Here is the story: the kids won the two fish at a mini carnival and we
brought them home in ziplock bags.

Usually the fish used for these purposes have been housed and cared
for extremely poorly, and are loaded with parasites and pathogens to
begin with. It can be a losing battle to keep them alive.

one day I decided they needed something bigger so we bought the 2.5-gallon
"mini-bow" from Petco,

Good impulse. Thank you.
Goldfish need lots of room, at least 10 gals./fish. Here is some
pertinent reading:

http://faq.thekrib.com/

some Zyme stuff, too, put I didn't put it in yet. There were no real
instructions and I thought that stuff was for use later.

Your little tank is not yet "cycled". You can read about that in the
link above, but for now you have to do frequent temperature-matched
water changes and treat your tap water before putting it in the tank.

My 9-year old daughter said her friend said if one fish is ill you need to
remove it so she put it in a small 1-quart bowl with tap water.

Good thought, but 1 quart is so small that it will be toxic very soon,
and if you didn't treat the tap water first, it most likely already
was.

The white GF has been swimming around like crazy tonight, as if it really
wants out. I wonder if there is a problem with our water or ????

It could be a problem with the water, but sometimes it makes them very
nervous to be alone, especially if they've always lived in a huge
crowd, like these fish usually have.

Thanks for taking the time to post here, and for trying to find out
how to care for your fish. In that 2.5 gal. tank you'd be better off
with one or two very small tropicals, or a betta would do well in
there. But good luck with your golds-- they are really fun pets in
the right conditions.