Phoenix's 5th grade promotion, End of school year activities

Axel was invited to the Upper School Award Ceremony on Friday May 24th. He was able to go to practice for an hour and 15 minutes and then we headed to his ceremony. He was nominated for the Love of Learning again. He received this same award last year. 

Ms. Gargano gave the speech discussing the traits of students who are nominated for this award. 

Ms. Horan and Mr. Barsky, the principle, gave out the awards. 

Saturday through Memorial Day we had a swim meet that was a Santa Clara Swim Club Intrasquad meet that was in between preliminary and finals for the George Haines International Meet that we were hosting. Axel woke up feeling worse that he did the day before and ended up staying home while Keith and I went with Rubix and Phoenix. Rubix only sway the 100 fly because he needed a long course Far Western time and we wanted him to save his energy since he came down with the cold that Phoenix had the weekend before on Tuesday. Axel tried to come on Sunday, but felt dizzy and he started getting ear pain. He stayed home again on Monday and I was able to take him to the doctor that afternoon where he was diagnosed with an ear infection. He started antibiotics that day and managed to get through his finals that were on Tuesday and Wednesday. 

On Tuesday, May 28th, Phoenix had her 5th grade promotion ceremony.

Her brothers were able to come and support her!

The excited, funny girl!

Here is her class of over 100 students. I think they have about 120, but I cannot remember exactly.

Phoenix was in the last row because they organized the students based on height. 

Here she is receiving her promotion award from Mr. Yager, head of school. 

After every child received their award the kids sang for us. Phoenix was in the back row. 

The 4 of us getting a selfie :)

Afterwards they had deserts and drinks for the families. Phoenix managed to eat 4 desserts!

Here she is with Kylie, one of her closest friends who is transferring to Menlo next year. it will be sad to not have Kylie around anymore, but Menlo is closer to her home and has an incredible sports program. Kylie really wants to exceed in basketball and track and it will be exciting to see what opportunities she will have in high school (once she gets through middle school). 

Speaking of track, here is the team photo. Phoenix is standing in the back row right in the center. 

I think I mentioned that Rubix is obsessed with cars and knowing make, models and symbols of every make. Here is a picture of all of his drawing of the cars that he is learning about. 

We were at a Senior Open Meet this weekend in Brentwood. Rubix was a trooper and came along. He was a bit bored, but managed to watch some swimming and get some "school" work donw. Here he is on Sunday pretending like he is sleeping. We had to be up and out of the house just after 6 am, so he was down on sleep. 

Phoenix got to hang out with her buddy Audrey who moved to Pleasanton and is on the Pleasanton Sea Hawks. She also got to hang out with Emelie Wang, who is a phenomenal swimmer, and her biggest competitor. I did not include her in the picture because I wasn't sure she was okay with me taking a picture of her. 

Axel managed to swim, although he wasn't feeling top notch. They both did the 1500 meter on Saturday and the 400 IM on Sunday, which are difficult races. Unfortunately, Axel started feeling ear pain again and another trip to the doctor ended with a second round of antibiotics, but now drops for swimmers ear, rather than oral antibiotics. He appears to have another cold and we are now uncertain how long he will be out from swimming and running. He starts AP chem on Monday and they have a test the first day on the first 90 elements. Hopefully, he can get over this cold and get back to feeling good. 

We had an impromptu party on Monday, yes, the day before he felt worse and I needed to take him to the doctor. He invited his lunch table over. Six of his friends were able to attend which made for a fun, but loud afternoon. His friends and him played games, ate some food, and laughed a lot. It was really nice to have them hanging out and not stressed about school. 

I fogot to mention that Rubix has lost 4 teeth over the last several months. I think I posted one of them in January, but three more have come out since. Phoenix got fitted for her expander and she gets it cemented in on July 9th. She will have it in for about 6 months and then she will get braces early next year! We will find out, also on the 9th, how much longer Axel has for his braces. I am thinking he will be done no later than the end of the year. 

Phoenix has been using her free time to read and paint. Here are a few pieces. These abstracts are a couple of months old, but she made these frames out of carboard. 

This painting she just finished adding the woman and umbrella. She also painted the jelly fish yesterday.

I also forgot to mention that she received the Coaches award for track. We were surprised because this year she did not go to practice nearly as much as last year, because of her swim schedule. You can see her promotion certificate in the middle, her lower school "Harker Athletic Letter" on the left above her rock collection and her other athletic awards. 

I love how she is trying to take care of her room and make it her own. We have yet another swim meet this weekend. It will be 4 weeks in a row. I will be teaching in Oakland on Sunday and Keith will somehow manage a morning and afternoon swim meet session on top of getting Axel to and from practice. This is one of the last chances for the Phoenix and Rubix to get more Far Western long course times, so we will see how they do. 

We are looking forward to Little Grammy and Aunt Josie/ cousin Hannah visiting at the end of the month. I am not sure if I will post before then. I do hope to find time, after this weekend to update the YouTube channel with more of the kids videos. I will try to post the link when I have it more up and running. Until then....happy summer weather!

 

Mother's Day and more!

Santa Clara Swim Club had their annual banquet at the end of April. The banquet is a time to honor the coaches, parents and athletes for the dedication and to call out the seniors who are graduating high school and heading to college. They went through each age group and coach starting with the youngest group. Here Coach Victory is talking about his "Yellow Bell" kids which are the 10 and under kids. You can see Rubix in the lower right of the picture.  

The head coach, Kevin, is speaking here to introduce Phoenix's coach, Coach Luba. She is the short one in the pinkish shirt behind Kevin. You can see Phoenix in the middle of all of the girls. Phoenix is in the Gold division which is 11 and 12 year olds. 

Coach Kevin is introducing Axel's coach, Coach Dave. Dave swam at SCSC and was coached by George Haines. He has coached for 30 years and had been involved in swimming over 50 years! Axel is in the middle of of this picture as well. Axel is in the Senior group, or 15+. He is in the group, just below the national team. They have 9 practices a week now with two double workouts a week (Tuesday and Thursday). It is a huge commitment to be a part of this group. 

Phoenix had her track league champ meet on May 3rd and 4th. Keith took Phoenix on Friday and watched her 200 meter and 800-meter race. It was a beautiful day. Phoenix broke the 3-minute barrier crossing the line in 2:57 seconds and getting 3rd overall. Her goal was to break 3 minutes, so she was happy with the outcome. Saturday it was raining. It was my turn to be able to go with her. She had the 400 meter and the 4 x 100-meter relay. The high was in the low 50's. It was cold and wet and most people were not prepared for the dumping rain. Many of her teammates and their parents were grateful the shelter our tent provided. Keith was managing swim practice for the boys while I was at the track meet, since I managed practices for them the day before to allow him to attend the track meet. 

Phoenix ran in the dumping rain and won her heat, finishing 3rd overall for the league. Her buddies Astraea and Kylie were happy to be under the tent and Phoenix loaned Kylie warm clothes after her events. Astraea was league champ in the 50-meter sprint and Kylie was league champ in the 400-meter race! I finally started the YouTube channel for their race videos. You can check out her 400-meter race at this link; https://youtu.be/0A5B-YdZN38.

I took Axel and Phoenix to Harker to get a heart screening that the school was offering our community. We happened to see Astraea there so the kids had an impromptu play date and Astraea joined us for dinner. It was really nice to have a friend over for the evening. It felt a little more normal than our normal weekend rush. 

On Sunday May 5th, Rubix had a 2nd grade playdate in the park. He has not been able to attend any of these functions, so Rubix was surprised when I said, "let's go to the park, we have a free hour." He actually ended up staying the entire time because one of his friend's moms drove him home. I promised Axel I would go to his post CCS walk on meet, so I left Rubix with Tomomi (Leo's mom) and headed to Axel's swim meet. Phoenix was home doing artwork, so she happily received Rubix when he arrived home at 1:30pm and they had fun together while they waited for us to arrive home at 3:30pm. This was the first time they were left home alone together and this was the second time that Phoenix was left home for a significant amount of time. Phoenix actually called me to ask if she could make chicken noodle soup. The two of them worked together to make a delicious pot of soup. They appeared to get along well and Phoenix is becoming quite the cook. The first time I left her alone, the weekend before, she made lemon cookies. I did not let her bake them until we were home, but I spent an hour off and, on the phone, helping her figure out how to decipher the recipe. I find it very interesting that she only wants to cook when I am not home and hasn't taken interest in helping me in the kitchen as Axel did to learn his cooking and baking skills. 

I am not sure if I mentioned that Keith started the training to become an official several months ago. He officially became an official about a month ago and has been officially most of the meets that we go to. He is a stroke and turn official, but will be doing the training to be a "corner judge" during long course season (hopefully). Being a Corner Judge, you don't have to DQ kids, but ask the stroke and turn officials about their DQs and can throw them out, or sign off on them. He feels more comfortable doing this than disqualifying kids for improper stroke and turn form. Here is Axel and Daddy with big smiles at the post CCS walk on meet. 

What a special day for Axel to have both of us there to support just him. He managed to PR in the 400 IM. He decided to do the afternoon long course session. He dropped almost 10 seconds, but he was hoping for a 15 second drop considering how he has been training. He was still happy with the results. His 200 free and 100 fly were not personal bests, but he felt he had a good day and was happy to have participated in his first high school only "Pac Swim" race. 

Rubix has had the privilege of going on two field trips the past month. He went to the Hillier Aviation Museum and to the Animal Assisted Happiness shelter. Apparently, it is not as easy for schools to schedule field trips post pandemic. It is nice for them to squeeze them in at the end of the year. 

This past Saturday I was able to go to the last soccer game of the spring soccer season that Rubix has been participating in at the Campbell Community Center. He was excited to see me and Phoenix and Axel! Swim practice was cancelled for a coaches in-service/training day so we surprised him by attending as a family.

He played on the Wrecking Crew this Spring, with Keith only assistant coaching. Rubix is playing right wing here. 

He in the the 10 & U League now with a bigger field. It is really good for him because he has a good foot and many other boys are kicking much harder. 

Proud daddy and Rubix after the last game of the season!

After the soccer game, Phoenix played at Astraea's house for a couple of hours and then Helen, a swim friend, came over for the evening. They went to the club then came home for dinner and a fun night of games. Helen's mom bought this beautiful cake for us that the whole family enjoyed. 

For Mother's day I had the privilege of going on an early bike ride with Keith. Axel had practice from 8 to 10:30 am at Fremont High School in Sunnyvale. Keith brought him and rode from their up Moody and Pagemill Road in Los Altos. It was a beautiful morning in the 60's when we left. It was incredibly refreshing riding early in cool weather than later in the day in the mid to high 80's. 

After our bike ride and Axel's practice I finally had a chance to get a picture with the kiddos and then we worked together as a family in the front yard to clean up the garden and landscaping.

 With the garden all weeded, the bushes cut back and the Irises growing, the front yard looks much better!

After lunch, Keith helped me prepare 3 meals and then we played family games for a couple of hours, watched videos of their swimming technique and Rubix finally got to see Alice in Wonderland. He said it was much different than the book and I think he preferred the book over the 1952 cartoon movie. 

Rubix and I have been trying to read more together when time permits. We are reading 'A Wrinkle In Time'. I guess Keith snuck a picture of us reading together on Mother's Day. 

It was such a special weekend and day without our usual hussle and bussle. I am just prepping for the whirl wind that is about to begin. We have 3 weekends of swim meets along with many end of year activities. School is out in just 16 days, May 30th, at noon. I am excited to post about the end of year accomplishments of the kids in a few weeks. The big news is Axel has taken his first two AP exams and felt really good about them. He was very well prepared and is looking forward to get the results in a couple of months. Until then.... God Bless!

 

10 and under Champs, WBAL Champs and more

After Far Westerns, Axel had his first long course meet in Concord. It was a rainy cold weekend, but the winds were low and the weather was manageable. The two of us went on Saturday, while Keith stayed home with the younger two. Rubix was supposed to have a soccer game, but the rain cancelled it. It was actually quite relaxing being at the swim meet with just Axel. He did the 400 meter, 100 meter and the 1500 meter. It was a bit of an adjustment day, although he did PR in the 100 free, and it was his first time ever doing the 1500 meters. Long course is definitely a different beast than short course. On Sunday, the entire family went to support Axel. He did the 200 Free, 100 fly, 100 back and the 800 meter free. His 200 free was about the same time as last summer, but he had personal best times in the 100 fly and the 100 back and really pulled things together for the 800 meter free, getting the Senior 2 cut on his first try. The Senior 2 cuts are equivalent to "A" times in his age category (15-16 year-old). He had gotten the cuts for the 500, 1000 and 1650 free short course and he was really excited to get the cut in the 800 meter. He is actually really close to the 100 and 200 free and is within reach in the 400IM and 200IM. Axel will tell you that he doesn't care about the times, but I will tell you, if you work as hard as Axel does, it is nice when the hard work pays off. He has come such a long way in the 14 months that we have been apart of Santa Clara Swim Club. He went from hardly training 5 times per week for 80-90 minutes to training up to 7 days a week with three 6 am practices and 1-2 double days for up to a total of 14+ hours of swim and even more when dryland is added. He has learned what discipline and hard work look like. He has overcome feeling like he doesn't belong, to accepting swimming is challenging and a process and deciding it is something that he wants to continue to participate in. I couldn't be more proud of his incredible efforts.

Besides the long course meet, Axel continues to have weekly school meets and he finally had personal bests in his meet last week. It is hard to race after a long day of school, but he dropped in the 200 free to a 2:01 and his 100 fly is down to a 1:02. I believe his goals are to drop below the 2- and 1-minute mark to get the Senior 2, time cuts. This will allow him to go to the travel meets with the Senior Group for Santa Clara Swim Club. He has been dealing with a ton of allergies and stomach issues. He has started a regimen of daily Zyrtec, which he is not convinced is helping very much, but he is certain the Pepcid, 2 x/day is really helping the GERD symptoms that were affecting his afternoon swims. He had league champs this past weekend on Friday and Saturday and was able to drop time in the 200IM, two days in a row! This is a first for him. He dropped a second in prelims and finals! This event is down 10 seconds from the beginning of the short course season. Here is a clip of the start, showing most of the 50 fly. He finished 7th overall.

He had a grade report come out last week and he is getting all 97% or above in his classes except English, which is a 95%. He has been working really hard in school with his end of school year papers and tests coming up. He will sit for the AP computer science with data structures exam next Wednesday and the AP calc B exam in the following Monday. I am amazed at how he is handling the heavy workload for school and on his body with swim. I think he is happy school swim ended and he gets to start running again. He says he is getting the running itch, so we will see how well his body transitions. 

On April 20th, Rubix had 10 and under champs. He went in with the goal to win high points again. We spoke with him to help realign his expectations because he had two contenders Ethan Locke and Stephen Huang who had an equal chance at winning high points. We helped him choose his events to give him the best chance at helping him achieve his goal. Here he is all ready to go Saturday morning! 

He ended up swimming the 25 Fly, 100 IM, 50 back and 50 free. He managed first in the 25 fly, 50 back and 50 free. He was able to get second to Stephen in the 100 IM, although he was ahead. Stephen came back in the last leg of the race to catch and beat him. Rubix was able to out swim Stephen in the 50 back. Here is his best competitor and new friend Stephen. Stephen was the most enjoyable child to be around. The boys hung out all day and discussed the possibilities of who would win or how they would tie. 

With only one trophy, Rubix let Stephen take it home and the organizer will eventually send one to Rubix. Rubix also did 2 relays and Santa Clara won each race. Santa Clara Swim Club won both the girl and boys side overall and we had many high point winners in each of the age groups. For 10 and under champs they call out every age and gender. Rubix won the boys 8-year-old high points. We had winners for girls 10-year-old, boys 9-year-old, girls 7-year-old, girls 6-year-old and Rubix in the boys 8-year-old. Coach Victory was on vacation but was very excited to see how well his 10 and under kids performed. He is always telling them to have fun and don't worry about results, but the funny thing is, most of the kids appear to have fun when they are winning :).  

On April 21st, Rubix had a day of work, work, work. He had a 20-page packet of math homework to review for his test and to get ready for ERB testing (standardized private school tests) and we had to complete his state project board. He spent 3 different one-hour time blocks on his math and we spent 3 hours finishing his state board. I had the best time hanging out with him and helping him through this. Phoenix has been the most helpful working with him 2 separate times for a couple of hours to get the board in the state below. I often do not have the time or privilege of spending that much time with one child these days. We also wrote his 3-minute speech about Indiana and he almost has it memorized. He presents in a couple of days.  

Finished board....

In other news, our wash machine broke and we were able to get another one in within 2 days! We purchased the number one rated large capacity machine. It is 5.2 or 5.3 cubic feet (I think) vs. 4.8 (our old one). It is amazing. I am still learning all of its features, but the coolest one is the wifi start and the automatic soap dispenser. I am in love! I do a load of laundry every 2 days, so I need to love my washing machine :). 

I donated my hair again last Friday. She took 10 different ponytails. Because my hair was layered, she didn't realize that she was cutting the top pony tails significantly shorter than the bottom, so instead of my hair being around my mid neck it is up close to my ears and jaw line. Each ponytail was just about a foot of hair. This may be my last donation, at least to Locks of Love, because I have too much gray now. Children apparently don't want gray in the hair prostheses :). 

I realized I am not in photos anymore. I actually took this photo to show the rash on my face to my doctor. Can you believe I am old enough now to get Rosacea? I also developed a very painful and large stye in my eye that is finally getting better. Welcome to 45 (in a couple of months)!

Harker lower school had their annual art show where they display the children's artwork all through the campus. Phoenix had two pieces displayed. She had the sea creation and a symmetry piece. 

Rubix had one piece displayed. It was this very cute owl!

This weekend we have Phoenix's track league champs on Friday and Saturday. Axel has the post CCS (post sectional) walk on meet on Sunday. This is technically the last "high school" swim meet. After Mother's Day weekend we are in the thick of the beginning of Long Course season and the end of the school year activities. Phoenix will be getting promoted to Middle school on May 28th and the kiddos are done on May 30th at noon! I can't believe how fast the school year went! Until next time.....