Birthday Fun and Swimming!

Since the completion of my work goals, I have desperately been trying to tackle house and family projects that I have been wanting to get to for months to years. Although I have not officially cleaned up the attic, I did manage to find a bin of old Axel clothes that I had "misplaced", although it was just in the wrong section of the attic. We found Axel's suit jacket that he wanted when he was in the 2nd grade. Rubix fits in it perfectly. You likely can't see the picture of Axel hanging on the wall with the jacket on very clearly because of the glare and small size, but for what it is worth, we took a picture of Rubix in the jacket under Axel in the jacket. 

On July 8th, Keith's birthday, we had a few friends meet us at the pool to hang out. Keith and I wore our Hawaii gear, which was fun. 

We enjoyed some food and good conversation while the kids enjoyed pool time. 

We had the same crew of families and their kids meet us at the pool early the next morning for a "mini meet" as race prep and technique work for the kids as we had two "by" weeks in a row, which meant the kids would be rusty for the swim meet against our old Cabana club, Westgate and Champs which we just had this past weekend. 

Jack and Arick, were Rubix's friends who came, and Phoenix had Aditi come join us and Axel was a trooper going just to go. He actually lucked out and saw a group of Harker friends going into the pool when we were leaving and then hung out for a few more hours and spent time with his Harker friends, Ellie, Heather and Iona. They all happen to be swimmers who are also in "math elective" which is the math team at Harker. 

While Axel was there, Keith and I went for a bike ride. 

It was hot! When we got back Keith took Rubix to his friends Reese's birthday party and I took Phoenix to her friend Angela's birthday party. 

Angela invited sooo many people! Apparently, her mom made her invite lot of friends because she hadn't had a birthday party in 4 or 5 years. 

The kids played in the water before coming in for dinner and cake. Here is the birthday girl and Phoenix!

On Sunday we had our "annual neighborhood picnic in the park," that we have not had for years. We were able to meet a couple of new neighbors. We actually have a handful of new families that have all moved in over the past couple of years. We do hope to meet the other ones in the future. 

Rubix has been going to "math club" with Jack and a few of his friends from Sacred Heart School. After they do math they play soccer. It is fun to see that Jack takes off his shirt like Rubix does at home. 

It was an incredibly busy weekend and it was a busy week following with summer school and swimming. Fridays, during the summer have a fun activity. This Friday was balloon toss and balloon war. 

All 3 of the kids enjoyed themselves. They have been troopers going to 7 am practice. Axel has done all 7 am practices and Rubix and Phoenix started going once or twice a week to the 7 am practice for the past 4 weeks. Technically, they are not suppose to, but it makes drop offs and getting to school and work much more manageable. 

Last Saturday we enjoyed seeing so many old friends from Westgate Cabana club. Phoenix very much enjoyed hanging out with old and new friends and bringing them together. She has such a gift of making people feel accepted and bringing people together.  You can see how many Westgate Gators missed her. 

Rubix, Jack and Arick, went 1,2, 3 in most of their events. What a cute picture of the dynamic trio who sweep the podium.

I love this when Axel is teaching Rubix and Rubix is interesting in learning from his big bro. What a special relationship they have. 

We continue to go to the track every Sunday. The kids are getting stronger and it is so much fun to see them improve on their times. Phoenix and Rubix often just do sprints, but throw in one 400 meter fun for an effort while Axel tries to get in his full track workout. Here is a fun picture of Phoenix running with Daddy. She ended up doing two 400s this day after her 400 warm up, plus sprints!

Now, back to the house stuff. I finally managed to clean up the art room and get the kids an adult size table that they can work on. 

I am pleased with the organization on how much I was able to get rid of. It is not perfect, but definitely a start. You can see my stack of scrap book materials. That will be my next project, once I get the house in order. I have years of scrap booking to catch up on. 

I also finally managed to create the TV room for Axel. In order to do that I had to move the toys, couches and TV. 

Keith did an amazing job of moving the cable under the house to allow us to get the TV set up in the pinball room. 

I really want to hang the TV on the wall, but Keith doesn't because are TV is old. So I guess I have to wait for this TV to die before we can get things fully set up. 

This is also the new "game room". I still need to order a table with benches where the kids can play games and build puzzles. The goal for this room is two fold. One, for Keith and I to be able to watch movies and not disturb the kids since the other room the TV noise could keep Axel up. Second, for the kids to be able to have a hang out room with their friends, watching TV and playing games. I think Axel is pleased and I hope this allows him to invite friends over more often. 

Surprisingly, I had 3 Iris's bloom this week. It is very late, but they are still beautiful!

This past weekend we had Valley Aquatic League Swim Champs. Axel and his medley team were stoked to take first place in their relay. Axel had the privilege of being anchor/freestyle and was able to help win the race for them. He PR'd with a 27 second 50 free. It was a very fun and exciting event to watch. 

Phoenix hanging out with her gator buddies again!

Phoenix winning the breast stroke. She swept and won all her individual events. She did the 25 breast stroke, butterfly and the 100 meter IM. This was a huge accomplishment, especially because she is only 9 and won the entire league for 9/10 girls. 

Here is Rubix winning free style. He also won all of his events. This was actually the only event where he did not break the league record. He swam a 19.37 25 butterfly and a 22.77 25 backstroke which resulted in a new league record. He did an 18 second free style again which was still a second off of the 17.6 second 6 and under boys record. 

Here is Axel swimming the 50 Free. He was a bit frustrated as he was a second slower on this individual race than he was in the relay. He would have possibly podiumed if he was a second faster, but regardless it is fun to see him swim. 

Rubix is holding up his "heat winner" lollipops. Phoenix and him had one for every race. 

My little fish playing in the pool. 

Rubix with his relay team of Arick, Brody and Jack. 

On Sunday we had the end of year party/ awards ceremony. Phoenix and Rubix both earned the most points for their age group. Rubix actually had the post points out of all of the swimmers as he won every single race he entered this year. 

They each received a medal for being the biggest point contributor for their age group.

The 6 and under who came to the ceremony. 

The 9/10 girls. 

The 13/14 boys. I think not even half of the swimmers came, as they had over 200 swimmers for the summer league. 

Rubix with coach Tom after announcing that Rubix had broke the VAL butterfly and backstroke league record for 6 and under boys. 

Rubix with his medals!

Kyla, Phoenix and Ellie! 

The kids with all of their medals!!!

 What a fun swim season and summer we have had. Full of friends and hard work. The kids have two weeks of practice before they take a 3 week break from swimming. School will be starting when swim starts back up. In the meantime, Keith leaves for Boston to travel for work and to see his family and have a small gathering for his Dad's burial. Gma Susan comes to visit for a few days and then we leave for a fun filled trip to Chicago. We are excited for more family fun. Phoenix and Rubix will be done with summer school this Friday and Axel is crushing himself at this intensive math camp the rest of this week and next. I am so proud of him for working so hard. He spent 5 hours doing homework after being in class all day. The kid is beyond dedicated to learning complex math for the math team. 

I hope to post before school starts so check back soon!

Happy 4th, Father's Day and more

The summer is flying by. It is hard to believe that we have already completed an entire month of summer break. Our days are long, but the weeks and months are fast. We are consumed with swimming and friends, but did enjoy a weekend without a swim meet for the first time since school ended. 

I can't begin to describe all that has happened, but I can say I am excited to have completed my last work goal and should have much more time to designate too all of the kid "stuff" that I have been putting off. I sat for the strength and conditioning specialist exam last Friday and am happy to say that I passed. It is a huge weight off my shoulders and I am looking forward to finishing and starting scrap books that date back to 2018/2019. 

Here is a fun picture that Phoenix took of Axel peeling his egg. Apparently, he was able to peel it in one big sheet. He was pleased with this accomplishment and Phoenix was amazed, hence why she had to document the event with a picture. 

Rubix and Phoenix have completed 3 weeks of summer school at Challenger. Phoenix's highlight is art. They do art every day and this was one of her master pieces. She states that she is not very happy being there and that it is a waste of time, but I think she is getting a lot out of being there. She is disappointed because she only has 3 girls in her class and one of them leaves early and another reads all of the time during recesses. 

Rubix also states that he is not happy going to summer school, but he has a handful of Harker friends who are going there that he gets to play with every day. His reading has improved immensely and he appears to be getting faster with math, so all in all it appears to be good for them. 

Axel just completed a 2 weeks writing course and is looking forward to starting a 2 week computer programming course with Java. He is also working on completing the game he coded as it is his goal to put it on the Google store by the end of the summer. We will see if he is able to reach his goal. 

When the kids have time, they have been playing games, with their favorite being Monopoly or Mancala. Rubix is often the banker as he is pictured here counting and handing out money. 

After a year, we finally made it back up to see my best friend from high school, Tiffany. It was a very cool day with a high in the low 60s. The kids still played in her heated pool and hot tub while us adults sat next to her heater and watched them play in the water. 

When the other kids went inside after dinner, Rubix decided to make an interesting basketball course, like "Dude Perfect".

Once it got cold enough, we all went inside and enjoyed cotton candy and more conversation. 

Axel had fun making cotton candy for everyone after Avery made it for her and her sister, Charlotte. 

Yesterday, Rubix's new buddy, Jack, joined us at the track. After Rubix's "track" workout, where he ran a 1:35, 400 meter lap for the first time, he played soccer with Jack. 

Phoenix also PR'd with a 1:34, 400 meter lap.  Axel continues to speed up with his track workouts and is loving seeing the hard work pay off. 

Today we did a 5 mile hike with Axel's friend, Nicole and her family. Here we are at the turn around point and Axel and Daddy decided to be silly.

Group photo!

The view. 

Happily hiking down the mountain!

Axel made lunch and decided to use the cookie cutter to make fun quesadilla shapes. 

Phoenix was a bit upset about math, but she appreciated the interesting food her brother made her. 

June was all about friends and swimming. Here is Phoenix with her friends Melissa, Ashley and Angela. She had such a fun time hanging out with them at Angela's swim and racquet club. 

Here is Rubix helping out a new swimmer with the relay. It is funny how our little 6 year old is a "seasoned" swimmer and can help out older and bigger kids who are less experienced. 

Phoenix enjoying the social aspect of the swim meets. She loves swimming and meets because she loves hanging out with all of her swim friends. The girls really do have such a great time. 

Rubix primarily plays with Arick, who is his classmate. Here they were playing soccer on the tennis courts. 

This is Phoenix and her best swim buddy, Kyla. The are like 2 peas in a pod and have such fun together. 

Axel's friend Nicole has bunnies who had 4 baby bunnies. 

The kids had such a treat meeting, petting and watching these cute little creatures. 

Here is Phoenix with Angela on a playdate the first week off from school when I was on vacation with them. Angela is her new best friend from school this year. It is so good to see her make new "best friends" because she really did not like being the 3rd wheel with Kyla and Ashley her long time "best friends since preschool. 

Stingray tatooes!

Rubix and Arick!!!

Axel hanging out with the "girls" having a blast talking with them. He enjoys himself more with them as the 3 boys his age just play video games on their phone and often swear a lot. It is fun to see him blend in and have fun with non Harker kids. 

Happy Father's Day. Daddy had lot of homemade gifts from both Harker and Challenger! He was happily surprised with the goodies. 

Rubix reading a Box Car Children's book at our last swim meet. He was determined to finish the book and decided to read instead of playing! It is so much fun to see him grow and mature!

Axel and I run together and I have him doing strengthening exercises the same two days he runs. Here we were doing the foam roller after a run because our quads were sore. Keith thought it was fun to capture this on film. I do enjoy my one on one time with Axel. He is such a great kid.

Axel often hangs out at Nicole's house because her mom is helping with pick ups from Harker summer school. Apparently, Axel helped fix this and Grace was very pleased. 

Junk day is coming up so I am working on going through the attic and pairing down on items we do not need. I happened to come across this nice suit Jacket that Axel really wanted to purchase in 2nd grade. Rubix put it on. Too bad there is a glare on the picture of Axel wearing it. It is fun to see Rubix in Axel's clothes. 

I have so many great videos of the kids swimming. I will try to post them soon so you can see how much they are improving. 

Phoenix had another virtual piano recital, I taught again in Oakland and she has all 8 of her baby teeth extracted that the orthodontist requested. Her double row of teeth on the tops and bottoms is almost completely gone as the teeth extractions made room for them to come forward. Phoenix has really grown and matured with these teeth extractions. 

Rubix started a math club and signed up for soccer in the fall with Jack, his new buddy. 

July will bring more swim meets and Challenger summer school ends at the end of July. 

Axel will do the Java camp and then a 3 week intensive math camp that ends August 5th. Keith will travel to Boston the first week in August and we will meet Keith in Chicago on August 6th where we will enjoy several days in the city before spending time with family in the suburbs. 

Keith has been busy with work as he continues to settle into his new role. He is currently leading the move back to Milpitas and is looking forward to being on old stomping ground for 6 months before his group is suppose to join the rest of ADI on the Maxxim campus at Rio Robles. Besides this move and all of the work he has put into organizing it, the other big news is that he will be travelling to Japan in the fall. He will also be assistant coaching Rubix's soccer team. 

Happy 4th!