We've Shopped Til We Dropped

I am not much of a shopper. I don't like to deal with crowds at the mall, and I don't tend to shop for recreation. Now, I love to buy clothes and shoes, but I tend to do it in big clumps of power shopping rather than as an ongoing activity. But, it's back-to-school time, and my girls convinced me they could not return to school without a few new things. Swim Chick actually needed the most since she insists on continuing to grow at an alarming rate now that puberty has set in full-force. She had passed down several shirts to Gym Girl (who, fortunately, is still pretty receptive to this), and had also outgrown most of her jeans. I am also fortunate that neither girl is tremendously hung-up about labels, and Swim Chick loves shopping at Plato's Closet, a resale shop geared for teens. We took in several of her nicer things last week after the mass cleanout and found a couple of pairs of jeans she liked there for about a $5 net cost.

But, yesterday, we spent the afternoon buying school supplies, first at Soccer Boy's school, where they sell pre-packaged sets for each grade and then at a local store where the girls got locker shelves and organizers, plus some really cool crayons that roll up. I also bought some new frames at Hobby Lobby to use in my new office. I've framed several of the photos Swim Chick took at Sea Camp this summer. We were planning on the mall trip occurring yesterday afternoon, but I managed to end up with a lap full of Diet Coke after Soccer Boy and Gym Girl decided to fight over the french fries at our late lunch stop. Natural consequence? We all went home. Adventure Guy and I had a wedding to attend last night, so there was no time for going back out to finish our shopping trip once I had to come home to shower and change.

So, on shopping trip take two, we managed to find several things the girls liked at our various stops today. I picked up some new shirts for Soccer Boy at The Children's Place, and, better yet for everyone involved, Soccer Boy did not have to go along with us because he was invited home with a friend after church. Once we picked him up, we had dinner and then went grocery shopping. Adventure Guy is at a national sales conference in Las Vegas for the week, so we planned some quick meals for the rest of us.

I can't believe that school starts Thursday. Summer has flown, but I'm excited about the upcoming year. We meet the younger kids' teachers on Tuesday, and they are looking forward to that. We already know a few kids in their classes, but it's always fun to see the whole class list. I'm just hoping that it will cool down a bit before then. It is hot, hot, hot right now after our record cool June and early July. I guess it's finally summer...just in time for the first day of school!

Here are some of my favorite photos from Swim Chick. I think she has a good eye.