Megan and I just finished up a weekend long shopping excursion. The main purpose was to stock up her fall clothing selection with appropriate kindergarten duds, but we threw in school supplies and a trip to Ikea as well. (Though not kindergarten related, Mom was sort of itching to make my annual Ikea pilgrimage, and this was the perfect excuse)
We kicked things off on Friday night with a girls' night out (compliments of Steak n' Shake) and school supply shopping at Target.
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| This was her first Steak n' Shake experience but she was definitely a fan, as shown here, fake smile and all |
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| Though not off to school (my heart palpitates at the thought), the little one scored a shake as well |
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| Armed with her custom kindergarten school supply picture list and ready to shop! |
On Saturday morning, Megan and I headed to Canton to hit Ikea and then spend the night at a hotel for some swimming and one-on-one time together.
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| Ready for her first lesson on Swedish culture! |
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| Though she immediately declared herself as "bored", the fact that there were toys throughout the store did not go unnoticed. |
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| Her overall impressions of Ikea are summed up pretty well in this photo. She was on her best behavior, but she didn't hold back her thoughts on the place. A few of those include: "This place is SO weird!", "can we ask them to turn that dumb music off?", and "do people pay money for this stuff?" Mommy is sad to report she doesn't seem to have a single drop of Swedish blood in her veins. :( This may be the first time she has ever disappointed me in her five years of life... |
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| Candy Land (our first game of many) at the hotel |
We got in a swim at the hotel before the storm clouds rolled in and then went to dinner at her "favorite restaurant on earth" - Chili's. Okay, that may be the second time she's disappointed me...The food is fine and all, but favorite restaurant on EARTH? Come on!
On Sunday we headed to the outlet mall in Howell. My intent: a mommy-daughter
compromise on fashion, where she picks out durable clothing that will make her feel like a princess but still hold up against any and all means of playground destruction. What happened: Dresses. Lots and lots of dresses. After spending the bulk of the weekend with this little girl I love, I knew going in to the shopping trip that I couldn't make good on my threat to make her wear jeans to kindergarten (gasp! the abuse!) - it's just not who she is, and aside from blatantly wrong opinions of the Swedes and chain restaurants, I happen to find who she is to be perfect. My girl loves dresses and shoes and accessories. She is most comfortable in dresses and tights, and if high heels were available in her size, she would be all over those as well. Our opinions on comfortable clothing (and Swedes and chain restaurants) could not be farther apart, but as her Mommy I have to respect her very strong preferences and individuality, even if it means the occasional hole in a pair of leggings. We also upgraded her footwear from Target (cute and cheap but lasts us less than a month on the playground) to Stride Rite - the girl didn't just win this one, she knocked it out of the park!
She did such a great job of picking out her favorites in each store we went to. I was so glad to have her with me - I normally default to the pink + dress = safe formula of success for her clothes-shopping, but she really has distinct preferences that I wouldn't have nailed all on my own - such as a preference for silver shiny embellishments compared to pink or purple shiny embellishments. I'm telling you - the girl is particular! We're definitely going to make this an annual thing. :)
A few pics from the experience:
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| She filled in her [future] school info on the board at Old Navy (just to the right of her head) |
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| She visits the Old Navy dog at each store location |
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| Smiling at the thought of bankrupting her parents while enjoying a ride on the ice cream truck |
And now she's ready for Kindergarten. Mom & Dad? Not so much!!
