Back to School Dates: part 1

We used to go to a hotel and have a girls' back to school weekend. We would shop and eat out. Eventually, it turned into just shopping as it seemed weird to spend the money on a hotel that was just minutes from home. When we started homeschooling, it morphed into just going school supply shopping, getting a meal out, and buying an outfit. 

This year, I decided I needed to make it more of a big tradition again. 

I told the girls that I was going to take each of them out on a date by themselves. Abi would have Thursday; Madi would have Friday. 

We would go shopping for clothes, supplies, eat at least one meal out, and do a couple of fun activities. 

It was good that Abi and I weren't planning to leave until after lunch, because Madi ended up having some health issues in the weeks leading up to the dates. 

I took her to a local pediatrician and she sent us to get blood work. It was her first time doing this. She was so brave. 

After getting home from the appointments with Madi we had lunch, and then Abi and I set out for our day together. 

Our first stop was Great Clips where we got her hair cut. I've been cutting it for three years now, and I felt like it was time we had somebody else do it. 

After that we visited an eyeglass store to fix her glasses, Five Below, and Old Navy. 

Then we went to the mall. 

We visited a lot of stores there, but the favorite one was Build A Bear because they had a Pokemon plush she wanted. Madi also had a plush in mind, so we were able to purchase both for the sale price and then leave Madi's there for us to pick up and fill the next day. 

We spent quite a lot of time exploring the mall and shopping, and then we left to go to a local escape room. It is one that lets you do the room with just two people. We have only been here once before, and we barely escaped. This time we were back to try a different room. 

Abi is way better at this than I am (and I think I'm pretty good at figuring out puzzles), but this was a hard one. It had a LOT of steps. Unfortunately we didn't escape this time. 

After we left there, we went to the Purple Turtle so Abi could try a strawberry milkshake. Then we visited Barnes and Noble and a few other stores. We had a very late dinner at Taco Bell after trying to go to Kneaders and finding out they were out of what we wanted. 

Abi didn't need many clothes, but we got her some really cute things, and I would pick up some more later. I had a great time spending the day with Abi.