Summer Camp 2025

 Our whole kid crew returned to Camp OTX again this year making it year 5 for Gretchen, 3 for Alex and the second year for Graham. Texas is gigantic, and the camp is pretty far away, so we take advantage of the coach bus option on the way to camp, and make the drive to pick them up at the end. There is now a little crew of kids that know each other and ride the bus together, making it a fun way to get the camp session started. 

This camp has just about everything you can imagine for kids to do. Our boys gravitate toward water activities and sports. Gretchen prefers the indoor options like crafting, pottery, painting, and cooking.   

Camp has been an overwhelmingly positive experience for all three kids. We love the closing ceremony where we get to see them for the first time in 2 weeks and meet the friends they have made and the counselors that they've spent all their time with while they were away from us. It's a day filled with emotions, happiness for us to see each other again, but also difficult for the kids to say farewell to the kids that they will likely not see again until next summer. 

NYC Family Time

Spring Break 2025. The time that the Gills went to New York City as a family. Jon and I love to visit cities to walk the streets and learn the rhythm of that place. This was the first time that we ventured to take this kind of trip with all three children. The weather was beautiful, chilly during the day and unseasonably cold at night. We thought we were prepared until we realized that our coldest child decided not to bring a coat (what?!) so the first order of business was to find a winter coat hidden among the spring and summer collections in the retail stores of the city. The story ends well, we found a super cheap super warm coat that leaves Alex room to grow and a way to stay happy during this chilly trip. By the end of the long weekend, he was so sick of hearing "Do you have your coat??" that I'm certain he will never forget a coat again. 

Thank goodness Macy's came through with the last coat of the season, as a big part of our trip was seeing the musical Six on Broadway. We went to the theater just as the theater doors were due to open, but still waited outside in a windy 27 degree night for nearly a half hour. We were outside shivering and taking turns using the exhaust of the pizzeria next door to help stay warm until we were finally allowed inside. The show was incredible; fun, beautiful, upbeat and short - the last being the most helpful in keeping our youngest entertained after a full day of walking AND a show that started at 8pm. 

The Black Tap

As you would expect in NYC, we found great food around every corner and every palette was appeased. The day we landed our first stop was The Black Tap, a burger joint known for the borderline absurd milkshakes they serve. Some with entire slices of multilayer cake sitting on top of the glass, brownie slices stuck through by straws, sprinkles, syrups, fruit and booze all layered into different options. 

We had a pretty rocky landing into JFK and an additional rocky stomach moment in the car arriving at our hotel, so we opted to skip the milkshakes and go straight for a tummy-filling meal of hamburgers and fries. Back to the hotel, rest up for a full day of touristing bright and early the next morning. 

We stayed in Midtown Manhattan and wanted to show the kids many of the traditional NYC attractions; Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island and the city skyline. To save the long walks to and from the hotel, we were able to show them another NYC staple - the Subway! Easy, cheap, efficient, it was fun to take our suburban kids on public transportation for the first time in recent history. 

Me and my chilly littles, keeping warm

We booked a boat tour through Circle Line Sightseeing Cruise which allowed us to cruise around to see Lady Liberty and Ellis Island but not stop anywhere - which was the perfect mix for our crew. There was also an indoor area on the boat, which was highly appreciated by our warm blooded Texans. 

We spent a moment outside to take a picture with our nation's welcoming committee

As an extra bonus, our best friends took the train from Jersey and joined us for an overnight hangout in the city.

The adults left the teens in charge for a night out at The Rag Trader. It was loads of fun, even if the live guitarist was not interested in letting me sing with the band.

Lots of silliness at the Museum of Illusions. It was a bit crowded, and a bit small, but with just enough space to take some fun photos. 

The crowing jewel for the kids was the shopping. M&M store, Nintendo store and all kinds of anime/tourist/junk shops for them to peruse and poke around while finding treasures. 

All 5 of us have different favorite moments coming off of this long weekend. We walked and toured and admired many of the great (and some not so great) parts of the city. It was a perfect amount of time to see the sights, watch a show with time to spare for shopping and fun with friends. I foresee more city visits in our future. 

A Star is Born!

This year's junior high school musical was Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Jr. and we were thrilled to have Gretchen cast as - none other than - Willy Wonka herself! 

She played this role like she had been born to do it. We've seen her perform in previous years' shows,  talent shows, and even just singing in the car, but she owned this role effortlessly and made my musical heart surge. 

 

The whole program was incredible, making it hard to remember that these kids are all in middle school. We are so thankful to the school, to their inspirational teacher/director Ms. Wiser and to the brave kids who exhibit their talent during the most vulnerable years of growing up. BRAVO!!

Dia de Gracias - Giorgianis en Mexico

Contrary to our previous Thanksgiving trips - Akumal Beach, just south of Cancun, proved to be just as warm and inviting as we hoped. No jackets on this trip! Just beautiful sunshine, water, sand and family. It was fantastic.  

The house we stayed at was unreal; 7 bedrooms, 7 bathrooms, 2 pools, a hot tub and touched the beach. We could sit on the porch and know that we were only steps away from the pool, the kitchen and the ocean. 

That's before you factor in that there was a staff on site that would shop, cook, serve and clean. They kept us full of margaritas and free of sand the whole week long. 

As cousins often do, they fell in immediately to playing together and pairing off when their interests differed. Peityn and Gretchen are happily chatting in the pool while the three little gingers play with water and buckets on the side. A little something for everyone.

When we travel together, we have a big crew, so it was ideal to have space to spread out, enjoy a quiet book on a covered rooftop, there was a space to exercise including rustic dumbbells made from tree trunks and hammocks to lay in while listening to the ocean and watching the tiny sand crabs dig. There was also a bar a few houses down on the beach - really an ideal spot. 

Mom and Dad celebrated 46 years of marriage while we were there. A little bonus celebration beyond the holiday. 

We're all so thankful for another healthy year for Mom. She has to work hard at it, but she is staying cancer-free!

We discovered cenotes! None of us knew what they were, but they are basically sinkholes that expose the water beneath. Watering holes of all different shapes and sizes - and temperatures! The kids were brave, one of the moms was braver (she is pictured here, and it's not me). 

Giliani Album Cover

It was slippery. There were bats. The water was cold. 

The kids all snorkeled, and jumped off of rocks and enjoyed searching for hanging pods of bats. And we all laughed at this poor woman who was there with another family who kept mistaking us for her group as she tried to get in on our family photos.

On our last full day in Mexico, we were down one family. We decided to try out the Akumal Animal Sanctuary and it didn't disappoint. This was no ordinary animal tourism stop, every animal in the sanctuary was recovered from some kind of terrible living condition. These animals have been found in luggage, recovered by border agents and removed from horrific conditions to be given proper food and medical care best rehabilitate them from trauma. 

We had perfect weather, even when we could see rain spouts way out in the ocean. A great place to vacation, highly recommend. 

Camp Fimfo!

Way back in March, our friends told us about this amazing property way out in New Braunfels that offered the experience of camping, with a little bit of the comfort of home. You can come out and stay in nature, but you don't need to pack the kitchen sink to be comfortable. You can bring your own RV, pack it all and come tent camping, or stay in a cabin - which is what we did. We booked adjacent cabins with 2 other families and Labor Day weekend was planned!

Camp Fimfo is an awesome place with a strange name, and it made us all happy for the weekend. 

This is about a 3.5 hour drive from where we live so we left Friday afternoon, hit a whole bunch of long weekend traffic, and arrived around sunset. Quick dinner, unload and then off  exploring.

There is a concert venue right next door, so we took in about an hour's worth of a free show, then stopped at the jumping pillow and returned to our cabin for the night. 

The next day started with fishing for the boys (and one very patient adult) and jogging for the adults. It is in hill country, and the hills felt like mountains, but it was beautiful outside with less humidity and nice to get out in the fresh air. 

The property is gigantic, and those who knew what they were doing rented golf carts to get around. All 400 golf carts were rented when we arrived, so it became obvious that we were there with a crowd. It became even more obvious when we got to the pool and waterpark, the place was PACKED. 

There were so many things to do, but the crowning jewel was the alpine coaster. We had these cute little cars with a hand brake that we had complete control of, you had to push down to keep moving, if you let go your car stopped. It was a blast! Despite nerves (mostly from my & Graham's car), we immediately wanted to ride again. This was super fun, and came with a great view, but a little too pricy to go more than once in a weekend. 

Graham and I got to be riding buddies; riders under 9 go with a friend.

Our final day activity was a float on the Guadalupe River. We started out all smiles and sunscreen and ended with some valuable lessons learned. Tying tubes together is a good thought, but bad idea. A low water level is more dangerous than it is high. The ages of the kids we went with is the youngest I would ever take. Black inner tubes get super hot in the sun. Only bring a hat that you're willing to lose. 

Otherwise, our weekend was filled with being outside, fun group dinners made in our little cabin kitchens, hanging out late enough that sleeping 5 to a cabin was a breeze and general silliness. S'mores are possible thanks to smart engineer dads that use the oven, even during a burn ban. 

Camp Fimfo was a blast. Worth the drive and the wait and even better with friends. We would recommend and return, but skip the tubing.