I had a few odds and ends to buy this year, especially once the lists came home from school, but we were in remarkably good shape. I decided to conquer it all in one big footwear day.  So, I took the boys to the shoe store first to be measured for sneakers. I knew the older three needed new ones as theirs were worn out from the summer.  But, I was surprised how much their feet had/hadn’t grown.  And, the little guy had outgrown his.

To not cause too much trouble, I got the little guy the same sneakers, just a bigger size.  My oldest tried on a very large number of shoes before settling on something that both felt good and looked acceptable.  And, we upgraded the twins from Velcro to laces.  This means more work for me in the short term, but maybe I’ll send them to lace tying class this winter (yes, Nordstrom really does offer this for free, no purchase required).  My 3y was very unhappy to not have to replace his shoes.  But, they were only a month old since he’d outgrown his at the beginning of the summer so I had been fairly sure he wouldn’t need new ones.  He got by with an extra lollipop and it was off to the sports store for cleats.

My 3y was again upset to not be buying anything, but he’s not in soccer yet.  They had a new set of offerings (ie, colors) for kids cleats which was received with mixed reviews.  I’ve found that it helps me to get actual colors for the boys’ footwear.  Its much easier to pair them at home, and it helps folks we interact with know who is who.  So, three sets of cleats made for a lot of new shoes in one day.

Since my guys wear the same shoes every day I don’t pass them down, they just get outgrown/worn.  I do pass on boots and water shoes that get less wear.  I haven’t decided what to do with cleats yet since they’re not used much, but are used very hard.  Thus far it hasn’t been an issue because the twins haven’t reached the smallest cleat size I bought for my oldest.