Bowling

While Reef was at Day Camp, we kept ourselves VERY busy: Sea World, bowling, swimming…
Lachlan has been asking to go bowling everytime we drive by the alley.  Since they do kids bowl free in the summer, we decided to go.  Don’t worry, Reef got to go bowling at Day Camp so he didn’t miss too much.
He was concentrating very hard.

I think he knocked down 4.

Lachlan insisted on not using the ramp-helper-thingy some of the time.  It took FOREVER for that ball to reach the pins.

She LOVED it and wanted it to be her turn all the time.

Best buds.

We had a blast!

Painter!

Jonas got new watercolors for Christmas.  He doesn’t use them often, but when he does he really loves it!  He is very careful not to mix the colors and loves seeing his creations.  He spent about an hour doing this one day.

Dig into Reading

This summer we joined 3 reading programs: Barnes and Noble (Reef only), HEB, and the library.  For B&N, you had to write a short review of the books, so only Reef completed it and earned a free Chima book.  For HEB, they all got free t-shirts.
For the library, everyone got a certificate and got to pick a free book off the book cart.  As you can see, they were very cooperative.  Oh, well, we still love the free books!

The River House

Back in July we had the last minute opportunity to go on vacation with the Matheny’s.  Sara’s dad has a rental house in New Braunfels, and it was free from Sunday afternoon-Wednesday.  We rearranged some plans and were on our way!
After dinner at Cici’s Pizza (oh, how they loved the endless choices!), the kids stayed up late playing endless board games.

They loved that they got to stay up late with their friends!  Emily and Reef played countless rounds of Yahtzee.  To this day, he won’t play with anyone else because it’s not as fun as with Emily.

The first night was rough for Poppy.  It was our first vacay without her being contained in a crib.  Her “room” was in the laundry room/bathroom, but she frequently visited us in our bed.  Lachlan loved sleeping on the top bunk, and Reef and Jonas loved the sleepover room with Titus.
We kicked off the next day with breakfast at Naeglin’s Bakery.

There were choices aplenty, and they all had a great time picking their favorite!


We headed to Landa Park to play on the playgrounds and feed the ducks.  The playground was damp, but that didn’t stop the kids.  They enjoyed feeding the ducks even though there were a few that tried to eat the smaller kids!



We headed back to the house for lunch and rest.  Phillip and Troy took the big kids to tube the river while everyone else napped.  My boys had a blast on their first tubing adventure!

After naps, we attempted the springfed pool.  Just as we paid and got our wristbands a HUGE storm rolled in.  We headed to the train in hopes the storm would pass quickly…

That storm didn’t pass quickly, so we grabbed some rainchecks to come back another time.  Instead we headed back to the house for dinner and more board games.
The next day dawned with slightly better weather, so we jumped in the river right after breakfast.  It turned out to be a good decision since the rain started minutes after we got out.

The guys were stuck with me for the first part.  After the first tube chute, we rearranged.

Daniel loved the tubing and the swimming.

The “big” tube chute.

Since the lifeguards weren’t set up yet, the moms got to take a turn.

Probably the only family picture that includes all of us this whole year!

Oh, I love this one!

After tubing, we ate lunch and rested.  The afternoon was still rainy so we headed to Burger King for an ice cream cone and a dry place to run around.
After dinner, the sun (finally) went down, and we busted out the sparklers.

This was a whole new experience for my kids, and most of them loved it!


After the sparklers, the Gibbins fam headed home.  Troy had to work the next day and also had a doctor appointment.  How nice was it that the trip home was only 30 minutes!  the kids were in bed by 10 and slept in till 8:30!  What a great mini-vacation we had!  Hope to do it again soon; maybe before y’all leave for Africa?

A Summer Saturday

As the summer slips by and the days before the Matheny's leave for Africa grow short, we are spending as much time with them as possible!  They joined us for a sausage sizzle on Saturday morning, and we all had a blast!
There were water balloons, which never last as long as it took to fill them.



And food.

A repeat of the birthday shaving cream slide since it went way too fast the first time.


The only thing Daniel cared about was the zip line, which he almost has mastered all by himself!

She was happy with just a bucket.

And we ended with a rinse in the sprinkler/trampoline!

What a busy, fun morning!  We love you, Mathenys!

Dress Like A Cow 2013

One of our favorite summer traditions is Cow Appreciation Day at Chick Fil A.  We have mastered the art of the trashbag costume over the years!
This year, the kids and I took advantage of the free food twice.  We headed to the CFA by Troy’s office for lunch with the Torres fam.  Oh my gosh, it was wild in that place!  There were no pictures because we were just trying to get out alive as a busload of kids pulled in behind us.  Luckily, Troy and his guys arrived at the same time we did, so we had a few extra helping hands.
For dinner, we headed to our closer CFA with the Matheny family, who are always up for whatever craziness we invite them to!
These are the kids who liked the big cow:

All the kids minus Daniel.  He was ready for his chicken and to be out of that trash bag!

Gibbins family photo.  Lachlan was in a really good mood.

Reef and Troy

She loved that hat, hated the rest.

Reading Camp

The boys spent the first week of July at Reading Camp at a local church.  They had a blast!  Lachlan was especially excited to go because they let him at the last minute.  He was lucky enough to have his preschool teacher Ms. Berta, plus Liam was in his class.  Jonas was in a group with Titus and Reef had Emily, so it was a win for everyone!
The theme was space, and these guys learned a TON.  They did crafts, read books, brought books home, ate snacks, and sang songs.  It was a great experience that we’re definitely looking forward to next summer!
Here they are in their shirts; I had to post 2 pictures because one child looks weird in each.


And just because she hates to be left out:

Tooth Fairy, pt. 1

After much anticipation, the first tooth was finally lost at the Gibbins house!  Jonas had a loose tooth for awhile, but the dentist pointed out a slightly loose tooth in Reef’s mouth in June.  The race was on!
Reef wiggled that tooth like crazy and was the first one to lose his tooth!  He was so excited!  Jonas was devastated; there were real tears.


We put the tooth in a special envelope that hangs on the doorknob, just to be sure the Tooth Fairy could find the tooth without waking anyone up.  Reef was excited to find $2 and a receipt for his tooth the next day, but he is wondering why he didn’t get as much money as Ethan.  Thanks a lot, Zimmers!

4th of July!

For the 4th of July this year, we headed to the zoo!  As members we get to go in early and since Troy was off, we decided to try it.  As a surprise, the Zimmers were able to join us, which made it that much more fun!
We always have to take a pic with the lions.  I’m not sure where Poppy was…

Checking out the sun bear.  We love this bear because it’s always up and moving.

Thelma and Louise, the brand new 2-headed turtle!

Troy always lets the boys feed the lorikeets.  They love and so do the birds!

This was serious business and her first time to try it.

These guys loved it until that bird stole the entire cup of nectar and flew away.

We couldn’t visit the zoo and skip Poppy’s beloved goats.  Mr. Jerry should be so proud!

The best we could do of the whole crew.  Apparently red was the color for the day.

Good friends on the elephant statue.

BFF’s!

We ended the morning with a dip in the wading area, a first for the Zimmer kids!  It had been while since we’d been there too, and the water was definitely more shallow now that my kids are bigger!  Not sure we need to do that again… It was a fun trip, and we got out of there just before the crowds got crazy.