the entire time. I did get lucky and was able to film her 200 free which I included below. 

Phoenix 200 Free

So I am such a nut with my new hybrid. I love seeing the mileage go up. I had to take a picture of my gas mileage hitting almost 60 mpg! This only happens if I am driving very conservatively after I fill up my tank. I get great gas mileage in city, typically 38-40 mpg. High driving the gas mileage plummets to usually 34 or so. The faster you drive, the worst the gas mileage is, so good thing for me I have to drive slower to fulfill my own competitiveness to get a higher avg mileage number. :)

The following weekend we had no swim meets, but the kids were into the full swing of school and already had tests to prepare for. We also had swim lessons for the kids and time at the track which was fun, as Phoenix and Rubix and of course Axel, are gearing up for track season. Axel is already running with his club and has his first track meet tomorrow morning. He will be running the 1500. This is technically winter season, so it is an open meet, which means Rubix gets to try the 1500 meter race as well! 

During our free weekend we discovered mold on the kids windowns and blinds. We had a busy weekend of taking down and throwing out the old blinds, cleaning the windows and setting up appointments to get new windows!

We are scheduled to replace the kids and bathroom windows in the next 10 weeks. We are still waiting for an install date once we get a solid ship date, once our windows are started in manufacturing. Our new blinds already arrived. We also were able to get some mold out of the bathrooms. It was so nice to take care of the house. We have been so busy, we haven't been staying on top of the details. 

Last weekend we had the Brian Mallick meet. The meet starts on Friday night. Both Phoenix and Rubix were not feeling their best. Phoenix had a cold that came on and Rubix was really sore from the start of soccer. He gutted out nearly the same time in the 500 free and Phoenix added over 10 seconds in the 400 IM. She decided to stay home on Saturday after talking with her coach. Rubix, Keith and I headed back on Saturday. I didn't get any videos because I officiated Friday and Saturday, but I did get the kids events on Sunday when Keith officiated. I was so proud of Phoenix who decided to come on Sunday because she wanted to have fun with her friends and wasn't concerned about adding in her events. She said she felt a lot better after the day of rest. 

Here is Rubix getting ready for his 50 fly. He is jumping. He has yellow sandals and cap with a pink suite and goggles. Although he didn't get a personal best, he gutted out a win with a good second half of the race. You can watch below. 

Rubix 50 fly

They took a picture of all of the officials on Sunday. You may be able to pick out Keith (5 in from the left). 

Both Rubix and Phoenix had a good 100 IM race, both dropping time and getting a personal best. You can watch them both below. This is technically the last time Phoenix will swim the 100 IM because it is not a sanctioned event for 13 and over swimmers. 

Rubix 100 IM

Phoenix 100 IM

Phoenix ended the race with another personal best in the 50 Free. We were both surprised in the drops with her getting over her cold, but I truly believe the attitude is everything and by her going out and having fun, her body was able to perform. I was so incredibly proud of her character and seeing her grow as a person. 

Phoenix 50 Free

The other really cool thing is she still wanted to celebrate her birthday despite her friend Emelia not coming over for a sleep over because of her cold. She had such a great attitude and said, "No, the party must go on. We will celebrate with sushi and ice cream cake!"

The kids and I made sushi while Keith got his swim in (after officiating all day). He got back just in time for the eating festivities. 

Our plate of sushi! Yum!!!! Don't worry, this was for all of us, not just Phoenix. 

Phoenix ordered chocolate cake with cookies and cream ice cream on top. It says Happy Birthday Phil because her two closest swim friends nick named her Phil. Emelia was coming over for a sleep over before Phoenix got sick and Audrey was coming over on Monday to spend the afternoon with Phoenix, but both of these are rescheduled for February. 

Hard to believe we have two teenagers in the house now!

On Monday I made her pancakes with strawberries and whipping cream. She ate so much sushi and cake the night before she was hardly hungry in the morning. She was also not feeling very good. She woke up with a headache. 

Here she is on her birthday, Wednesday, January 21st!

Swim practice Wednesday night. She has the orange chicken cap on. I made homemade chocolate chip cookies for her group. Forty cookies! Not everyone was there which meant I came home with 5 extras which made the boys quite happy since I told them to not touch them earlier. 

After practice she finally opened up her presents. She also had her ceramics pieces come home, which means I know have a coffee table full of Phoenix's art work. 

Her official first tech suite. It is all one piece and apparently makes for faster swims than the 12 and under tech suites that has seems and multiple pieces. 

Phoenix received one more gift from the Jolley's, yesterday which was more art supplies. She received gift cards to Amazon and Home depot from two of her grandmothers. She is hoping to buy paint for her room from Home depot and earrings and gel nail polish from Amazon. 

Here is a quick sketch she did with her new metallic markers. She did another piece today which she showed me. I just need to take a picture. It is really cool. 

Today the boys ran the 1500 in an All Comers Winter track meet at Los Gatos High School.

 Axel was in the first heat of boys and ran a 4:20/21 (not sure because the official results we can't seem to find yet) and Rubix ran a 5:37?. It was so much fun to watch them both race! Rubix said it was harder to breath on land than in the water and felt like he was able to get as much air as when he is swimming. I think he didn't recognize that it is because he has to hold his breath in swimming that the intake of air is more noticeable! Axel was happy to not have any pain during the race. He has been dealing with some mild knee pain on the right and left shin pain. He modified his training Thursday and Friday which allowed him to race today. We were all very happy for him. He raced really well and was in a screaming fast heat with Henry Hauser breaking 4 minutes. This is the boy he has been racing against since middle school who is an incredible runner. 

I did take videos, but with our new Go Pro. I tried from the stands with Axel and from the infield with Rubix and Axel and I agree I need to take videos with my phone to zoom in during track meets and I can also use the GoPro, but more for a general video of the meet because I can't zoom in. The GoPro has been working really well for swimming and getting the kids form underwater. The key is being close up. 

I was only able to capture these three pictures. Two of the boys above and Daddy congratulating Axel on a nice first race of the season!

We are gearing up for a very busy 10 weeks through to mid April. I am hoping to try to live in the moment and be more present. We have lots of swim and track meets coming up and now with Phoenix going to different meets than Rubix, nearly every weekend is booked. I hope to do a Feb. post of Axel's college tours and updates on the kids. Until then.....

 

Merry Christmas (from Palm Springs) and Happy New Year!!!

Our Christmas celebrations started the week before Christmas. Phoenix had her gift exchange and potluck at swim on Wednesday the 17th and Rubix had his on Monday the 15th. Axel's class (all 170's kids) were invited to a huge party on the 19th after the last final. They had quite the spread of food and activities to participate in. Axel mostly enjoyed hanging out with his friends for 5 hours outside of school. 

Here is one picture I have of some of the kids patiently waiting to see what the next gift would be.

Here is Rubix taking a picture with Coach Victory with all of his medals from Age Group Champs during his holiday party. 

We were able to squeeze in dentist appointments Friday afternoon for Phoenix, Rubix and I after their early dismissal and before swim practice. Axel and Keith had their appointments Saturday morning. We were able to come together as a family to celebrate our Christmas Saturday afternoon after everyone was done with swim practices and exercise. We enjoyed a nice steak dinner with sweet potato casserole and green beans before opening up our stockings. Axel decided it would be fun to have a serious photo. It didn't quite work as one child was grinning in each photo I took. 

Merry Christmas! Time to open up stockings!

The kids had fun with their stocking stuffers. 

Phoenix's gift to her brothers were these cute bouncy balls that she found at Michaels. Rubix's is a pig and Axel's is an axolotl. 

Before we opened up our gifts under the Christmas tree we ate our tradition of pumpkin scones and pumpkin "lattes" for dessert (rather than for breakfast). Axel is being silly hill puffing his cheeks up as if they were filled. 

Daddy finally received his foldable table that will go in our tent for swim meets. He was very excited!

Axel received a ton of clothes that he really needed. He also received his own travel size luggage and some new ear buds. 

Phoenix, being her silly self, was excited to receive a painting kit for nails, along with swim gear, art supplies and other essentials like socks!

Rubix was very cute. He was especially excited to receive the toys he put down on his Amazon wish list. He also loved his new running shoes and new swim gear that he received. 

On Sunday morning the 21st we headed down to Palm Springs and were very blessed to arrive just under 7 hours after we departed! The kids were happy to be out of the car. Here is a funny picture of Axel and Rubix grabbing a snack. 

The resort had ping pong, Axe throwing and more. We all enjoyed playing table tennis for sometime before calling it a night. 

Grandma and Grandpa arrived just about when we did. I took them grocery shopping while Keith took the boys running and Phoenix painted her nails! The Jolleys arrived around 8pm because they came from spending the weekend in Disneyland!

On Monday morning Keith took Phoenix and Rubix swimming while Axel and I lifted. After a bite to eat we headed out for a hike that we thought would be a quick couple of hours but ended up being quite a journey. You can see from the beginning that it was straight up. Rubix was a bit nervous and it took him nearly a mile to "warm up" and trust the terrain. It was a gorgeous 73 degrees and made for perfect weather. 

Can you tell Rubix is nervous?!

The view after the initial ascent. 

Our journey along the hillside. 

A beautiful cut out in the mountain that we all wished we had time to explore. 

A little cave/ crevice within one of the many rock formations. 

Worried that we are a little lost....

Another beautiful view from the other side of the mountain.

Are we there yet?

Yes, we can see the Art Museum and the way down!!!!

This hike, the North Lykken Trail which ended up being a bit over 5.5 miles took us 2 hours and 42 minutes ! I had to run another mile and a half to get the car and ended up with 7 miles in 2 hours and 55 minutes. We had just enough time to shower and meet the Jolleys at the Palm Springs Art Museum. 

We had a great time looking at some very different modern art and hanging out with cousins!

Fun cousin poses!

After the Art Museum we all went out for dinner!

What was even more fun was pool time with cousins after dinner!

On Tuesday we headed to Joshua tree because the forecast looked much better for Tuesday than our initial plan on Christmas day. We were sad to find the weather shifted and it was cold, overcast and rained off and on the entire time we were there. We ended up doing a few small hikes to see some of the typical tourist attractions. 

We all did Hidden Valley together which was nice except for the many people who do not know how to hike, especially when it is raining and Rubix was cold enough that we ran back to the car and he decided he was done for the day. To be fair he apparently woke up with a cold the day before and wasn't feeling quite himself. 

While Keith stayed in the car, Axel, Phoenix and I hit the other small hikes and sites. These included Cap rock, 

skull rock, 

heart rock (and arch rock, not pictured).

We also managed to go to the cholla cactus garden. We had a long hour and a half drive "home" and were glad to get out of the cold rain. 

Christmas Eve was projected to be quite the stormy day, but it ended up only raining for a few hours. We went out to breakfast with the Jolleys and Gma and Gpa. 

Afterwards mom, Shannon and I were able to hang out and make ornaments while Phoenix did Braylin's nails and Axel worked with Aya on folding origami. Shannon also did a nice little facial for me, which was an unexpected treat for me. 

Axel said that Aya had great concentration and was able to make the folds by herself. He was really impressed. 

During the height of the storm, the Szolushas went to do an Escape room. 

We were able to break out of Marlin's Magic Room by finding his spell book in about 43 minutes. Apparently, this was on the faster side. We worked quite well as a family, with all five of us contributing to the many tasks/puzzles that needed to be solved. This was our third one together and hopefully, something that we can continue to do together as a family. 

After an early dinner, we went to a Christmas Eve Service with the Jolleys!

It was a nice service of Christmas Carols with a good message about being Jesus' light and how Jesus is love and he loves us all. A funny side note is that I was feeling a wet puddle and ended up discovering Keith and I were getting wet from a leak in the ceiling directly above us! It was raining outside, but nothing like the weather that was predicted. We only received a half an inch of rain rather than an inch and a half. 

Christmas morning the kids slept in and after our pumpkin oatmeal we headed over to the Jolleys to open up gifts! Aya did not want to do youngest to oldest so we did oldest to youngest, which meant Gpa Brian went first!

We had a fun time watching the kids open up their presents. Unfortunately, shortly after we left Shannon came over to tell me one of her cats had passed and that they were leaving immediately. This took us all for a surprise, but it was good for them to go and do what they needed to do to take care of Marli. Braylin and Aya were very upset since Marli has been around their entire lives. Aya was especially upset because Marli sleeps in her bed with her. The Jolleys safely make it home by 9 pm on Christmas night!

It ended up being the most beautiful day on Christmas. No rain at all! The Szolushas and Gpa and Gma went for a walk to the park that was a mile away. 

We hung out at the park for sometime while Rubix and Daddy played pickle ball and then we headed back to get ready for Christmas dinner. 

I had to take a picture of this sign on the way back for Axel's cross country friends, considering they all adapted the "Wow" from my college days.

We had decided on Mexican themed dinner so we ate tacos and my black bean, butternut squash enchilada skillet. Afterwards we enjoyed our traditional tiramisu for Jesus' birthday. Gma and Gpa headed back to their room around 6pm to get ready for their drive back the next day, when the five of us Szolushas spontaneously decided that we should head back right there and then. We quickly looked at the weather and traffic/ road closures from the flooding that the greater Los Angeles area had and found that it would be better leaving at night and avoiding the Grapevine altogether, rather than waiting for the next day when both traffic and weather were expected to be worse. 

Here are the kiddos giving me a thumbs up as we headed out of Palm Springs at 7pm Christmas night. 

We were very lucky to avoid the rain, for the most part, besides a bit of sprinkles here and their, as well as traffic. We stopped once after we went through Bakersfield around 10:30pm to fill up on gas and to switch drivers. I was tired and ready to be done driving. After getting Keith a latte we headed home arriving at 2 am safe and sound and only driving through one flooded road for a few feet about 40 minutes from home. We were all excited to be home and in our own beds. We enjoyed sleeping in, getting groceries and back into our normal routine. 

Rubix finally finished his Lego faces puzzle (after a month) and we were able to have the Platts over for dinner on Sunday. It was nice seeing Tiffany and her family, since we haven't seen them in over 6 months. 

I worked Monday and Tuesday while Keith managed morning swim practices. Axel has had a lot of friend time on the computer and has two gathering over the next couple of days. Apparently, we are hosting both of the gatherings. One is with just a group of four, but the other is with the lunch table crew, so we will see how that goes. Phoenix has her All Star Swim meet in Pacific so the two of us will head up there on Saturday morning. I am officiating, while she is racing. 

Yesterday, we were able to enjoy a lovely dinner of sushi and another tiramisu along with our annual family game night. We had a lot of fun, playing Clue for the first time, along with our other traditional games that we typically play. The Szolushas would like to wish you a very Happy New Year of health, joy and peace.