Have girls, will shop

I decided that today was the perfect day to get some fall shopping done. After all, the highs for the next couple of days are in the 70s. Break out the longjohns!

So we loaded up the car around lunchtime and headed out to the local outlet mall. We walked into Payless and immediately walked back out again because L had to go potty. This would be a recurring theme to our day. I told the girls they could pick out 2 long-sleeved shirts, 2 pants, and 1 pair of shoes and they were very good about not asking for more. I did let them each get a pair of shorts and a shirt "for next year" from the $1.99 clearance section at The Children's Place Outlet because, hello?!, $1.99 for good stuff! We made it all the way around the vast acreage of the mall and the girls discovered that there's a movie theater! In the mall! And an amusement park! IN THE MALL!! K has decided that she wants to spend her birthday there.

We discovered that Payless has upped the level of shoes they carry and, consequently, has upped the price. L picked out a little pair of black shoes, but I wasn't paying $20 for church shoes she'll outgrow before you turn around. We finally made it out of the mall after visiting 7 stores and 3 bathrooms and turned our car toward Target for some reasonably priced shoes. As soon as we got on the road, L collapsed into sleep and stayed in an impossibly uncomfortable position dead to the world until we stopped again. We did find some shoes for both the girls (after another potty break) for far less than Payless wanted and all was right in their little worlds.

During one of the girls' many speeches today about how wonderful a mom I am and how grateful they are for the new clothes (yes, they did really do this), a woman stopped and smiled, commenting on how that was just the sweetest thing she'd ever heard and how wonderful my girls are. Yes they are, even though the *one* store I stopped in to look at clothes for mommy caused one little girl to grumble with impatience until I threatened to take back one item of her clothes for every complaint she made about having to spend a few minutes in my favorite store. My incentive plan worked and she even apologized later. They really are very good kids and we spent a wonderful day together.

Tomorrow, I take down the tubs of out-of-season/hand-me-down clothes to pull out the stuff for the upcoming cooler weather and put away the shorts and tanktops until next spring. That means that we'll pull out all the stops and put on a fashion show to see what fits and what goes to the consignment store. And I promise to post pictures.