Back To School Shopping

A few days before school started I took Timo and Cameron out shopping for lunch boxes and backpacks, new shoes and back to school hair cuts. It was one of those days where in my mind it all sounded so hectic in my head, I was dreading it, but in the end, it was one of the most fun and memorable days I've had with the my children.

First we went for hair cuts. The kids actually look forward to this because they sit in cars while their hair is being cut, get to play with tons of toys while they wait and a lollipop at the end...who wouldn't love that? And our hair dresser is the only one Cameron will let put a bow in her hair!
This was the first time they used the buzz clippers on Timo's hair...he was captivated. She cut Timo's hair a little too short for me, somewhat like a buzz cut, but hey, at least hair grows back!

We then headed to CitiKids to pick up some lunchboxes and backpacks...Cameron wanted this very specific fox lunchbox/backpack that she had seen before and Timo pick out a rocket/astronaut lunchbox with a monkey backpack. I don't have any pictures of this phase of our day...as you can imagine, having two kids in a "toy & kid's gear" store wasn't the most relaxing. Timo and Cameron were all over the place, into everything (hence, why we don't take them to toy stores). After Timo laboring over which lunchbox and backpack he wanted for at least 20min, we finally had our purchases and were out the door.

Just across the street from CitiKids is Giorgios Pizza...lunch! I love Giorgios. It's the total classic pizzeria with white/red check table clothes, drinks in red cups, plastic grapes hanging from the ceiling and totally family friendly! They even give the kids pizza dough to play with while you wait for your pizza. Genius!
And then of course, pizza! We always get the same, cheese and salami pizza...and a little extra cheese before we eat it, yum!
Our next stop was Payless Shoes for some new sneakers. Again, no pics here either for the same reasons...Timo and Cameron were all over the store picking out shoes. This was the first time I've taken them to a shoe store to pick out shoes they wanted. I only did this because I wanted to officially measure their feet to make sure I was getting the right size. Timo did really well, he went straight to these Lightning McQueen blinking shoes and that was it. Cameron on the other hand, took a painfully long time to pick out her shoes. She kept picking out crocs, winter boots, rain boots, flip flops, ballet shoes...everything but a pair of sneakers. At last, Timo found her a pair of pink shinny blinking shoes and she was sold! Whew, finally! I used my 20% coupon and we were done!

After an hour of shoe shopping, we all needed a snack! Ice cream for the kids and a nice cup of hot tea for me...ahhhh.
Our little dessert place had this big mechanical horse...as a child I loved these, as a parent, I loath these little machines. I know stores us these rides and other candy/gumball/toy machines to make money but ugh! It really irritates me to take my children out on a fun day and then have a total melt down because I won't give them money to put in the various machines. We really try not to make it a habit of every time they see a vending machine, they get money. So these stores can really ruin a great time out. But nonetheless, I'll step off my soapbox...I did give in this one time and let them take a horse ride. They both had been really good all day and I made sure they knew it was a special treat! It was an exciting end to a great day!