Mega Blog: Deer Hollow Farm, last day of school, Cub Scouts, swim meet, Angel's Camp

Axel and Keith went camping for Cub Scouts June 2nd and 3rd. This year they went to Mt. Hamilton. It was hot, open, dry and had lot of bugs!

They did a hike, skits, made smores and enjoyed hanging out. Axel enjoyed reading a bit too!

He was the flag bearer for all of their rituals they do. He played his flute for America Beautiful too. 

While Axel and Daddy were out, I wanted to make sure I had fun things planned for the other kiddos. When they headed out, we headed to the pool. After some fun in the sun we went to church. Phoenix moved up to the Kindergarten group and got to experience real Sunday school for the first time! She enjoyed it, but said, "there was no outside play time." On Sunday morning, Phoenix, Rubix and I headed to Deer Hollow Farm. 

I had wanted to make up for the Palo Alto Museum and Zoo being closed. Rubix loved it just as much as I thought he would.

It was getting hot out so we were only there for an hour.

Axel had his friend Ameera's birthday party on Sunday afternoon. He had a great time building Legos. It is funny how his group of friends still like Legos like he does.

Here are a couple of pictures of Axel at the swim-a-thon on Monday June 4th. He was able to improve by 9 laps this year to get a total of 58 laps over the course of 30 minutes. Although he did the most number of laps for 9 year olds he did not win the 9/10 year old category because there was one 10 year old who did over 70 laps! I was busy counting while Phoenix was swimming so I wasn't able to get a picture of her. She did 11 laps in about 15 minutes before she decided she had enough. The first story was that she had a stomach ache, but maybe she was just tired. She ate a bunch of food and appeared to be feeling well about 30 minutes later :)

Rubix continues to love putting on his swim cap and goggles. Here he is helping me vacuum the house. He was all ready to go to swim, but Daddy came home in time to take Axel and Phoenix which allowed me to stay home and clean. Rubix is still at that age where he likes to stay with me regardless of what I am doing. I am not sure if it is helpful or more work, but I am trying to enjoy each moment as he is growing up the quickest!

Axel had his last day of school on Thursday, June 7th. The half day of school consisted of a "Kiddie Carnival" with a jump house, dunk tank, games, corn dogs, french fries and cotton candy.  I was sad that I wasn't able to be there and volunteer, but I was glad that he had a blast. That night we spent the evening at Jack Fischer Park at Axel's last Pack meeting of the year. It will likely be our last pack meeting ever as Axel says there is only a 10% chance of him continuing. He is just too busy with his other activities and he likes the other activities better. Here is a picture of him receiving his Bear badge.

Phoenix had her last day of school on Friday, June 8th. They had Circus day and got to dress up in costumes. Families were allowed to join for pizza at 11:15 am. She came home with us at 12:15pm as the kids whose families didn't come had to go down for their typical nap time.

 Most of the teachers were dressed up like clowns. Here is Ms. Angelina, Diya and Phoenix.

 Rubix, Axel and the other brothers/ older siblings had fun playing basketball. Rubix seriously loved their play area. I think he will have no problem at all transitioning to Challenger in a couple of years.

 It was sad to say goodbye to Challenger. It has been the best decision that Keith and I have made. The foundation that Phoenix received going there is amazing in both character development and language arts/ mathematics.

 Phoenix is excited Kyla will be joining her at Harker, but is sad that Adella (right) won't be. Adella will be at summer school with Phoenix so they will have 6 more weeks together starting this coming Monday, June 18th.

 After saying goodbye to her friends we came home for Rubix to take his nap. After I put Rubix down and quickly packed I was able to head out for Angel's Camp for another girls weekend with my mom and sister. Keith stayed home from work, so that I could leave before traffic picked up, but traffic was bad regardless. It took me almost 4 hours, but luckily I arrived just before 5 pm and my mom and I got to grab a quick bite to eat. Shannon left her house after 5pm and made it by 7 pm. We were excited to spend another weekend together. The Angel's Camp WorldMark was beautiful. The facilities/ amenities were amazing. Outside our patio/deck were cute deer and fawn. We stayed up late talking. 

 In the morning, after breakfast, we headed to Moaning Cavern. We descended 235 stairs into the cave. The stairs were welded together in the 1920s. It was exceptionally scary for those of us who are afraid of heights. Luckily, we made it down to a platform with railing where we felt a "little safer".

 The inside of the cave was beautiful. After our hour tour of the cave and our ascent back up the stairs Shannon and I decided to zip line.

 I have always wanted to zip line, but have been very afraid of heights for as long as I can remember. Apparently, Shannon and my mom are just as afraid of heights. We were able to conquer our fears and do the zip line twice! It was really fun and I am glad that we were able to do it. Our initial intention was to dedicate tackling this fear to our cousin Kendra. We took a video where I got all choked up and started crying. Mom was suppose to take a video of us going down the zip line, but for some reason it didn't record it. We rented Go Pros and did it a second time in order to record it, but it felt like a lie to dedicate it to Kendra because we had already accomplished this fear and it wasn't scary at all, but instead fun and enjoyable. We are both so moved by Kendra and her faith and strength during her very difficult walk of life right now. She is truly our inspiration!

 After our fun filled day we enjoyed a delicious dinner and then Antique shopping in cute Sonora, CA. We ended the night with frozen yogurt and a quick trip to the huge hot tub that can accommodate 32 people! It was a little strange having 20 people in a hot tub all having their own conversations, but relaxing regardless!

While I was having a lovely day with my mom and sister, Axel, Phoenix and Keith were at a swim meet. Keith was announcing for most of the morning so Axel and Phoenix were hanging out with Hilary and her mother Caitlin. 

Phoenix also had Natalie helping her again. 

Both Axel and Phoenix improved almost all of their event times and had a great day. 

After their long day at the pool the headed over to Tyler and Cynthia's house for a BBQ. The whole gang was their minus myself. They enjoyed a lovely evening together.  Eileen sent us this picture of Delinger, Alex, Rubix, Axel and Lily. Axel has a pineapple on his chest because Daddy found a fun pineapple shirt at party city when they went to get big buddy gifts on Friday afternoon.

 On Sunday morning before heading home we hiked to see Natural Bridges. It was absolutely beautiful! Shannon and I both want to take our families to Angel's Camp one day. There is so much to do! 

Luckily, the way home only took 2.5 hours and I was home in time to take the kiddos to the pool and prepare for the work week. We finally captured a picture of Rubix in the pool. Can you tell how much he wants to be like his big brother and sister. It is soooo cute!!!!!

This week Axel and Phoenix are home relaxing from the long school year. They spent two days with Marlena, Annika's younger sister, and the rest of the week is with me!

Next week Axel is with Marlena the three days I work and Phoenix starts school. Keith is travelling all week so we will see how smoothly the week goes with work and swim.

Where has time gone?

It feels like I haven't blogged in months, although it has only been a few weeks. There has been so much that has transpired, but I have been having so much fun living in the moment and trying to be present that I don't have a lot of photos to show of our wonderful adventures.

Over Memorial Day weekend we had a quick and wonderful visit from Grandpa Bruce and Grandma Sonia. We had dinner together on Friday night and then spent the entire day together on Saturday. I didn't realize until after they left, that I did not take any pictures of them with the kids. This is more of a bummer for their scrapbooks then the blog, but life goes on.

I did manage to get a few videos of the kids swimming during their practice meet on Saturday May 26th, although most of the files are too big to download on the blog and I can't seem to splice the video on my Windows Surface. I have included one of Axel's that was a small enough file.

It was really nice to have Gma and Gpa there because it was Phoenix's first time participating in a swim meet and she needed a little coercing to get in the pool the first couple of events and Rubix needed some watching with the 150 swimmers and their families that were at our small pool. We were really proud of how well Axel and Phoenix did. Phoenix attempted all 4 strokes and was a minute or under for all 4 strokes! Axel was able to participate in the 100 IM for the first time. This event they do 25 yards of each stroke for a total of 100 yards. It was really fun watching him transition from one stroke to the next.

We had a big BBQ on Sunday night. It was a last minute gathering since we decided to stay in town and not drive 6 hours to and from Auburn to see my Gma and other family members for her birthday celebration. It was a difficult decision, but a good decision as the kids really need to be able to run around and play rather than spending 6 hours in the car for a 1 to 2 hour event. The BBQ was extra special as Axel had his close friend Kristin and her family over in addition to Eileen and her family and Tyler and his family. Eileen's new little girl who turned 2 in November has adjusted so beautifully to living in America. I managed to get one photo of Rubix, Lily and Phoenix playing together.

We took Rubix to the pool on Monday. He was really timid getting in but once he got use to it he really didn't want to get out. When we got home he decided he needed a swim cap and goggles.

 Now every day he puts on the swim cap and goggles for 20 to 60 minutes and he is always the first to be ready for swim practice. Too bad, he can't get in the pool. In a couple of weeks when school is out I can go in the water with him during the night swims because they have the pool divided for open swim and swim team practice. I am really glad that he is getting excited about it because we would love for him to be water safe sooner than later.

 Also during the long weekend, with the help of my handy neighbor, I cut (Michael did the cutting), painted and installed shelves into the wasted space in our bathroom. It doesn't look very nice, but it frees up an entire self in our "linen closet". This will allow for more storage for the kids toys and games, which will overall make the house neater and more organized, which makes me happy!

It is hard to believe, but the kids are out of school at the end of next week. Axel has his cub scouts camping trip this weekend and a birthday party. Next weekend we have our first official swim meet and I am out of town for a day and a half with my mom and sister in Angel's camp. We also have my work department party on Sunday of next weekend as well. We will be action packed for the next 10 days and then we will have a relaxing week before summer school starts. Keith and I are so excited that we nearly have a kindergartener and 4th grader!

Rocket Day and Mother's Day

 Last weekend Axel had Rocket Day and his friend Keifer's birthday party on Saturday. The rockets this year flew unbelievably high compared to last year. It was so much fun to watch!

 Except.....Rubix didn't have very much fun. Apparently, it was scary to a 2 year old. I thought he would really enjoy it because he loves airplanes and cars, etc. but I was wrong. Daddy had to take him away from the rockets while I helped a little battery emergency. Once that was taken care of I headed home to put Rubix down for his nap and Daddy, Phoenix and Axel stayed and enjoyed themselves.

Phoenix was able to launch a rocket.

This is a great picture that Keith captured because these suckers were "rocket fast". 

Axel has been suffering horrible allergies. After being outside almost all day on Saturday he needed some bereavement from the outside. So on Sunday Axel stayed home while the rest of the family headed to the park. The two little ones enjoyed their hour of outdoor play and Axel enjoyed his hour of computer time! 

 

 This is a project that Axel did a month or two ago. It was a triorama that captured a scene of a book that he read. He had to write a paragraph as well to go along with the scene. Axel ended up writing nearly 2 pages! He really went above and beyond for this project so before tossing it into recycling we took a picture of it.

 This is a random cute picture of Rubix. He always has to have something in his hands, whether a ball, frisbee or car and he usually wants a hat on when he goes outside. So cute!

 Mother's day was nice and relaxing. The kids spoiled me with lovely cards and their best effort at trying to clean. Axel vacuumed the entire house while Keith and I were out for our weekly date ride.(although we almost had the mishap of a broken vacuum as both the babysitter and Axel couldn't figure out how to detach the wand to attach the hardwood floor attachment.) Luckily, they eventually figured it out and it still works! Phoenix tried to clean her room, but got tired after putting all of her clean clothes away. Rubix worked hard at saying "Happy Mother's Day". I wish I had it on video. All in all the 4 of them put in amazing effort to make the day special for me.

 Daddy made me an omelet for breakfast, purchased lovely flowers for me and grilled up a wonderful dinner.

I really could not have asked for anything more than the wonderful love and time spent with my little family.

 As a side note Axel and I went to the ER on Saturday morning as his allergies were out of control and we were concerned about his wheezing and coughing. He was given a steroid treatment and put on albuterol every 4 hours along with his Flonase and Claritin and then they added Singular today when he went in for his check up. Luckily, he is finally doing better.  His appetite really picked up the past couple of days after a very low appetite for a couple of weeks. Today he weighed in at 50 lbs and was over 50 inches tall. Apparently he is now 15th %ile for height ! Super exciting!

Here are a few pictures Keith took of our time spent at the park yesterday. He was so excited to get pictures of me with the kids because he feels like I am the one always taking them. Look at big boy Rubix on the big boy swing! You can tell I am a bit nervous. I am afraid he is going to forget and let go, although he really hasn't done that but once or twice when he first tried the big kid swing a few weeks ago.

 Phoenix just loves the swing and I just love seeing her squeal with delight.

 The kids had fun playing baseball before we headed home for dinner.

 I will leave you with a picture of Keith during bike to work day. He had a great morning with his buddies, last Thursday, riding around to different energizer stations.

It is such a great event that the Silicon Valley Bike Coalition puts on each year and it is something that Keith and his friends really look forward to.  

I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day!

Swim Team and Axel's first concert

Almost every night we are at the pool. Phoenix practices from 6:15 to 6:45 and Axel now jumps in the pool after Phoenix until 7:45 pm. He did great this week going to the middle school practice Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday.

 Phoenix and Rubix have been getting in the habit of having a popsicle after Phoenix's practice. It is pretty unbelievable that Rubix is able to eat 90% of the popsicle without help.

 Rubix is becoming more interested in books, story time and building. Here he is after story time this past Thursday. He also wanted to do the little art project afterwards which was also a big progress in maturity for him.

 Phoenix likes to go to practice every day. This week she had to miss on Thursday because Axel had his first band concert. We had Monica come over to watch Rubix and Phoenix. It was nice so Keith and I could focus on enjoying Axel.  We invited Tyler, Cynthia and the twins Jade and Zoe.

Here is a very short clip of the jazz band playing.

 Jade and Zoe wanted to get a picture with Axel. They looked especially cute with their hair put up in little piglet buns.

 Rubix continues to like to be outside. He is becoming more independent in his play. He likes to look at bugs and he often brings them to me squished between his fingers. He then is sad when he puts them down and they don't move. I think he is finally understanding that when he squishes it they get hurt. I am hopeful that he will learn quickly not to do this. Here is a cute picture of him climbing on the big rocks that Axel enjoyed climbing on when he was little.

 I realized that I have not been taking very many photos so I grabbed an opportunity to take a picture of Axel reading. He has really gotten into every dragon book there is.

 Keith sent me some photos from his phone. Here is a picture from a few weeks ago after my ride.

Here are pictures from Phoenix's Spring concert that he captured. Phoenix has a Tirmisu hat on because that was her favorite treat. 

 Here is a picture with Adella and Kyla.

 Ms. Angelina and Ms. Naleeni are her two teachers.

 Here is Axel with green hair before practice yesterday after they had spirit day at school. Axel did a 21 second split on the first half of his 50 yard freestyle. He got a 47 second overall time because his transition was slow. He either needs to learn how to quickly touch and push off or he has to want to master the flip turn. Phoenix did a 1:03 25 yard free style yesterday with only 2 stops. We are super proud of how well the kids are swimming and how they are both trying so hard.