Back to school traditions

As a child, the back-to-school tradition that I loved most was "girls day out".  My mom and I would go out to eat (my choice, naturally!) and then we would go shopping for back-to-school clothes and supplies.  It was always a great time of bonding (even in the teenage years) and I highly anticipated it each year.

Since I have two school age girls this year (whaaaat?!), I got the privilege of taking each one of them out for their own special day.  I had such a fun time individually with of them!

First up was the Noodle.  We dropped Mei Mei off at Lala's and then we got our shopping game on! We had our list ready and hit up Tar-jay.  Thankfully this year her list wasn't as long or extensive as in years past.  After everything was crossed off, we were exhausted!  A special treat was definitely called for and she chose fro-yo.

We chatted and laughed and she talked about how she was feeling starting 4th grade.  I know she loves 1:1 time so this really fit the bill.

A few days later it was Mei Mei's turn.  On that day, we had decided to join our friend for a shopping/lunch date down in AsiaTown before the two of us went off on our own.  As I've said before, both girls love spending time with L and her family.  They are always so gracious to us and have really helped J and I bring the girls' Chinese culture to life in a real and meaningful way (see here, here  , and here ).  Such a blessing from God to have this family as close friends!!

Those would be live eels in that cooler :/

With full, happy bellies Mei Mei and I said hello to Lala and goodbye to the Noodle and then it was our turn to shop. When you're 5, going to Target (again) perhaps isn't always quite as fun and exciting as it is when you're a bit older-haha, but she was a good sport.  She was VERY happy about getting the items off her list and wanted to make sure that she was the one putting the things into the cart--NOT me.

I was hoping to buy her a new outfit for the first day, just like Claire, but when you're being super particular about what you want (i.e. a dress with straps and a zipper down the back) sometimes things don't always pan out.  She didn't seemed fazed and instead was more interested in trying on the Elsa trucker hat with long rat-tail braid going down the back.  That did not make it into the cart, much to her disappointment.

We ended up at one of our local ice cream shops and goofed around a bit while we gobbled up the cold treat.

I'm so glad that I had a chance to take each one of them out for some special one-on-one time before the school year begins.  It was especially meaningful for me because I go back full time to teaching in just a few days.  Aaagh!  I have LOVED this time off, being at home, but I also knew that I would be going back to teaching, so all in all, I feel at peace about this new season of our lives beginning. We'll see what the fall brings!