Thank you to Gymboree for providing a gift card for me to shop and share my experience with my readers and for providing an additional gift card for our contest prize. All opinions expressed are my own.
Spring has only just begun to show itself here in Massachusetts. Our children are extremely excited about being able to wear short-sleeve tees (without a jacket), short pants, capris, skorts, and dresses. They really could not wait to celebrate the warmer weather with new outfits from Gymboree, especially since I told them they could each choose their own outfits themselves.
Our 6 year old son loves wearing graphic tees and only ever objects to one thing . . . jeans. He was the easiest to dress. Once I showed him this cool looking Motorcycle Ringer Tee from the Summer Wheels Collection, he gave his full approval right away. I then showed him how the ringer tee looked with the coordinating Dusty Blue Plaid Cargo Short. Done! He was off to sit in the children's waiting area in front of the TV, while I moved onto his slightly more difficult siblings.
I have to say that I love these Dusty Blue pieces accented with brown. It's like a "big kid" version of the boutique baby blue and brown color combination. Plus, I knew this outfit would look very smart with the brown canvas slip-on shoes he already owned. A cool shirt and comfortable shorts was all that was needed to make this little guy happy.
Our 6 year old daughter takes after me . . . she just loves to shop! I knew she would find lots of pieces that she liked and there would be some indecisiveness. Overall, she seemed to be drawn to the corals and oranges, so that helped us narrow our search down to within the Surf Adventure Collection. She really fell in love with the Embroidered Flower Chambray Capri Jeans. I had to admit they were just adorable with the embroidered flowers down one leg and a little grosgrain bow at the waist. I almost had to disappoint her because, when I held the capris up to her in her regular size, they looked huge at the waist. Luckily for us, like many of Gymboree's pants, these came in "slim" and "plus size". So we grabbed a pair in Size 6 Slim and began our search for a top.
Our daughter ended up choosing the Button Corsage Flower Ruffle Tank, which I was thrilled about because it was girly, but not too frilly. She had also been eyeing the Sparkle Bead Ribbon Necklace and matching Sparkle Bead Bracelet. I really did not feel that the outfit needed a necklace, but we did buy the bracelet plus the Ribbon Corsage Pony Holder. This outfit fit our daughter's personality very well. She wants to dress like a "big girl", but still likes to look girly and sweet.
While shopping with our 9 year old son, I learned something about him that I did not know . . . he is not crazy about plaid. I found this out when I suggested several pairs of the plaid and madras shorts to him. He insisted that he wanted a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. So I found a pair of Dark Wash Classic Jeans in Slim Fit for him. He is currently in between sizes, so the jeans were a bit loose-fitting and longer than he is used to, but they still worked. Besides, if he continues to grow at the same pace, we will be lucky if these jeans still fit him when fall arrives.
Jeans go with almost anything, so we began to look for a top our son would like. He wanted no part of the polos or the button down wovens, but he did really like the sport-themed ringer tees. He ended up choosing Soccer Player Tee from the Gone Surfin' Collection. He also started eyeing the boys' sunglasses, but, when I looked at them, I noticed that the largest size offered is 4 and Up. We lucked out though! These Swim Sunglasses have straight and flexible sides, so our son found them to be very comfortable.
All 3 of our children and I were thrilled with the items we chose. One thing I love about Gymboree clothing is that they last forever. We washed all these pieces before we put them on our children. There were no signs of shrinking, pilling, or fading. From my past experience, Gymboree clothing will still look new (if my children manage not to stain them) by the time they have been outgrown by my children. Our younger son always inherits his big brother's clothes and it's a good feeling to know that his Gymboree clothes do not look like hand-me-downs at all. They are always the pieces I feel very comfortable handing down to the younger children in my circle of family and friends. I am always so happy when there is a sale going on at Gymboree because I know I am getting top quality clothing at a great price.
To view all the Gymboree collections for Spring and Summer 2013, visit www.Gymboree.com. Be sure to enroll in Gymboree Rewards, if you haven't already. Also, if you shop right now, you can earn $25 in Gymbucks for every $50 you spend in-store or online, where you can get Free Standard Shipping on orders over $75. As always, if you shop, be sure to come back and tell me what you bought!
Good luck in the drawing!
