I’ve been inspired by the images submitted in our Back to School Photo Contest and snapped one of our two oldest kids for our own family album this morning. We’ve been adjusting to new bedtimes and teachers and it feels great to be settling into our new full-day routine at a brand new school.

We had over a dozen submissions in this year’s contest and I had my kids draw the names of our winners out of a hat. Our contest prizes all come from Avalon Salon and Day Spa at Deer Park Town Center. I’ll be in touch with all winners today to share prize details and here’s a look at all of our entries together before we reveal the winners. Take a look at all of these bright and shiny faces!

The first place prize is a “Romantic Grandeur Hair Makeover” at Avalon, with a full hair cut, color and makeup from Aveda’s new “Romantic Grandeur Collection”. In addition to a new hairstyle for fall, this winner will also receive a full makeup application. And the winner is…
Kerry Sorenson!
Kerry shared a photo of her two kids on their first day of school with this caption: “The pictures go together, I think.” Yes! I agree, Kerry. Your two angels look like they know how to make a little mischief! Thank you for entering our contest and congratulations for being one of our three winners.


Our second place prize goes to the only dad who entered a photo in our contest and it’s perfect for a busy guy on the go. Ed Kaminski WINS this prize which is a 2014 fall men’s hair cut. Avalon’s stylists were just recently trained on the hottest new looks in men’s hair, including razor cuts for a clean and easy new “do” for the new season. So we hope you love your new look, Ed! And thank you for sharing Tyler’s sweet photo on his first day of first grade.

And we were very excited to see a familiar face in this year’s third place prize winning photo submitted by mom, Dawn Van Ryn! Dawn’s prize is Avalon’s mani/pedi of the month with her choice of from OPI’s latest nail color collection.
Dawn shared a photo of her daughter Madilyn and says she is “SO excited to back to Hough for First Grade!” We remember Madilyn’s face from the photo Dawn entered in last year’s contest when she was headed to kindergarten. Take a look at the side-by-side photos of Madilyn from her first days of school last year and this year. What a difference a year makes! Note to self: Don’t forget to prepare a cute frame and chalk board so our back to school photos look as clever as these do next year :).


How I wish we had prizes to give away to all who participated in this year’s Back to School Photo Contest. But, stay tuned. We have more fun photo contests in the works with some awesome prizes on the line. In the meantime, please enjoy this look at all of the images and captions we received this year. We loved looking at each and every photo and hope you have a wonderful Labor Day weekend!
The Gaul Brothers
“10th and 2nd Grade” – mom, Linda Gaul

Kopecky Kids’ First Day of School
“First Day of 1st and 3rd Grade.” – Submitted by mom, Windy Kopecky

The Kepler Sisters
“Emily Kepler starting 4th grade and Eleanor Kepler starting 2nd grade at Grove Avenue School. Both have backpacks from local store Grassroots!” – Submitted by mom, Melanie Kepler


Middle School, Here We Come!
“The middle school bus stop.” – Submitted by mom, Kathy Lane

Payton Muhs – BHS Freshman
“The sunset on a fun summer vacation but Payton Muhs woke up bright and early at 5:15 am to start his first day as a freshman at BHS. His bus pick up is at 6:01am… His annual first day of school photo was taken as the sun was rising. First time ever his mom had to use a flash for this annual pic!” – Payton’s Mom, Doreen Colletti Muhs

Quentin’s Favorite Teacher
“First Day with a long time and favorite Lines teacher, Vickie Marienau! Quentin Muhs is a third grader!” – Submitted by mom, Doreen Colletti Muhs

Back to School for the Neuman Kids
“4th grade and a 4-year-old. My home daycare starts back to school week too!” – Submitted by mom, Kristen Neuman

Jack Paulus – 6th Grader at Station Middle School
“My son Jack’s 1st day of 6th grade at Station middle school. He insisted that we take a picture :-)” – Submitted by mom, Amy Paulus


Back to School for the Sahinoglu Brothers
“Alex’s First Day of 1st Grade!” – Submitted by Mom, Jennifer Sahinoglu


Mary’s First Day of 4th Grade
“Mary’s first day of 4th grade, riding her bike to school alone for the first time because her big sister is at middle school now.” – Submitted by mom, Kristen Stedman


Big Brother Says Goodbye
“We will miss our 1st grader big brother who will be gone ALL day. What time will you be home?” – Submitted by mom, Stacey Tomczak

Williams Kids Head to Second Grade
“Ready for 2nd grade!” – Submitted by mom, Heather Williams

Jones Kids Head Back to School
First Day of School for Parker & Logan Jones – Submitted by mom, Lisa Jones

