Lunchy

The past few years, we've just bought the kids a regular old padded lunch box for them to take their lunches in.  They usually, within a few months, start having the lining rip out of them and barely make it to the end of the year.  Plus, they never seem big enough for their water bottle and their food.  So this year I decided to up the ante and go LLBean on them.  We're an LLBean backpack family (why mess with something that works?) and I was jazzed by the options on their website.  I really liked the flip top variety because of all the extra space so I asked the kids to make their picks.  Caroline chose this one:

I was kind of surprised because there were some flashier, more fashionista type patterns that I would have pegged her for, but she liked the little deer all over it.  Who knew?  And Bryce, well, he went with good old fashioned red.   It was funny though when I asked him to pick one, he was disappointed not to have any super hero options.  His back pack is lime green (by choice from last year).  

When they arrived last week, I was so happy - the lining in them is very thick and should hold up well.  And like all LLBean stuff, if they crap out at any point, LLBean will replace them (within reason, of course).  I kind of wish they let you personalize these like they do so many of their other bags but they didn't - probably because of the insulation.  

As for Caroline, she picked out a ice-blue standard sized kid backpack because the one she's had since kindergarten was getting to small to hold all her big 2nd grade books.  The LLBean junior backpack she had is still in great shape and would be great for Piper in 2 years except it has C's initials on it.  I wonder if there's any way to remove them?  I didn't order monogramming on C's new backpack already planning ahead but I hope she gets a lot more years out of this one before moving up to a deluxe size.