Happy Halloween!

The past few weeks have been a whirlwind. Every day seemed longer than usual. We had two weekends in a row of swim meets and soccer games. This picture of Axel last Sunday after getting home from one of the longest race weekends ever sums up how we all feel. Axel swam the 200IM, 200 back and 1650 on Saturday and then followed it up with the 200 free, 100 free and 500 free on Sunday. We were at the swim meet from 7:20 am to 3:30pm both days!  

He then raced on Monday for Cross Country getting 3rd place overall in the varisty race (granted Menlo and Crystal were not there because this was a rescheduled meet from the week before due to a heat wave). I have great video coverage of the meet, but did not get any pictures. 

This past weekend we hosted a dual meet with DART. Rubix got to participate in the medley B relay for the 10 and under boys. They did amazing and beat DART's A relay team. (from left to right in the picture) Druv did the 50 Back, Edward the 50 Breast, Rubix the 50 Fly and Anay the 50 free. They raced so hard and out touched DART by just a second. Phoenix also was in the medley relay for the girls A team. She was with Annabelle, Melissa and Savanah. They crossed the other teams and have a chance at possibly setting a team or league record with how fast all of the girls are.

Phoenix had an amazing weekend getting more 11 y.o J.O. times in the 100 free, 200 free (she had long course, but not short course) and she dropped times in the 100 back, 100 IM, 200 IM and 500 free. She broke the 6 minute barrier with a time of 5:59 in the 500 free, which was spectacular! It is so cool to see her achieve nearly all of the 11 year old J.O. time and bridge the gap to the top girls in PAC swim and move into the top 12 girls in the nation! She is a monster and we are so proud of her for trying so hard in the water. 

Last weekend Rubix almost reached the 50 Fly J.O. time standard, missing it by just .2 seconds. He dropped in the 200 IM and is now just a few seconds away from J.O. time. He is also very close in the 50 Breast, 50 back, 50 free and the 100 back. It is really just a matter of time before he starts reaching all of these time standards and bridging the gap to the older boys in his age group. Coach Victory, pictured above is finally on board for helping Rubix reach these time standards (despite his age) and told us that Rubix needs to be ready for the J.O. and Far Western Relays! So cool for our little guy to start improving again. 

The kids had "fall break day #2" on Monday. Their coached held practice at Crystal Springs race course Monday afternoon. At 6pm when we were done I was able to capture a beautiful picture of the sunset along with Axel and Jonathan. Axel said his legs felt really tired, but he had just raced all weekend so no one was too concerned. 

The only bummer thing was Axel did not heed my advice and get his costume made BEFORE cross country practice, so instead of getting to bed and resting he stayed up until 11:15pm making his costume. 

Rubix was the first to have his done a week ago making the simplest Rubix cube with the help of Phoenix.

Phoenix was the next to get hers done with the help of Axel and I on Sunday night. She was a Phoenix Bird. 

Axel was a gray Axolotl. He did a great job, but I was really worried about his lack of sleep over the past couple of weeks. 

The kids on Halloween morning!

This was a picture a teammate's mom took of us on our way out from the Gilroy meet at Morgan Hill two weeks ago. The kids had a great weekend of hard racing, but as you can tell, we were one of the last families out since Axel stayed to do the 400 IM. He was only one of two swimmers who stayed to do the race, everyone else scratched because the meet went into the afternoon and I don't think most families are prepared to stay until 2:30/3 pm. 

This is actually a picture of Adam Li, who is an 8 year old who is Rubix's biggest competitor. Rubix just happen to beat him in almost every race they did. Rubix worked really hard on his flip turns and transitions and dropped a ton of time in his events. He dropped over 5 seconds in the 100 free to a 1:14.77 and Adam got a 1:15.15. 

Back to Halloween.... I was able to volunteer in Phoenix's homeroom for their class party and be there for their parade. Here she is sitting next to Kylie. 

This is Phoenix's principle, Mrs. Giamonna. The administration all dressed up as Barbie or Ken. It was really fun. She actually came into the classroom to speak with me about Phoenix since their class trip is next Wednesday to Friday. We had to write her about Phoneix's sleep walking/night terrors because they have really ramped up with the kids having a cold a few weeks ago and now another virus, which appears to be, RSV, based on their symptoms. She is really understanding because she had them and there is another child who also has them in Phoenix's class. They are going to make sure they bunk next to one of the chaperones. 

I was an elf on the shelf and had to get a selfie of my girl and I. 

Yummy marshmallow ghost!

The school parade!

We left Harker and went right to another parade at SCSC. How much fun to parade around and receive candy from your swim coaches!

Phoenix and her crew (Hana, Felicia, P, Audrey, Cielo, Victoire, Alicia and Sarah). Sarah in the jelly belly costume won the best costume award. I loved it!

The kids wrapping coach Sveta in toilet paper. 

They won for wrapping coach Sveta the quickest and most completely of all of the coaches. It was really funny watching the little ones wrap Coach Victory because he is so much bigger than they are. The kids were just throwing the toilet paper on him and it kept falling off. They had a great time though. 

Phoenix went trick or treating with Audrey at Rivermark. It was really fun as Rivermark was packed with amazing decorations and tons of people really into enjoying Halloween. 

Phoenix came down with a fever after trick or treating. She was really cold in the water on Monday and Tuesday, and she didn't look great while trick or treating, so I wasn't surprised that she was coming down with something. She stayed home on Wednesday and slept most of the day. She has not been in the water since then. Despite her being sick, Keith and I had plans to go to the Warrior game. We dropped Rubix off at practice and arranged a ride home for him and Axel and made sure Phoenix was comfortable before heading to the game. We sat in the same seats Axel did when he went with his friend Liam. We had the same crazy VIP experience. Albert and Vicki have asked us 3 times and we finally had enough time to arrange rides for the kids and go. It was truly one of the coolest experiences of my life. I have never seen the players so close and it made me appreciate how hard they plan from the first play of the game until the last play. 

Let's go Warriors!

Jump ball!

Steph Curry!

Light up bike trick man.

Rubix and Axel started feeling bad on Thursday and came down with a fever Friday. They stayed home from school and slept most of the day. Axel missed his cross country championship, but his team was able to secure the last spot to CCS. We are hoping Axel will feel well enough to run well next Saturday at CCS (sectionals). Currently, he has quite the cough, but overall feels better than he did on Friday. Rubix is also feeling better and was able to stand and play goalie for 3 quarters of his soccer game. I had him stay away from his teammates when he was sitting out and we left right after the game.

We will have our yearly MIT friends gathering next Saturday after CCS and then we have a swim meet the following weekend and then Thanksgiving.  After Thanksgiving is the state cross country meet, which we don't think Axel or Harker will be involved in, but really don't know. The following weekend is Age group champs or J.O.'s in Moraga. November is likely going to fly by and I hope to post after J.O.'s 

 

Visit from Gma Sonia/Gpa Bruce, Axel's first homecoming and more!

Every now and then the Szolushas have some down time. On Sunday after my last post, we had a pretty mellow day where Rubix had some time to "play". Axel has his 2-hour math class and Keith, and I went for a bike ride and Rubix and Phoenix did their mile run and we had our annual neighborhood dinner/picnic in the park from 3:30 to 6:30pm, but overall, the day allowed time for me to get some much-needed cooking and cleaning done. I felt bad not being able to play with Rubix, so when we came in from the picnic, I made sure to spend some one-on-one time with him. He wanted to build another card fortress, and this is what we came up with. Axel showed him this a few months ago and every now and then he spends his free time trying to build something bigger and better. 

We also had time to go to the library to exchange books. We used to go every week, but now we are lucky to go every 3 weeks, just in time to return due books and get new ones. I was helping Phoenix find a book and when I went to go find Rubix here he was with his head buried in a book. I just love seeing them read!

Phoenix always can't wait to get to swim because a few of her friends come early due to their siblings swimming before them. They sit around or play with the exercise balls. Here is Audrey in the pink then Sarah (left), Phoenix, Cielo (right) and Victoire in the white. She absolutely loves her swim friends adn Audrey, who is 11 is her new best buddy it seems. 

On Saturday, Sept. 30th Axel had his second cross country meet, RAM Invitational, in Daly City. His event happens to be in the afternoon, so Phoenix, Rubix and I were able to drive up after swim practice and see him race. Although Axel was a little disappointed in not feeling his best, he broke the Harker Freshman boy's 2.6-mile record, tied for 4th fastest freshman boy out of nearly 300 freshman runners, came in 3rd for his Varsity team and was 45th overall in his Varsity race at 15:28 (they had 2 heats of 130 runners). His captain got 9th overall in their race and the team did great getting 6th out of 17 teams.

Axel warming up before the race. He loves this picture that his dad snapped of him hoovering over the ground. 

His Varsity team, Veyd (the captain), Robinson, Gabe, Aiden (another freshman), Coach Kevin, Axel and Harris in the front. 

A fun one!

The cross-country team taking a picture sending their love, to Zaeem, a freshman/classmate of Axel's who is in a coma after being hit by a car. He has been in ICU for a month, and he had a pretty significant traumatic brain injury.  

Sunday, October 1st Axel, Phoenix and Rubix coming back from their mile jog. Axel was so sweet going with Phoenix, while Rubix and I jogged separately together. We have a route around Marshall Lane that is a mile and the walk to and from the route is a quarter of a mile. A perfect warm up and cool down walk. Phoenix did a 7:18 today. She continues to get faster and faster each week by 20 or more seconds. I am assuming she will hover around the 7-minute mark until she gets use to pushing her legs on the ground. I have no doubt in my mind her lungs can handle even a faster time due to her swimming. 

Axel had spirit week the first week in October. I was so proud of him for being a part of the festivities. I took this picture because he had to dress up in "beach casual wedding attire" one day because his class ended up getting "Mama Mia" for their themed movie. 

On Oct. 4th, Gma Sonia and Gpa Bruce were in town and went to Axel's first WBAL league meet. Unfortunately, Axel came down with a cold after the RAM Invitational and was probably the reason he felt so "bad" during his race the Saturday before. After warming up with his team, he decided it would put him over the edge to race. We think it was a smart decision because he was able to race a few days later at a swim meet he was signed up for. 

They came over after the xcountry meet for dinner. Rubix and Phoenix were excited to see them. We discovered that Phoenix is almost as tall as Gma Sonia!

I was able to get Thursday off of work, so I met Gma and Gpa for breakfast at Stacks, one of our favorite breakfast places in Campbell. After breakfast we drove to Santa Cruz to visit the Mystery Spot. 

The Mystery spot is a place that has a different gravitational pull which causes you to lean about 17 degrees. 

 You can see how much we are all leaning in these pictures. 

It is a little crazy but was a lot of fun!

Afterwards we went for a short hike they have. It was such a beautiful day out. 

On Friday, we went to the Computer History Museum in Mountain View and then we came home, picked Axel up from school, made sushi together and then headed to swim practice. We were sitting waiting for practice to begin when Donna de Varona walks in. She is the woman in the red USA shirt that Phoenix is talking to next to her coach, Coach Luba. Donna won gold in the 1964 Olympics in the 400-meter IM and the 4 x 100-meter relay. 

She went to the 1960 Olympics at 13 years old! The kids were able to get her autograph and hear her speak about perseverance.  

On Saturday Gma and Gpa came to see the kids swim at the QSS swim meet and then went to Rubix's soccer game to see him play. They had a really big day/morning and needed to have a couple of hours of down time before coming over for dinner for a nice BBQ. We were able to take a picture of them before they left as they were headed to Sacramento for a few days to see and spend time with the Jolleys and Uncle Steve/Aunt Ginny. 

Here is a picture Phoenix captured of the sunrise on our way to the swim meet Sunday morning. It was such a beautiful site. Phoenix had a great swim meet getting personal bests in the 200 IM, 100 Fly, 100 breast, and she absolutely crushed the 500 free getting an incredible 6:08.84. To give some reference, the 11-year-old J.O. time standard was 6:24 and she managed to take 16 seconds off of that! If she continues to improve at this rate, we believe she can make a couple of events at Far Westerns as an 11-year-old. 

Rubix also had a good swim meet and crushed the 200 IM taking off 26 seconds from his seed time and getting a 3:00.17. He also achieved personal best times in the 100 fly, 200 free and the 100-yard breast. 

Axel was pleased with his swim meet getting times close to his personal bests, after being sick and with his focus on cross-country right now. He even did the 200 back for the first time in competition. After getting home from the swim meet and Axel finished his homework, we headed to the track so he could complete his speed work that was assigned to the team for Sunday. I was a bit surprised, but proud of him for wanting to complete what the coach assigned to him. He did not do all 12 300's at race pace, but he did do 8 of them. He was flying around the track and managed to do all of them just about a minute (give or take a second above or below). That is a 5:20 race pace! 

On Wednesday after school, Gma and Gpa were back in town, so we went to Top Golf and skipped swim practice!

We had a really good time, especially playing their Angry Bird game. 

We were able to say goodbye to Gma and Gpa on Thursday, as they left very early on Friday morning. I spent Friday preparing for Axel's first Homecoming dance. I ordered him this blue suit, which arrived folded up and wrinkly! I managed to find a blue tie and purchased him a corsage and boutonniere for him and his date, Samaara. It took me about an hour to iron his suite and shirt, but I do have to say it was all worth it because he said he had a wonderful time. 

Here is a picture of him and Samaara. It ended up being difficult to get the kids together before the dance to take pictures because they were both coming back from cross-country practice and had a quick turnaround. The pictures below our courtesy of another parent who managed to somehow get on campus!

They are so cute!

On Saturday, Phoenix's coach turned 74 years old and the team had a surprise birthday party for her. Here are some of the girls eating. 

After swim and Phoenix's piano lesson, we headed to Pleasant Hill for the Pac Swim Awards ceremony. Phoenix's 200 medley relay team that won Far Westerns was nominated for best relay of the year. There were only about 50 athletes our of the 15,000 swimmers in Pac swim that were nominated for awards and invited to this dinner and award ceremony. 

I used this opportunity to get a picture of the kids and

a picture with Daddy!

Hunter Armstrong, an Olympian was there for photos and to give the kids an inspirational speech. He is 6'7" and is now the world record holder in the 50M backstroke. He is looking for more gold medals in Paris next year. 

Rubix with Hunter. 

The awesome relay team. Victoire for fly, Phoenix backstroke, Annabelle the anchor freestyler and Helen, the breast stroker. 

Dinner time!

His Inspirational speech!

Rubix with Luka Mijatovic a 14-year-old who has 4 Olympic time trial qualifying times who holds nearly all of the age group records at Santa Clara and holds 4 or 5 of the national age group records. Watch out for him because I would be surprised if we don't see him in the Olympics in 2028 for sure! He was very sweet to take a picture with Rubix. 

We have another busy couple of weeks with a cross-country meet this Thursdays and a swim meet the next two weekends. We will then have a little bit easier of a schedule for a week before a busy month. I will do my best to post before Thanksgiving, but no promises!