April-Ganza

April always is a whirlwind for us, with the fact that both boys have their birthdays in the month - this month was no different.  We've had a blast - and it is always fun to look back at the year and how the boys have changed!  It has been a busy month, and thus our posts have been spotty at best, so this will be a monster catch-up!

We had the fun of going to several plays this month - first off with Curious George - really only loved by Addison but the rest of the family loves her......so we go too! :)  The monkey actor was so hot he was drenched in sweat by the end....with all of the adults feeling bad for him!

This was the first time that Addison has ever been brave enough to go up and take a picture with them!

We started the birthday celebrations with Zachary of course, and we went out to Kobe with the Bergherms to have some fun.  it has been a while since we went as Addison was a bit scared last time but she did really well and had fun watching them cook!

Cake #1 - so much light from those candles, stop the madness!!!

Amy always takes the Friday off for their birthday to do something special, so Zachary decided to go bowling this year!

Before a blink of an eye, Kaleb's birthday is here and Amy was able to take cookies into his classroom (she had meetings all day for Zachary's, so Karis took in his cupcakes but Karis was getting the flu and wanted to get in and out of the room, so didn't take pictures.....:(

Ms. McRee - we love her!

Sweet boy shared with Zachary!

Hard to believe he is 9 years old!

We had our family birthday celebration as well, with Grandma making an America Ninja Warrior course birthday cake - very cool!  We are blessed to have a Grandma with these cake decorating skills!   The boys birthday party with friends came later, so we'll post about that next week as this one will be long enough! :)

Afterwards, we played the name game Family Feud that the kids got - it was so so fun!

The giggles from watching their face turned askew through a phone app!

We then flew into another favorite activity for our family - the Adventurer camp-out!  It was 45 degrees overnight, so Amy was able to coax Karis into getting a chalet for us as we only stayed one night - but we were so thankful as it was 43 degrees that next morning, so who knew how cold it got that night!  Karis had a nasty bout of the flu and was on his death bed, so that was nice to have a mattress and a place to go and lay down that was at least out of the cold.  We were thankful!

Zachary playing baseball by the ballfield lights....play until he drops into bed to sleep!

Crafts the next day!

Love this girl!

Addison playing Red Light, Green Light

And then pretending to be on an airplane with the tickets and stewardess!

the Z family helped serve Sabbath lunch

These two are some of our favorite people in Orlando!

The poor man barely was seen all weekend, this was a brief sighting right after lunch before he went off to lay down again....

 We ended up going home on Satruday night as Zachary had a birthday party for Luke D, and then Addison had soccer practice the next morning.  Kaleb really wanted to stay longer, so he stayed overnight with Kent and Kelli in their RV and drove home with them the next day.  he had a blast, and they tell us he was a model child - whew!  He and Erik have developed a sweet friendship, so it was a fun time!

Travelling home the next day!

We had Jeff and Niesha over to share their pictures of Bora Bora - AMAZING. The kids managed to finagle some hockey time with Jeff in as well - although never long enough!  Addison wasn't going to be left out of the fun with Zachary, so she was in there as well (with her mother hoping that she didn't get an accidental stick in the face!)

Even Addison was in on the fun here!

In incredibly sad news, we had a friend pass away two weeks ago from an unexpected, sudden cardiac event.  Rob was only 47 years old, and was out running with three of his daughters when it occurred.  He was an inspiring person who always had a warm smile on his face, always put his family first, and was caring to those around him.  While only God knows the heart, Rob was the kind of person who you could see the goodness of Christ through.  He will be incredibly missed, and our prayers and tears were nonstop for days, and will continue for his wife and four daughters that are left behind.  His legacy will live on, and we should all be inspired to live in such a way that when it is our time, that we can leave that kind of legacy as well.  We are thankful though that we have the hope of seeing Rob again some day, come Jesus soon!!!

Probably well over 1000 people came to pay their respects.

Random Pictures:

The gymnastics crew - Devin, Elin and Addison

Umm, that spider is as big as a hand!  What is up with that!?

Zachary at Luke's birthday party - so special to see these boys growing up together!

Wiped out, Zachary slept on the floor for 3 hours - unheard of!!!

Kaleb was the goalie in his soccer league for this game - he loves to be defense and sometimes goalie!

18 years of marriage - we went out to enjoy a dinner out!

An annual tradition - Amy and Stephanie walk the Corporate 5K together - it is a great opportunity to catch up with a dear friend!

Future Zbaraschuk Doctors!

The kids had a super fun field trip - to a surgery center!  It was so cute, they got to practice CPR, pretend to be a patient, gown up and go into surgery - and actually pretend to do a surgery! The kids had a blast, and Kaleb has always said that he'd like to be a doctor so this may be a foretaste of his future (unless he changes his mind five times between now and when he is an adult - like his Mom did! :)

And here she goes!

Zachary is deep into his surgery!

She is ready to go - are you ready to be her patient?

Afterwards the group headed over to the Science Center for another exhibit - what a fund day!

Amy went to a consignment sale a few weeks ago, and found a lot of books for a decent price, so she brought home an armload.  Kaleb hasn't found the "love" of reading (likely his eyes did have a part to play in that), but Amy found a Geronimo Stilton book that had color pictures and words that were different fonts/colors that was visually interesting.  She bought it, and when she got home Kaleb did pick it up and start to read!  Maybe this series will be the one! :)

Enjoying his new book

Zachary read through 2-3 of the new books within a day and a half - it is a good thing for the library, otherwise we'd be broke!!

The next evening, we had a super fun experience when we went out to Blue Springs and did the Firefly walk!  Amy hasn't seen them in years, so it was fun to show the kids.  They are only there a few weeks in the spring - thanks Heather for the invite! :) We weren't allowed to catch them, but it was fun for all of us to see them up close and personal anyway. No pictures of them, as it is hard to get a shot at night!

Random Pictures:

Doing the alligator "chomp" at soccer!  These two are hilarious - they talk the whole time so much that they forget to listen to the coach so Amy has to stand behind them to be sure that they keep on task!

The two ladies at the consignment sale shopping together!

Phrase of the week:

Kelli texted Amy recently to say "Well, Erik (her 5 year old) has reached a momentous decision.  He and Addi are going to get married and buy a house!  He said he's been thinking about it since Addison said that she was going to marry him, and Erik told Kelli "she gave me a few weeks to think about it!"  When Kelli asked where they would buy a house, he said that Addi wanted an RV (Erik's family owns an RV) but that they would live in S. Carolina!"  Ha ha - so funny!  Poor guy, being pursued by the ladies already!

Packing it In

The Zs really had a busy, packed week but it was sure fun along the way!  Maybe this is why we always feel the need to clone ourselves....simply not enough time in the day to get everything done!

Soccer season is upon us, and the boys are having a blast at the FLEC community league, and Addison has started her very own league with Just for Kicks.  At four, it is really just exposing her to the notion of the game and how it works - it sure makes a parent chuckle to see the difference between the little tikes who are more interested in chatting with friends and kicking the dirt to the big brothers who are all business out there (after many years of playing, so let's be clear, she is exactly where they started at four as well!!).  She is quite excited simply to climb the tree in the playground afterwards!

Kicking it!

Cleats and all....

Kaleb is on the blue team this year

 While at the FLEC soccer games, Addison enjoys playing in the dirt - becoming FILTHY and then of course having a sweet treat afterwards!

 Speaking of sweet treats, the kids enjoyed going to Chick-fil-A to celebration Violet's 6th birthday - Happy birthday!

 We had the pleasure last Friday of visiting with out-of-town friends - the McFaddens, all the way from Michigan!  We headed down to Chuy's in Kissimmee, and afterwards Kaleb scored when he got a balloon creation from the "artist" there - and truly he was an artist - never before have we ever seen any balloon creations like this!

 The next day, we joined Biris and Bergherms when we went down to the Common Grounds playground in Lakeland.  It was a bit far, but it was an amazing playground for sure!  It was huge, with all kinds of different apparatus, complete with a "fake" hill that they could roll down.

This is a sign of a kid who loves to read...outside with friends and he takes a moment to sit down and read!

The parents hanging out in the cool shade!

Our group, along with a kid that decided to play with them.

On Sunday afternoon, we joined Ty and Dylan at the rock climbing gym.  The boys really are progressing with their climbing skills, how fun!

Free bouldering

 And because we never can bear to miss out on the fun, after rock climbing we received an invitation to go bowling with our dear friends the Cochrans, so off we went!  Zachary did not do so well......hence the laying on the floor in despair.  Thankfully he kept it together and managed to finish the game in a good sport manner, but he apparently needed to take a moment to bemoan his score!

Phrase of the week:  While baking sugar cookies with Grandma one day, Grandma told Addison that she loves mint.  Addison responded "Well, I don't love mint because God didn't make me to love mint!"

In another conversation, Addison said "When you want to wash your hands and you don't want to get your sleeves wet, you have to push up your sleeves so you can see your fur!"  Ha ha, I guess we have been reading Berenstain Bears too much if she thinks that she has fur!