It is crazy to think how much happened between my last blog and now. Keith and Axel left on Saturday March 28th for Boston. They had a lovely day on Sunday visiting with his Josie and family. In the morning they went for a run at one of Josie's favorite spots. I think she swims in the pond in the summer and runs in the park in the winter. Alex and Axel went on their own for 7.5 miles and Keith ran with Josie.
They had dinner with them on Sunday night and played quite a few rounds of table tennis. Keith got an old nail in his foot apparently and had to clean it out!
On Monday they got up early to get to the car rental place and drive to New Haven, Connecticut for the visit to Yale University. They made great time and had their own special tour with Anjuli, another Harker Alum who runs for their track team. Axel was able to visit the dorms and a few labs that were not an the regular tour.
They ate lunch and then had the general admissions information session and tour and then had the stem tour. Axel found out that he can finish his undergrad and masters in 4 years because he would be able to take the graduate level class, since he has already done many of the college level classes in high school. this was very enticing for him and put Yale a strong contestant for a potential school for him to go to.
After a full day at Yale they headed to Sturbridge Mass. to have dinner with Gma Carol. They managed to squeeze in a short run too, which made their day complete.
They had a longer ride home than expected because of this poor semi, but Daddy and Axel were both pleased with how the day went.
On Tuesday, March 31st, Axel's bday, they woke up and ran to the MIT track so Axel could complete his workout. They had a nice rain run and then got ready to go out to breakfast.
Here Axel is inside the indoor track/ fieldhouse! He absolutely loved MIT and has decided he is going to do his early decision there. It is non-binding and if he doesn't get in with early decision he feels confident that he will get into one of his other top choices.
For his birthday he asked Keith to buy him this:
He came home very excited about the text book telling me once he reads through this he will have a better understanding of his research project that he plans on doing this summer. He definitely is made for the MIT culture!
On Wednesday, they decided to skip Harvard and to have a fun day in Boston. They started their day with a long run.
After their long run they went on the Freedom Trail and site seeing.
Here is a view from their hotel!
I believe they stopped at all of the 16 major stops along the way. Here are a bunch of photos Axel took. Because I wasn't there I do not know the site they were at, but I love how good Axel is at taking the time to take photos! I am a proud mom!
They ended the day with one last visit with Alex and Hannah for dinner. They had a great time and everyone would be happy if Axel ends up going to MIT, knowing that he has family around the corner, would make it even more special. Axel and Keith flew home on Thursday since Axel was scheduled to take the SAT on Friday at Harker.
While they boys were gone during the first stent of Spring break, we welcomed Gma Susan on Friday morning at 11 am. I picked her up from the train station and we enjoyed a few hours of catching up while planning for my Spring cleaning projects. We picked up Phoenix from practice and had the chance to see her running the 1200! She looked great and like she was really trying hard. Apparently, she was off of her personal best, but she looked great finishing in roughly 4 minutes and 39 seconds.
The kids were a great help all day on Sunday. Gma and I cleaned out every drawer and cabinet in the kitched and then organized them. We also did Axel's closet, my room, the game closet and the coat closet. Phoenix and Rubix managed the art room. By the end of the weekend we had two car loads of donations to good will. I finally scheduled a junk day removal and had a dozen garbage bags full of junk, along with old car seats, mattresses, boxes and more. Gma and I also managed to get through 3 file boxes and recycle all of my old documents. We filled the entire huge recycling container in one day! The garage and attic still need lots of attention, but I feel so much better about the state of our house!
On Monday we stopped by Target for AAAA batteries for a computer pen that I had found for Phoenix to use to draw on her computer.
On Saturday when Rubix was putting on his goggles, I noticed his right eyelid gets pulled down. This is the second time I noticed this. What's incredible about this, is that Rubix cannot feel his eyelid getting pulled on and can swim like this for hours without any issues!
Rubix read a triology during Spring break. I told him he needs to read for 20 minutes a day and then he couldn't put the books down and finished 3 books in 4 days! I loved seeing him use his mind more than his body. He had been sick and was still showing signs of recovering with a deep cough and feeling tired.
On Thursday, Phoenix had two friends come over to hang out for the afternoon. It just happened to be Jeannie's 13th birthday. She brought cake over to share. The girls played games, painted nails and ate a lot of food! This was the first gathering where her friends really ate!
I had purchased balloons to welcome Axel home because I felt so bad about me not recognizing it was Axel's birthday on Tuesday, until the end of the day. I knew the week before and every day leading up to his birthday that his birthday was Tuesday and yet forgot in the moment....He is sweet enough to not think much of it and was grateful for his trip to the east coast with his dad.
On Saturday Rubix didn't feel well and had a headache and stomach ache. He hadn't felt well earlier in the week and got out of the pool on Monday after 12 minutes. He ended up getting treated for dehydration and had an IV put in. He felt significantly better after the IV and a good nights sleep.
It was really good for him to hear the importance of hydration and electrolytes from the doctor because this is something that we have been talking about and working on for some time. This hopefully will give him the motivation to take care of himself so that he can feel good!
Without fail, we had an afternoon easter egg hunt. The kids went swimming in the morning and I went for a ride while Keith ran. We had planned on going to church on Saturday night, but we spent the evening in the ED instead. It wasn't exactly how I had hoped Easter would be, but was grateful, non the less for time with my family.
On your mark, get set, go! And they were off...
I think we only had 86 eggs this year. They were filled with my favorite verses in the bible. I wanted them to have a container of verses on their desks that they could access when they need a pick me up.
After roughly 30+ minutes all of the eggs were found. I invited Tyler over to join us for dinner since I bought a big ham. We all enjoyed our traditional ham, sweet potatoes, green beans and honey buns. I also make pumpkin bread for Tyler and the kids enjoyed Haagen-Dazs mini ice creams for dessert.
After dinner Phoenix painted my nails in anticipation for Far Westerns that started in just 4 days!
Far Westerns started on Thursday, April 9th. Keith and I officiated prelims since it was only an hour long. Only swimmers ages 13 and over had events. They ran the 100 free and then the 200 IM. We started at 10:45 am and were finished by 11:40 am! We were able to check into the hotel across the street and get settled in before heading back at 1 pm for the distance session. Phoenix was racing the 1650 for the first time since September last year!
Although she did not have a good 200 IM in the morning, she was ready to go for the mile. She had a doable plan and was targeting five and a half minute 500's which would put her about 18:05 for the finish.
The weather did not disappoint....The sun went away and the clouds came in. Temperatures dropped and showers come off and on all throughout the day. I was still officiating, working to complete my N2 stroke and turn evaluation to qualify to officiate at bigger meets like sectionals. I had to work a minimum of 4 sessions so I decided to do 5/8 sessions to make sure it didn't look like I was doing the minimum to qualify :)
Rubix and Phoenix both did the 200 free Friday morning. Rubix also swam the 100 back and Phoenix swam the 400 IM. Both kids had a tough 200 free in the morning. Rubix made A finals, but Phoenix did not make finals at all. She pulled out a good 400 IM dropping a couple of seconds and finishing in 4:44:14, initially getting 9th overall, but got bumped to 8th, sneaking into the A final because one of the girls who finished in front of her scratched from finals.
During finals, Rubix finished 5th overall for both the 200 free and 100 back. He managed to drop almost a second getting a personal best time of 2:08.44 for his 200 free.
Saturday brought just as much rain and gloomy weather. I was working my 5th and final session during prelims. Rubix had a big day with the 100 breast, 100 IM and 500 Free. Phoenix had another big day with the 200 back and 500 Free. She had already raced 3050 yards in 2 days. I forgot to mention the big news was that Phoenix got into the A relay for the 4 x 200 free and SCSC took 3rd! This was her first medal in a relay since 10 and under! She was very excited to have the honor of racing in a relay, even after she had already raced the mile and 200 IM earlier in the day.
Here is Rubix getting ready for the 100 Breast. It is really cute to see him in his "briefs," which he prefers for breast stroke. The weather had gotten so bad and the warm up pool started to get colder than the competition pool, Rubix's coach told him to only do dryland warm ups to help the younger kids not get cold warming up in a frigid pool and then coming out to cold, wet conditions.
Although Rubix has a big smile here, we went through a very trying afternoon where he was extremely upset and crying uncontrollably. He has been very frustrated with his body and feeling tired and painful muscles. He has also been having headaches and stomach aches. After spending a few hours in the emergency department the weekend before, he has been trying to hydrate and eat better, but he finds it can be difficult. I think he has been struggling not only with growing pains physically, but also emotionally. He was initially going to scratch all of finals on Saturday night because he felt so bad, but somehow, by the grace of God, we were able to help him understand that he could just go and swim, without worry. The hard work was done and all he had to do was finish the race and that is what he did. He went a 1:21 in the breast stroke finishing 5th. He was ranked 2nd going into the swim meet with a 1:17, but he learned that even when he doesn't swim his best, it is still pretty darn good!
Phoenix swam the 200 back and even though she added a couple of seconds she still managed to get into consolation finals and finished 14th overall.
Rubix then swam the 100 IM. He was 3 seconds off his PR in prelims and 5 seconds off his PR in finals, finishing in 7th.
Both kids swam the 500 free in prelims and finals. In prelims, both kids were just a second off their best times. In finals, Phoenix finished 5 seconds off her best time coming in 15th and Rubix only added a couple of seconds from prelims and managed to finish 4th! His big realization was that his smooth and strong when he is happy isn't that far off him trying to race hard and upset. I think the next 6 month to a year is going to be a big growth year for Rubix's mental and emotional health. It will be good for him to figure things out sooner than Phoenix did because swimming has been much more enjoyable for her now that she is not focused on times. She is understanding her body and mental state more and how they interact with each other. I am very excited to see both kids continue to grow in their confidence and mental well being.
Keith took over officiating starting with Saturday finals and finishing out the weekend on Sunday. I was so happy to be with the kids and done with my N2 evaluation. I really miss not being their for the kids and having to put officiating first over them. The good news is I past and am officially an N2 stroke and turn judge, which will allow me to officiate at Sectionals whenever the time comes.
Phoenix not only made the A relay for the 4 x 200 she also made the 4 x 100 free relay, getting bumped down to the B relay only the day of, due to another girl beating her time while at Far Westerns. She was also on the B relay for the 4 x 100 medley. Here are the girls after the 4 x 100 medley relay. The A team took 2nd and the B team took 7th. The 4 x 100 free resulted in a 4th and 5th place finish for the A and B relay. The B relay almost beat the A relay :)
Rubix's relays won again, both in the 200 free and 200 medley relay. They did not improve on their times from Age Group Champs, so they still do not have the Pac Swim record, but they were happy to win, none the less.
Sunday was another day of rain off and on, but a little more relaxing. Rubix swam the 200 IM and 50 back and Phoenix only had the 1000 yard free. Rubix managed to pull out a small personal best in finals with the 200 IM at a 2:27.22 finishing 8th. His 50 back was good in prelims, but finals he added resulting in a 6th place finish. Phoenix had a tough 1000 swim finding it difficult to get her engine going. The warm up pool heater broke so she had to warm up in a 75 degree pool, which wasn't helpful. She managed to hold onto 7th place with a 5 second add.
The big surprise with Sunday is that Axel came to support his siblings! We always love when Axel comes. He stayed through Phoenix's 1000 and then went home to get homework done. He had spent the day before in San Francisco with Christine and Cynthia. They went to the SF Zoo:
I think they caught the 8 am Caltrain and didn't get back until 10pm! He had a wonderful time getting home just in the nick of time at 11 pm, which is the curfew for drivers with less than 1 year of experience. I was surprised he got up early to come to the swim meet with Keith. Axel only has 2 more weeks and then he will have been a driver for 1 year and will be allowed to drive his siblings and peers!
Rubix and Keith left yesterday, Thursday April 16th for Florida. They are attending the ORCA award ceremony that celebrates the top 3 male and female swimmers in the country for each age group from 8 to 14. I will write about that next time. Phoenix and I get up early to head to Concord for a Senior Open meet and Axel has volunteer hours tomorrow and Sunday at Hakone gardens. There are several track meets coming up, along with sleep overs, friend gathering and Axel's track banquet. I hope to get the next post out just after Mother's day because the week after I teach in Oakland, Keith has his Power Summit, the kids have thie first Long course swim meet and then Axel and Daddy prepare to leave for Japan on May 27th!!!! Wow, that is right, we are down to the last 5 weeks of school for Axel and 7 weeks for Phoenix and Rubix.
Until then, let us enjoy each day to the fullest, embracing the moments of learning and relishing in the moments of blessings!
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