My 40th, Little Grammy/Grampy visit, 4th of July, Daddy bday too!

One of the main points of doing the blog is to be able to put down on paper important events and milestones because I feel my memory is quite poor and I am unable to recall these events. So when I go an entire month without doing the blog I forget to document important events.

One that I missed in the last blog is that Axel completed his first Triathlon on June 1st. He had a blast and did well in his age group. He practiced running on the track with Kristin, Phoenix and Rubix. 

 He went on some rides with Daddy as well.

 He lost most of his time in the transitions, despite practicing quickly putting on socks and shoes after his swim. Here he is at the bike transition with Phoenix.

 The three kiddos at the event.

 A medal for 7th place out of 47 10 year olds. From what I was told there were hundreds of children from 6 to 18 years old competing.

 A podium shot, although he missed the podium by a few slots.

The other big accomplishment is that he won his age group for the swimathon again. He did 68 laps in 30 minutes. Here he is receiving his award at Pasta in the Park. 

I also forgot to post a picture of the poster the kids made Keith. Axel thought he was funny putting "Fat"hers Day. It also says, P.S. you're an owl. 

 Since the last post I had my 40th birthday, Carol and Kevin came for a week long visit, we had the 4th of July and Keith's birthday.

For my birthday I asked Keith to take the day off of work and go for a bike ride with me. We finally made it to the top of Skyline since the road caved in and was closed a couple of years ago from the large amount of rain after the long drought we had. They did a great job repairing the road and I was pleasantly surprised my body handled the 5000 feet of climbing. That afternoon Carol and Kevin, Keith's mom and step dad flew in and my mom and sister Shannon arrived for a birthday dinner out at Flight's in Los Gatos.


I asked Shannon to bring her nice camera because I really wanted pictures of the family for my birthday. Shannon took great pictures. I was/am so excited about the amazing pictures she was able to capture.

 
Daddy and Phoenix. Here are several family photos that we managed to take. Not sure which one I like the best. I want to order one for our wall and some for family members so if anyone has a preference please let me know.
 


Here Auntie suggested they do a silly one. I love how the boys are being silly and Phoenix is finally being her smiley self. 

I also love this photo with Phoenix being her mature, caring and sweet self. We don't often get to see this side of her.

This is the one I will likely order for family members. I haven't decided yet though.

 Grandma Susan with the three kiddos.

 Little Grammy with the three kiddos.

 Grammy and Grampy with the three kiddos.

 My favorite picture of the kids. Wish I had a picture like this with the kids. Way to go Auntie!

 Me and my little princess.

 Daddy and his cute boys doing a muscle picture.

 First picture together since the wedding.

 Shannon and I trying to recreate the picture we did together as teenagers.

 

 So much fun getting photos taken with my sister!

So if you couldn't tell I had to bribe Rubix with a lollipop to wear the shorts and cooperate. I was so incredibly proud of him for wearing the nice shorts and cooperating through the twenty minutes of pictures. As soon as we were done he took off the shorts. Here he is picking a flower to give to me, shortless. 

After dinner and pictures my mom, Shannon and I drove to Pacific grove where we rented a little cottage for the weekend. Saturday morning we headed to Garrapata Park for some beautiful hiking. 

It was such a lovely place to visit. 

Here we are at the top of the hike overlooking the ocean. 

A quick selfie. 

 On a boardwalk next to Asilomar Beach.

Asilomar beach after lunch. 

A fun picture for Daddy Keith on our way to Lover's point overlooking the sunset. He is always taking funny pictures of himself when he travels so I thought he would enjoy this picture of me with a statue. This was our 3rd year doing our annual mother's daughter weekend. It is so wonderful to be able to do this and reconnect without the kids around. Shannon and I are so glad that my mother suggested this a few years ago. We hope to be able to continue this in the years to come. 

While I was away the kids had another swim meet. Here is Phoenix with Little Grammy and Grampy. They had a blast watching Axel and Phoenix swim. Rubix was able to stay home with Camryn which made for a much easier day for everyone. 

When I returned on Sunday afternoon the kids were excited to tell me about the cake they had made for me. Rubix helped daddy order it and Phoenix helped Daddy pick it up. Phoenix was too tired to join us because they went to a swim meet play date in the park for over 2 hours and then to a birthday party at another park for another 2+ hours. Rubix's best friend, Daniel, from Angela's turned 3! 

The boys and I. 

 Rubix with his friends. Daniel is the one in red.

 So exciting. Rubix loves going to his friends parties.

 Keith took his mom on lots of adventures during the week. Here they are at Vascona park on the paddle boats.

 

 Here they are at Hakone Gardens.

Wednesday Phoenix had to get another cavity filled. It was rough, but she has now had all 4 filled. 

This was her on the last day of school after the 3rd one was filled. Let's just say Daddy is able to work magic and get her to somewhat cooperate. 

Here they are at Sanborn park going for another hike.  

 And the kids at Ghost Rock. 

We went to Kevin Moran Park for the 4th of July celebration again. This is a picture of when we arrived with a not so happy Phoenix. 

Rubix and Axel lying down during the programming. 

Here is a picture after the celebration and little parade with a happy Phoenix, and of course a gleaming Rubix and a complacent Axel.

After lunch we enjoyed a nice walk around the neighborhood with Grammy and Grampy. It happened to be Rubix's nap time so after we passed the horse and stable, Rubix fell asleep in the stroller. 

We had fun celebrating Daddy's birthday this weekend. We went swimming, had some In N Out Burgers, played card games and then visited him at work yesterday, on his actual birth day. Daddy finally got a couple of new water bottles and a new pair of shorts. 

 He loved all of the cards and gift cards he received from family members as well, so thank you for sending your love.

Phoenix received seeds on the last day of school to grow a Sun Flower. Here it is 5 weeks later. She is taking care of it and watering it. She also planted some wildflowers this past weekend all around this area, so we are excited to see the front yard become more beautiful from her hard work and inspiration. 

Yesterday the kids even created a flower garden at the library. The next two weeks are low key with me being home on vacation. The kids are doing private swim lessons this week and Kids Camp at church, next week. This is the first year I get to volunteer and be a group leader because I finally have the week of Kids Camp off of work. 

Mega Blog Take 2, End of School, Father's Day, Swim Team

Rubix and Daddy were watching a Blaze monster truck show one evening in May. Keith has always commented that Rubix doesn't look like him, but when you look at this picture, they look very much alike. They have the same nose and face structure. I absolutely love this picture. 

 As I had mentioned before, Phoenix had several cavities that needed to be filled. I left early from work to pick her up from school to get the 3rd out 4 cavities filled. The dentist, didn't really make eye contact or conversation with Phoenix and kept talking to me. She then saw the needle that he put in her mouth which really freaked her out. To make a very long story short. she didn't get the cavity filled that day, but went away with her mouth numb. She spent about 30 minutes in the car by herself while I took a Mommy moment to calm down. She fell asleep on the ride home, IMMEDIATELY, and continued to sleep for hours. It was one of the hardest parenting moments I have had. I really wanted to yell at her, but I couldn't blame her. She was already tired and then this strange man is trying to put things in her mouth. I really want to give the dentist feedback about coming down to the kids level and earning their trust, but I was too upset to be nice at the time. Luckily, she was able to go again, on the last day of school, and she has one last appointment next week to get the 4th and final cavity filled.

 Westgate Gators had there annual practice swim meet/ time trials in late May. Here is a cute picture of Rubix wishing Axel luck and Phoenix cheering him on as well. Axel rocked his age group and swept the time trials with 1st in every event, breast, back, free, butterfly and the individual medley.

 The last weekend in May I went to Washington University in St. Louis for my last Fellowship weekend. It was bittersweet to be done with the long presentations, and have to say goodbye to the other fellows and Wash U faculty. On the way home, I was able to see the Grand Canyon for the first time. It looks spectacular. I definitely want to visit it in the future with the family.

 Rubix had a few rough weeks where he just didn't want to go to bed. He would turn his light on and be up until late in the night. The picture on the right is him at about 10:30 pm at night where his light was on and he threw his shirt and diaper on the floor. I had to put his diaper on and turn the light out. He did this several times. Some days I didn't go in to check on him and he would wake in a pool of urine and other days I was able to tuck him in and turn his light off. On another occasion he had gone to bed with his blinds up and blanket pulled out, so when I went in the morning he was all wrapped up in his blanket.

 The week after school got out we headed to Sacramento to spend a few days with the Jolley's. Before the long ride we went to the park to get some energy out.

 I was hoping to get a cute picture of them all in their tie dyes, but it didn't quite work out.

 Instead they were mesmerized by a magic show that Marshall Lane Elementary was throwing for their last day of school, picnic in the park. We thought it was strange how busy El Quito Park was and it was funny that it was Axel's old school.

 Axel made a mustache and goatee with clay at Auntie's house.

 He looks old and sophisticated.

 It was exceptionally hot in Sacramento when we were there, but we did manage to get to the park early one morning.

 The cousins really enjoyed spending time together. It was fun to see them reconnect after almost half a year.

 Axel is such a little charmer and surprised us all with spelling Bray out for Braylin.

 He then did Aya. So cute!

 Here we are on the way back to Auntie's house. The kids swam each day in Auntie's pool. It was amazing how none of us minded the cold water because of the 100 + degree weather.

 Grandma came over for dinner one night. She stayed all afternoon! It was the longest time she has ever spent during one of our visits. It was such a pleasure to visit with her.

 I see a little resemblance as I continue to look more like my mom and Phoenix continues to look like me :)

 Another fun day at the park during the first week of summer break.

 On June 15th the Bartolos came to visit. It was so much fun to catch up with them. Max is 11 now and going into 6th grade, Sophie is going into 3rd grade and Christian is 4. I can't believe they have been in Singapore for 6 years now! We have seen them every year because Elisa is so good at contacting me when she is in town visiting he sister.

 Here are the kiddos wishing Daddy and very happy Father's Day.

 We enjoyed a nice pancake breakfast. The kids made him a fun banner and cards and we went to the pool in the afternoon. I feel bad that I didn't get more pictures.

Here is Axel during the practice swim meet.

Here is Phoenix swimming. She did really well during the practice swim meet and was seeded second in all events behind a girl going into the 2nd grade who has a June birthday.

 Last I will leave you with a clip of Phoenix reading. It is so much fun to listen to her read. She has such animation already. It is very impressive to me as I struggled with reading in my early years.

Next up is my 40th birthday in a couple of day. It is hard to believe, but it is finally here. We have little Grammy and Grampy coming to visit for a week through the 4th and then Keith's birthday. It should be a fun month of visits and play.