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.

Spring

I love this picture of Rubix playing with his cars. He was really into playing with them until I got down the marble maze a few days ago. Now all he can think about are marbles and trying to build a fun maze/track for them.

 A couple of weeks ago Phoenix finally got her new helmet. The deal was that as soon as she learned to ride a bike with no training wheels she could get a new helmet. She really wanted a pink one, but Giro did not have a MIPS in pink so this nice light blue one will have to do. Phoenix continues to love riding her bike and got to ride her bike to school and the pool which are both about a mile and a half away.

 I went to a welcome night at Harker for incoming Kindergarteners. Keith and I are so excited for her. We can't wait to see how she transitions to Harker and being a big kid! I actually don't think that it will be very difficult because the academic portion is very similar to Challenger and she is used to the long days already. I do hope that she can make a couple of good friends because she keeps talking about missing her old BFF, Macey.

 It took almost the entire school year, but I finally got to volunteer! I went with the 3rd grade students to the San Francisco Science Academy. It was fantastic. Here is a picture of my group of 5 kids at the end of the rain forest exhibit. Axel is next to Lucas and Ameera, two of his closest friends. I really enjoyed getting the privilege to spend the day with Axel and a few of his friends.

 My little group had way too much fun during lunch. They were very clever with using the mayo and mustard packets for their sandwiches to make "science experiments". Let's just say we had more cleaning up then I had anticipated.

 We spent a lot of time in the Ocean exhibit. Here is the beautiful coral reef.

 We all loved the sea dragons as well.

 Today Phoenix had a practice for her Spring Show that they allowed me to attend since I can't make it Tuesday at 10 am next week.

 Here is a picture of the entire class.

 I was so proud of her. She was more confident then the last time I came for the winter show.

 Rubix was a champ and sat on my lap and clapped at the end of each song. We went to El Quito park afterwards. I wanted to get a picture of him since I have been lacking in the photo taking department the past two weeks. After the stomach bug went through the house we then had a bad cold that went through the boys of the house. They are all on the mend and almost healed. Phoenix and I have managed to stay healthy with just some extra fatigue requiring some extra sleep.

Phoenix continues to love swimming. She is really getting down the front crawl and back stroke. The coaches are hoping that she will decide to be apart of the competitive season. Keith and I think that she will want to once she finds out she is not allowed to go to practice after May 21st.

Axel is going to try the older kids swim practice tonight to see if he can attend their practices on a regular basis. The real reason he wants to is not for the extra 10 minutes of swim time, but to allow for less stress as his practice time moves from 5:30 pm to 6:45 pm. This will make it much easier for all of us as far as pick up, dinner and arriving on time.

Rubix continues to improve his ability to use the toilet. He is pretty consistent for going both pee and poop in the toilet. The only problem is we really have to make him pee every 1.5 hours and as soon as he starts farting we take his pants off so when he says "poopie coming" he can sit down on his little potty or we can put him on the big toilet. I do hope that he will become more independent sooner than later. He is dry over 50% of the time during naps, but he sure pees a lot at night. That night diaper isn't coming off very soon. I am sure of that!

Axel has his band concert next week. He also has rocket day for Cub Scouts and a birthday party next Sunday. This weekend we are looking for some relaxing fun. I might have an interview this weekend or next week. It will be my second interview for the Movement Fellowship I applied for. I should know by the end of next week or early the following week whether I have been accepted. I also have plans to see my good old friend Gwen on Sunday who I haven't seen in a couple of years!

Family Portraits and stomach bug!

Before I get to the family portraits I wanted to share this scary virus that Rubix dealt with for a few days over the weekend. He woke with huge hives on Friday and they continued through Saturday. I have never seen hives this big. Luckily, the doctor thought they were viral and it appears that she is correct. Rubix had horrible diarrhea as well with a very poor appetite as you can imagine. The funny thing is he is really tough and you really couldn't tell that he was "sick" except for a few moments here and there where he wanted to be held and cuddled with. 

 His potty training is finally coming along. He is starting to tell us when he has to go to the bathroom which is really helpful. He is not always ahead of the act, but he is getting better and better. The big news is he started holding his urine his entire nap time 5 out of the past 7 days! I am hoping this continues and that we will be 100% diaper free except for the night within the next month!

 On Saturday Kristin came over for a play date. Phoenix likes her just as much as Axel does and Kristin is seriously the cutest little girl as she has such a little crush on Axel. The kids get along beautifully and it is always a pleasure for Axel to have the opportunity to play with one of his close friends.

On Saturday morning we went for our annual family portraits. Here is the picture that I am sending the Grandparents of the 3 kiddos. It is hard to believe we are a family of 5 with a 2, 5 and 9 year old. We feel very blessed!

 Daddy wanted a picture of him and his boys again.

 I wanted a picture of us. It is our 10 year anniversary this year!

 And here is the 2018 Family Photo. I did not order any of these except the big one we have on our wall. If you would like a picture of this you will have to print it off yourself or ask me to print a copy for you. I did scan it into our computer so I do have the ability to print more if you don't have a photo printer.

I am home today with Axel as he got sick, for the first time all year, yesterday. I received a phone call from the nurse that he had thrown up. He didn't want to eat breakfast and after eating lunch his stomach protested. He couldn't keep anything down. He threw up on 4 different occasions nearly dry heaving as he didn't have anything in him. He hasn't thrown up since last night, but he also isn't eating much. He just finished a banana so we will see how that goes. Daddy is in Ireland this week and the poor thing is also suffering from the same stomach bug. He had to move his Wednesday presentation to Thursday. Hopefully he will be able to get in his 3 presentations before he heads home on Friday! I am hoping that this will be the last virus of the season before heading into the nice warm summer months. I am ready to be done with this virus season!

Spring Break

For the first time I took off of work for Spring Break. Since Phoenix is at Challenger she ended up having Spring Break with Axel. Since two kids needed to be taken care of it made sense for me to fight for the time off from work. It was really nice to have the two older kids Monday through Wednesday while Rubix was at Angela's. 

On Monday, Axel requested that we stay home for the most part of the day. I was fine with that as it was his first official day of Spring break. So after dropping Rubix off at Angela's we headed to Axel's 9 year old check up, which I mentioned in the last post.  We did a little bit of cleaning and computer game and Barbie doll playing and flute playing and that was about it for the day. At 5 pm we picked up Rubix and then headed to Westgate Cabana Club for the first day of preseason swim practice. 

Here is Rubix and Daddy watching Phoenix swim while eating dinner. Axel has swim practice before Phoenix from 5:30 to 6:15 and then Phoenix swims until 6:50 pm. This will continue until school gets out in June. 

 On Tuesday I planned a fun filled day at Shoreline Park. Axel was asked to do a family field trip to learn about anything historical for history class. I have wanted to see the Rengstorff House since moving to Mountain View 14 years ago. Of course I never visited while living a few miles from it so I thought it was a perfect opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. I didn't realize that it had been completely restored in the early 90's after sitting abandoned for over a decade after a fire. When they restored it they only restored the first floor as the original home and the upstairs is now city offices.

 Here are a couple of pictures of the kiddos in the family office. The kids got a kick out of the animals that were found in the park so we made sure to capture a few photos of them.

 Here is Phoenix in the "play room" or front parlor. She got to dress a replica of a doll that one of the children likely played with.

After our tour we headed over to the park that was designed after Mr. Rengstorff's boat that carried supplies for his business. It was quite boring for the two so after a picnic lunch and a picture we headed back to see if we could rent a paddle boat. I do have to mention that while we were eating lunch we had a pesky squirrel who persistently bugged us at a very close distance begging for food. 

The kids were over the top excited that we were able to rent a paddle boat for an hour. Phoenix picked the blue sparkly boat. 

Phoenix happily sat in the back while Axel and I pedaled away in the front. 

Axel was a great co pilot. He showed great endurance pedaling for almost the entire hour. The seats were harder than I remember and I actually bruised my sit bones as I had tenderness when sitting on a hard chair slouched for a couple of days. As long as I sat up straight and didn't put pressure on my sit bones I was fine. Funny!

Another very funny moment was Axel saying, "I knew we were going to do something fun. Now when my friends ask what I did, I can tell them that I went to Shoreline park and saw the Rengstorff house and went paddle boating!"

 The kids couldn't believe how many "black birds with white peaks, that aren't ducks" were, so I asked them for a picture in front of these "mysterious" birds. I loved how well the kids got along all day. It was truly a pleasure to spend the day with them.

 Right when we got home Axel had to use the restroom which meant that I could get the stool sample I needed to check to see if he is still lactose intolerant. Phoenix and I jumped into the car to drop it off at Kaiser as I didn't want to put it in my freezer! She was so cute I just had to capture a picture of her. She was loving the Mommy time. If you couldn't tell we were just about to start playing Barbies again when I told her we had to quickly go drop off Axel's stool sample.

 On Wednesday we spent the day at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View. I waited until the very end of our visit there to capture pictures which resulted in a protesting Phoenix.

 The museum was quite complete and we had a very enjoyable 3 hours there. We had to cut it a little short as we had to get home so I could prepare dinner before we had to head to the Campbell Police Station for Axel's cub scouts and then directly to pick up Rubix so we could make it to swim practice on time.

 Apparently, Cub Scouts requires the Bear Den to visit a police station. It took them all year to solidify a tour. The Campbell Police Station was gracious to help out. The boys seemed to really enjoy it.

 I have never seen the back of a police car before. I had no idea the seats were like this.

 Here is the kind officer who gave us the tour with Pack 505 and siblings.

 Here are the Bear Den members with the police officer.

Thursday we did our usual library visit and swim practice in the evening.

Today was a rainy day where we spent most of the morning at the dentist. Axel got his first xrays and it showed he has a cavity. We need to visit the orthodontist and figure out what they want to do about his crowded mouth. Once that is figured out he is going to have to get a filling. Phoenix did not take xrays but it does look like she has 2 cavities starting. We may have to address them at her next visit in 6 months. Rubix will also have his first dentist appointment in October when we return.

Phoenix decided to attend swim practice again tonight in the rain! She was surprisingly tough and had a great practice. Only 4 kids showed up including her. Keith and I are really excited to see the drive to want to improve. She told me tonight on the way home that she wants to be a swimming superstar! I couldn't be more excited to support her on this new found journey.