Rubix is 10, Spring is here!

I forgot to post that I was able to go with Rubix on a field trip on March 6th to The Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum. We had such a fun time learning about Egyptian History. I even filled out the 6 page handout with them. The kids loved having me read the information and help them find the answers :)

On Sunday Christine came over to make a pie with Axel for "pi day" (3.14159265). 

I think they did a great job. 

I told Axel that Little Grammy would be proud! One of my favorite memories is when Carol came out to visit Keith and they made a pie from scratch and worked on the beautiful pie crust together. It looked very similar to this. Here Axel did this on his own, to help a friend!

I am always asking Axel to send photos of himself or with his friends. He sent me this. Apparently, his track friends took a picture of him stretching while waiting for the light to turn green. He was walking to his car to go to practice. 

On Friday, March 13th, Keith and I found rides home for both Phoenix and Rubix, from swim practice and we headed to Kings Academy where Axel planned on running the 3200 meter race at their Friday night distance fiesta! As you can see it was a beautiful night with an amazing sun set. 

Here is Axel before his warm up. He was the last individual event with the 4 x 800 relay ending the night. 

I guess Kings Academy has some stuffed coyotes to scare off other animals. Samara, Sophie, Emily, Axel and Ava (taking the photo) did a cooldown together and just had to take a photo with them!

Axel talking with Ambrose, a senior at Kings Academy who is has run with several times during cross country and last year during track. 

Getting ready.....

Axel after his 2 mile effort. Happy and tired. He did a lot of work throughout the race leading most of it. He was happy with his PR of 10:08, although he was secretly hoping for sub 10 minutes. It was still a great first 2 miler of the season. A personal best with the win and a t-shirt to show it!

Dad and Axel!!!

Proud parents!

You can watch Axel's full race below. On a side note, the night ended up being exceptionally long as Axel's car got towed. It was quite the learning experience for all three of us and hope that this is a one time thing and nothing he has to experience in the future. 

TKA Distance Fiesta, Axel's 3200

T-shirts for the heat winners. Axel earning his from the 3200 meter race and the girls earning it from the 4 x 800 girls relay race. Go Harker!

On Saturday, March 14th we through together a last minute birthday party for Rubix. Rubix had already committed going to his friend, Oliver's bday party on Sunday, March 15th, his actual birthday. When we realized that there was not going to be a free weekend for 6 or more weeks, we spontaneously reached out to a few friends to see if they were available. To our luck, they were all available!

We were in a 2 week heat wave, so Rubix decided to have a water balloon/water gun fight/play time in the park. I ordered water guns and reusable water balloons for the boys and they had more than an hour of fun. They were completely soaked!

We brought buckets over for them to do quick refills. Lets just say, we had to several refills of the large buckets too!

Noah, Tatsu, Jax, Laksh, and Emin joined Rubix for the afternoon. The boys only stopped for a short bit to eat dinner and then wanted to go back outside for wall ball. 

After 40 minutes of wall ball I convinced them to go inside for birthday cake and ice cream. 

To my surprise, the boys got along extremely well. There was no arguing or fighting about rules or getting out. It was a breath of fresh air to see them getting along so well. 

Axel was a trooper and helped Rubix decorate the birthday cake that morning while Phoenix and I were at swim practice. 

The chocolate vegan cake was a hit and once the cake and ice cream were consumed the boys wanted to go back outside for basketball. 

Again, they played really well together for another 30+ minutes until parents started to arrive at 7:30pm.

We were so happy that Rubix was able to share the afternoon with some of his friends having a great time playing. It was nice to see other boys who wanted to play, play, play too!

On Sunday I woke up early to make Rubix's requested breakfast of a cheese omelet. I stepped out for just a minute and when I came back it was almost finished. I was able to get a picture before it completely disappeared!

Rubix went to a birthday party and then to the pool to work on some things before Age Group Champs that were coming up the following weekend. Phoenix and I painted her room! She asked for a gift card to home depot from little Grammy. I need to take photos of the room, but we still have to do some touch ups and put her pictures back up on her wall. Gma Susan is coming this weekend while Keith and Axel head off to the East Coast to do some fun house projects. 

For Rubix's birthday dinner he asked for taco salad. A rare picture of the three kiddos!

Have you noticed a trend here with these pictures? Yes, Rubix picked up and ate his omelet with his hands and I was shocked to see him do the same thing with his salad. I am not one of those parents who cares too much about "proper" manners, just as long as they are trying to be respectful. He felt this was the best way for him to consume it without it falling apart. I trust his judgement :)

Dinner and cake and ice cream gone! My baby is 10!!!! Hard to believe they are all double digits and I have 2 teenagers in the house!

The following week was a short week with Age Group Champs starting on Friday at 7 am in the morning. Keith took Rubix and Phoenix to Pleasanton to set up the tent and check into the hotel. I had the privilege of staying home and waking up early to exercise. I was out running by 6:30 am. I had to stop to snap a photo of the beautiful sunrise. I was able to get a quick 30 minutes in before heading to Pleasanton myself. Axel had a late start that day, so I said goodbye the night before. 

Rubix with Coach Victory on Friday morning ready to head over to warm ups!

On their way.....

I managed to arrive by 8:30 am. I spent some time parking and walking in more than half a mile. With just under 1000 swimmers the surrounding neighborhood was packed with cars!

Keith officiated prelims all 3 days and I officiated during finals. On Friday, Phoenix swam the 200 free and 100 back in prelims and made finals for both events. She also swam the 1000 free during finals, since the fastest heat has the option to go during finals. She had an incredible race dropping another 17 seconds to 10:47. She is just 6.5 seconds off of sectionals! We were so proud of her effort. I am curious to see how she will do at Far Westerns in a couple of weeks! 

You can see how tired she is with this big yawn! She managed to PR in the 200 free dropping down to 200.69, which is the exact AAA, but just shy of the Far Western cut which is a 200.19. 

Phoenix 200 yard free

Rubix also swam the 200 free and 100 back, as well as the 100 IM on Friday. He had a great day as well. His 200 free was a minute drop of .2 seconds, but he finished 2nd. 

200 yard final- Rubix

His 100 IM was a 3.5 second drop and put him at 10th in the country. He achieved a AAAA time with a 106.77. Crazy thing was he finished 3rd, which shows just how competitive Pacific Swimming is!

Rubix 100 IM Final

Other highlights of the weekend are: Rubix dropped to a 1:17.46 in the 100 breast, which is a AAAA time standard. He also dropped in the 100 fly to a 106.43. He finally broke the 32 second barrier in the 50 back, finishing in 31.82 seconds. He finished 3rd place overall in high points, getting nibbed by his teammate Albert on the last day of competition. Phoenix finished 6th overall in the high points competition and finished 2nd in the 200 back with a 2:11.88. She made all finals and was in the top 6 for all of her finishes out of 10 qualifying for finals. 

The most memorable highlights for Rubix are breaking the Santa Clara Swim Club Record for the  200 Free and 200 Medley relay for the 10 and under boys. He was the anchor in the 200 Free and the 3rd leg, fly, in the medley relay. They are just a half a second off the Pac Record, so I think the boys are excited about trying again at Far Westerns in a couple of weeks. 

10 and Under Boys 200 Free Relay

10 and Under Boys Medley Relay

Swim Clips Professional Video of the Medley relay

Ethan, Aury, Rubix and Albert from the Medley Relay!

Ethan, Lucas, Rubix and Albert from the 200 Free Relay posted on SCSC social media!

All 5 of the boys who participated on the winning relays!

While we were in Pleasanton, Axel drove to Dublin with his new friends from Kings Academy, Ambrose and his teammate Matthew. Axel had such an amazing day. He loved having "teammates" to warm up with and cool down with. Ambrose was in his heat, but Matthew was in a couple of heats after them because he was a few seconds faster, although, Axel and Matthew both went a 4:36 at the Dublin Distance Fiesta. 

My patient, Karen, who has been giving our family persimmons since the pandemic was there watching her granddaughter and texted me to make sure she knew which heat Axel was in. this is the picture she got of him during the final sprint. Axel beat this kid by .1 seconds out sprinting him to the line! You can watch the race below, as Sophie's mom was kind enough to film it for Keith and I, although we were able to see it in real time via live streaming. We could not have been more lucky, or should I say, God was so good to answer prayer. Rubix swam the 500 and finished just in time for Axel's start of his race. When Axel was done racing, Phoenix went over to race the 500 free. We always have to lap count and time for the distance events, which means both of us need to be available. We were incredibly happy to see Axel have the best race of his life in real time!

Dublin Distance Fiesta, Axel 1600

The other big news for Phoenix was she got to be on the 4 x 100 relay on Sunday. On top of that she was the lead, which meant her time counted. She did a personal best of 56.34, which means she is now faster than 3 of her other teammates and will get to do the relay at Far Westerns too! Here she is with Catherine, Cielo, Rosalyn and Phoenix!

Phoenix was so happy that her "crew" or swim lane was all at Age Groups. Here the girls are being silly with Cielo, Nina, Leor and Phoenix doing  a group hug!

Rubix with 

Aury and Ethan having fun after prelims! The best part of swim meets are friends, of course!

After a long weekend, we had quite the busy week. Axel had his first WBAL (school) meet at Sacred Heart in Atherton. Since he had just raced the 1 mile 3 days previously and the 2 mile, 10 days before he decided to run the 800 and do the 4 x 400 relay. Unfortunately, his coach put him as no times, which meant he did not have anyone to race with. Here he is one hundred meters into the race. 

You can watch the video below. He finished in 2:13, which is good for his first 800 of the season, but was bummed he didn't go out faster. 

WBAL #1, Axel 800 meter

On the relay, Axel started out the race and ran the fastest 400 I have ever seen him do in a speedy 58 seconds! His teammates, who all regularly do 400s were closer to 50 seconds, but I was beside myself seeing my little Axel sprint! I was beaming with pride to see him run with such speed!

WBAL #1, Boys 4 x 400 relay

The kids were asked to say the entire meet, which is different from previous years. They had lots of time to do homework and have fun between their events. The girls made a pyramid!

Team cheer at the end of the meet with Liam, the anchor to the 4 x 400 having a tough time recovering from his race. Axel had so much fun being a part of the relay and having Harker feel like a team. I was so glad to be there to support him. 

We made it through the week and now we are all on Spring Break. Grandma Susan is here for a visit while Daddy and Axel flew out to Boston today. Check back in roughly 2-3 weeks where I will give the update of Axel's trip to Boston, Grandma's visit, Axel's 17th birthday and Far Westerns!

Oh, I forgot to mention that Rubix is 59.5 inches! I plan on weighing him at the club on Friday. Until next time.......

 

Track season is here! Spring is around the corner!

Rubix's school soccer season is already over. He had his last soccer game, League of Champions, this past Wednesday. We received the soccer photos last week of the 4th grade Intramural team and individual pictures. I think he is starting to look older. He has been having an absolute blast playing and has been wanting to play more and more. Because of this, Dad and him are considering putting together another soccer team for the fall, despite them both saying last year would be the last time. 

Rubix is in the back row, 4th from the right. 

Here is the leader board for the League of Champions for most goals and assists. I was surprised to see Rubix close to the top considering the teams are combined with 5th graders, but, of course, Rubix is making goals and helping his teammates make goals. 

Phoenix had a Japanese party at school, Setsubun, a bean throwing party. Here is her class after their bean throwing fun. She is 2nd to the left in the back row. There are only a few times per year that teachers share pictures of class activities. I enjoy being able to see her in her element. :)

Axel is really good at capturing both Rubix and Phoenix with silly poses. He sent me this one after making Rubix laugh. I love how well the kids get along and how much they enjoy each others company. Today Phoenix told me on her ride home from swim that Axel is her best friend. How sweet!

Phoenix continues to do her nails and create. Here is one that she blended that I thought was an interesting new technique. 

Phoenix also continues to draw. She has done probably 50 or more since I last posted a picture of one of her drawings. The problem is, she doesn't want to share them with me anymore. She has some really cool ones that are noteworthy, but I will have to be okay with her wanting to keep some private. 

She has been venturing out to including more body parts, including hands, which has been a difficult task for her, but she has not given up and makes iteration after iteration when necessary. 

When Axel and I got back from Cal Tech, Phoenix had a Senior Champs meet that was prelims and finals. The weather held out for the most part and it was just cold Saturday and Sunday. I was also somewhat pleased that Phoenix didn't make finals, so we thought, on Saturday, which was Valentine's day. This meant we had the entire afternoon to do something else! I was hopeful that Keith and I could go out to eat, but after lifting together and running a couple of errands, we both were really tired. He had another bad night of sleep or lack of sleep I should say which meant I was operating on about 4 hours and he was operating on a couple of hours. I was pleasantly surprised to see these nice flowers when Phoenix and I returned home from the meet. We found out the next day that Phoenix was called up for the 50 back and that she was an alternate. I had asked her to check before we left, but she was very clear and said, we aren't coming back for a 50, even if I made it. Yay, for me and having free time!

Phoenix hung out with Cielo for the three day swim meet. She was happy to make the 200 back final on Sunday, which allowed Keith to come along and officiate. It was almost like a date.....

On Monday, President's day, it rained. Phoenix was a trooper and went despite the weather. She ended up making the 100 back final, and most likely would have been able to do the 200 IM final, because everyone was scratching. Most people felt the 3 day prelim/final meet was long enough, especially with the cold wet weather. We also felt the same way, and besides, Phoenix was able to go directly to a friends house and spend the entire afternoon hanging out with her new crew, Millie, Jeanie, Aly and Prishi. 

Rubix volunteered to bring in his Challah bread for the cultural cookbook for History class. I had to come home from work and essentially prepare the dough for a couple of hours before getting him from school. We had just enough time to have him learn how to roll out the dough and then braid it. I let it rise for another hour and then baked it for him while he was at practice. He was able to bring it in on Friday, Feb. 20th without incident. 

Here he is braiding his bread. This did not come instinctively for him. 

Done with the braiding!

Fresh out of the oven!

On Feb. 21st Rubix had the 10 and under champs. It ended up being a very long day because the pool it was suppose to be at was down. They moved it to another local pool, but had to push back the start time to 10 am in order to set up all of the equipment.  The day is already long enough because all 11 events are offered and every swimmer does 4 events and up to 2 relays. I left about 3:30pm after Rubix's 4th event and one relay. He still had the 200 Medley relay, but Keith was there officiating and he was all settled with his teammates. They got home about 4:15pm! What a long day!!!

His teammate, Aurey was runner up and Rubix easily won the high point award again. 

Here he is with Stephen who won the high point for 10 year old boys. I think we have gotten a picture of these two together for years now.

Rubix had the San Francisco Exploratorium Field trip earlier in the week, on the 18th. Here are a couple of pictures his parent chaperone shared on the WhatsApp. 

I thought it was a little funny that he was put with three girls. He had fun exploring the hands on science. 

The temperatures plummeted with the rain, which meant it snowed all the way down to 1200 feet. That resulted in beautiful white capped mountains for a few days. This was looking out from the road around the corner from our house. 

With the colder weather came more of the pools being down for some reason or other. This resulted in the National group going to Mary Gomez to mentor the Yellow Bell group Rubix swims with to work on turns and underwaters. Rubix was paired up with Shareef Elaydi, which was really fun! I think this is only the second time that this has happened, although, Kevin, the head coach says he wants to do more of this. 

After the really cold spell came a heat streak with Friday the 27th hitting 80 degrees, after multiple days in the 70's. This meant a wonderful week of bike rides for me and a change in vibe from the entire Szolusha family and most people we interacted with. Everyone enjoyed the warm weather and the feeling that Spring was in the air!

We had another swim meet for Rubix last weekend. After a pretty flat season, except for breast stroke a couple of weeks ago, he finally dropped in a few events. These drops were mostly fractions of a second, except for the 500 free where he dropped to a 5:41 from a 5:45. He says this gives him some confidence going into Age group Champs which start on March 20th.  

I ended up having a crazy gastritis flare on Saturday night last weekend which resulted in me staying home on Sunday for most of the day. I was able to spend some time with these two kiddos. They happen to be both putting on their socks and Phoenix thought it would be funny to mirror Axel. 

They both had a good laugh after their socks were on.

Axel had a workout last Saturday and he didn't have any teammates available to run with him, so Daddy decided to ride his bike next to him, or should I say, ride my bike next to him. Keith hasn't had a working bike in more than a year, but he was happy to ride alongside Axel to West Valley and then alongside him on the track as he did his workout. It was a warm day for the end of February. 

Axel greatly appreciated the company. I am too lazy to turn the picture around, so I apologize for the side ways picture. 

We had a rare night together and had an impromptu family game night. Phoenix did her normal, make a face, for the picture. 

When she saw it, even she couldn't help but laugh!

So funny!

Rubix had his last soccer game and soccer party on Wednesday (March 4th). I do have to say, I am glad it is over, because it took a lot out of him physically and emotionally. 

He really does love soccer, so much so, that he did not do as well in school during the second trimester and now has to make some changes going forward, especially since track starts on Monday!

Speaking of track, Axel had his first track meet for the school season. He did the 1600 at the K-Bell Invitational and finished in 4:42.31. He went out really strong with a 1:06 first lap, and finished strong with a similar pace. The second and third laps were a little tougher, but he knows what he has to work on and he was happy with his effort and the first race of the year. Next week he will compete in the 3200 meter. 

Here he is all cued up and ready to go. I was so proud of him for going out and racing hard. You can watch his race below. 

Axel 1600 meter

The next time I post, we will have a 10 year old and 17 year old in the house. Rubix will be going to a friend's party on his birthday and Axel will be in Boston visiting colleges for his birthday with Keith. 

Oh, before I forget, the big news is that Axel got a 36 on his ACT, Keith got cleared for any cancer and is back to himself, and Axel is getting through his Anki app with the hopes of being as fluent as possible in Japanese before he leaves in 2.5 months. Check back in early April to see all things Szolusha!