Back to School Shopping

Even though I am not looking forward to my summer being over, I have to admit that I LOVE all that comes with going back to school (other than the actual going back to school part). I think it comes from when I was growing up. My mom used to always take me back to school clothes shopping! It was one of my favorite things to do. I also used to LOVE (and still do) buying school supplies. My favorite part was putting labels with my name on all my new notebooks and art supplies. I know. I am a nerd, but a very well prepared for back to school nerd.

We started our day getting the girls' hair cuts. We didn't get too much taken off the length, but they both needed a little trim to clean it up a bit. Here is a picture of them right after they got a trim:

After haircuts, we headed to the mall to let the serious shopping begin. Even though the girls are only 6 and 8, they LOVE Abercrombie Kids. I refuse to pay full price for anything in that store so we always head straight to the back where everything is on clearance. We came on a good day because we found summer shirts for $7 and even a couple of fall shirts for $12. Here is a picture of Ava standing in line ready to check out and one of her with her shopping bag:

Elia refused to get her picture taken at the mall in front of everyone. Even though she is almost 9, I guess she is "too cool" to have her mom take her picture!

Finding that perfect 1st day of school outfit can be rather tricky and almost impossible at my house. If it were up to me, I would have them wear smocked dresses and bows on the first day. (Ok, I know Elia may be a little big for that but I still love little girls in smocked dresses and bows. Too cute!)

I was a little concerned about how the day would turn out trying to find that perfect outfit. To my amazement and extreme surprise, a miracle took place at Wolfchase Mall today. Are you ready? Wait for it..........................................!

Elia picked out a skirt to wear on the first day of school!!!

The real kicker is that she is in love with it! I guess the fact that it came from Abercrombie made it "cool". Of course, I had to act like the skirt was just "ok" or Elia would have hated it if she knew I loved it.

Whew! One down, and one to go!

After we left Abercrombie, we headed to the shoe store where both girls picked out brand new shoes. Of course, I won't let them wear them until the 1st day! Once we left the shoe store, we went to Build A Bear where both girls got to pick out a Smurf to build. Elia picked Clumsy and Ava picked Smurfette. Thank goodness we are not too grown up for Build A Bear. (I was able to sneak a picture of Elia when she didn't know.)

After Build A Bear, we headed to Gap Kids which is always a good place to find a compromise on clothes between my girls and me. Ava ended up finding a tank top and a short sleeve cardigan sweater to wear with a skirt she already has at home. She made a great choice that we both liked.

Surprisingly, this shopping day turned out to be a success! You will have to wait for the first day of school post to see their new outfits. Tomorrow we head to Walmart to buy school supplies. Look out label maker, here I come!!!