Amelia's 1st Day of Kindergarten

How did Amelia go from a newborn baby to a Kindergarten so quickly? On August 24, 2009 Amelia started Kindergarten. We were so proud of her! Frank, Elliott and I took her into class because on the first day they allow you to stay with the the kids to get them situated and help them feel comfortable. I showed Amelia where she sat and where to put her backpack. After that she turned to me and said "OK, you can go now" then she went up to Frank and said "I love you Daddy, you can go now". She kicked us out! All the other Parents got to stay for a little while and we had to leave the class and spy on her through the window! Frank said, "Well we wanted a strong confident girl and we got one".

I was so proud of her and at the same time my heart broke a little. The reality set in that my baby is growing up. The past 5 years have gone by so fast. Amelia's teacher's name is Mrs. Padilla and she is great. Amelia we love you and we are looking forward to a great Kindergarten year with you!

Frank dealt with Amelia starting Kinder by buying a 2008 Red Mercedes Benz. He went from the school to the lot to buy it. Amelia told him she wanted a red car so that is what he got. So now she thinks her Daddy bought her a red car for starting Kindergarten. According to Amelia that is her car. Geez, if she thinks she got a Mercedes for starting Kinder what is she going to expect when she starts High School!

Pinkalious Back to School Party

Amelia's friend Kendall hosted a back to school 1/2 slumber party for all her girlfriends that were starting Kindergarten. The party started at 6pm and ended at 10pm and all the girls went in their PJ's. It was an awesome party. The girls painted their nails, made pillow cases and signed their names on each one, watched a movie and played dress up. It was a great way to start the new school year!

Birthdays! Birthdays and more Birthdays!

August is a month filled with birthdays. We have had a party to go to every weekend in August. We started the month out with Diego's 2nd Birthday Party at Shady Oaks Ranch. That place was so much fun! It had rides, miniature golf, a train and a pinata. We loved it!

Next Cousin Daniel's had his 3rd Birthday Party at Steubing Ranch Park. It was a lot of fun with the playground and the pinata.

Finally it was my 36th birthday. We had cake at home with Nana and then dinner at Fudruckers. We love celebrating birthdays with our wonderful family and friends.

Amelia's Lemonade Stand

One evening we were sitting at home and the idea to set up a lemonade stand popped into Amelia's mind. So we planned to set one up the following day. Amelia made signs and decided she wanted to give her lemonade away for free. She was very excited about it.

Frank's co-worker Brian offered us the use of his driveway because he gets more traffic by his house then we do. Amelia set up for business at 4:30 (I could not hold her off any longer then that). She set up her table, lemonade and signs and screamed at every car that drove by "Free lemonade, get your free lemonade". Brian set up a tip jar for her and she made $14 in tips. We gave away lemonade from 4:30-6:30 and I thought I was going to die from a heat stroke. It was worth it though, she had a great time! Amelia and Elliott slept well that night!

Quijano Family Beach Trip

During the 1st weekend of August we went to Tortuga Dunes on Mustang Island with Grandma Rosie, Grandpa, Uncle Eric, Aunt Kristina and Cousin Daniel and Noah. We also met our friends there. The first night we were there we had a great dinner with Amelia's friends. The kids had a blast dancing to the house band.

The next day we hit the beach. We spent the whole day there. The kids pretended to fish and play in the sand and water and look for crabs. Elliott's favorite thing to do was dig a whole in the sand and fill it with water and swim in the swimming pool. He had a whole ocean to play in and he chose to play in a small whole filled with water. That's Elliott for you!

We had a wonderful time and hope to make this a family trip every year.

4th of July

Amelia's friends Kaitlyn and Ashley invited us to spend the 4th of July with them at their Grandparent's ranch in San Marcus. There was a huge pond for the kids to swim in, a zip line for the adults, potatoe sack races and other games and plenty of good food. Amelia and Elliott had a blast. She even jumped off the deck in the middle of the pond that was about 6 feet high. Man that girl is brave!

Another thing the ranch had was animals. They had baby deer, chickens, cows, horses and pigs. Elliott really enjoyed seeing all the animals. Everyone there was so nice. They converted an old schoolhouse into a guest house and invited us to spend the night there. Amelia and I stayed and Frank and Elliott went home to their own bed. It was fun for Amelia because that was the first time she got to spend the night with friends. At the end of the night we could see the fireworks from both New Braunfels and San Marcus and the girls ended the night by making a 4th of July cake. It was a very fun and special 4th of July. Thank you to the Soyars for welcoming us into their home and making great memories with us.

Elliott Swimming

Elliott went back to Infant Swimming Resource for his yearly refresher class and it started off bad just like last year. Same as before he wanted to do what he thought he should do and gave the instructor a hard time. He cried a lot the 1st week and refused to go from swimming under the water to floating. All he wanted to do was swim under the water. The Instructor was very good but saw how extremely stubborn Elliott can be. I kept telling her that she just had to break him and show him who was boss. He tested her for the 1st 5 days and finally on the 6th day decided he would enjoy himself and do what he was suppose to do. By day 9 he was done and swimming and floating like a expert and jumping in the water and smiling and having a good time.

Elliott is a fish and swims non-stop when he gets in the water. I have to limit his time in the water to 40 minutes because he goes non-stop. By the time I get him out of the pool his eyes are blood shot and he is tired but still refuses to stop. I am glad he is such a good swimmer and enjoys it but it does make me nervous.