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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.....
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