We got up bright and early on a Tuesday morning and loaded the little ones into their carseats in their jammies. A few hours later, we dropped John off at his work site and stopped at a McDonald's to get some breakfast and regroup. (Their oatmeal is pretty good!) Getting two ornery girlies out of the car, into the restaurant, changed, dressed, and fed (and, of course, someone also wanted to use the potty like mommy!) was admittedly a challenge. But soon the phone GPS was guiding us to Ikea, which was only a few minutes away!
Lately it seems like I get to visit an Ikea store about once a year. When we drove around Europe in September, it seemed like we passed one almost as frequently as we pass Walmart here! It was crazy! We didn't stop at any because we had very limited room in our bags and a loose schedule to keep, but it certainly was enlightening!
Walking into Ikea can be kind of magical, can't it? I had a short list of things to look for and decided to start downstairs to get the little things out of the way before my big girl became too overwhelmed and tired. This turned out to be a good strategy, since she didn't seem to realize it was any different from an ordinary store until we went upstairs...
Someone liked this bed a lot! She was also happily occupied with the play-kitchens while I picked out some neat toys to save for Christmas.
I didn't realize until we got there that Tuesday is kids-eat-free-day! Gemma got her own plate of macaroni and cheese and steamed veggies for free while I enjoyed mushroom crepes and a cream cake. And Ruthie obligingly slept in the cart...
It wasn't all roses, though! Ruthie woke up soon enough, and I regretted having left my carrier in the car. Gemma was a bit too distracted by spilling her milk bottle everywhere to eat much (though this nursing mom was happy to finish her food!). They didn't have the duvet I had been eyeing online in the size we needed, and then somebody REALLY didn't want to leave this little "room"...
"She loves it! You have to get it for her!" said a lady passing by. Ahem, thanks... But I was almost as sad as Gemma to leave behind this lovely head and footboard which would certainly not fit into our Honda Civic....
Friends, it was $19! That's practically garage-sale pricing, or better! I also loved this patio set...
I texted the picture to John, and it might have fit into our car, but he advised me to wait this time. Finally, I wheeled two sleepy girls through the checkout line, discovering that the bathroom stool had fallen out of the cart somewhere along the way. Sad. And apparently the cute receiving blankets I found were for display only, and the lady at the desk couldn't sell them to me. Well.
We finished and found the hotel after getting permission over the phone for an early check-in. Both girlies fell asleep in the car...I carried Ruthie up to our room, gently placed her on the bed hedged in by pillows, and ran back to the car for Gemma. Up up up the elevator...and the key didn't work! Back down to the desk with Gemma over my shoulder to have it fixed. Back up the elevator, it worked this time, and I gently placed Gemma on the other bed. But the spell was broken and she awoke. Little sister soon followed suit.
But the good news was that the hotel DID have a pool! After a quick run to Walmart for a floatie vest for Gemma, the three of us suited up and headed down. The water smelled heavily of chlorine, but was lovely. Though big sister was too shy to venture in, Baby Ruth thoroughly enjoyed being bobbed around for a while! And afterward, when I laid Ruthie on a lounge chair to dry off Gemma's feet and remove her vest, Gemma ran over, bent down to Ruthie and sweetly smiled in her face...
It was a day full of challenges, but very fun challenges for the most part. Soon we heard from John, got back into dry clothes and drove to pick him up for a yummy dinner at Macaroni Grill. :)
Ruthie screamed a lot that night.
And the next morning, after we ate breakfast and dropped John off again, we went back to Ikea for the bathroom stool. :) We passed the rest of the morning finding shorts and socks for John at Marshall's and eating lunch and playing at Chick-Fil-A.
Gemma DID nap on the drive home that afternoon. And that is the end of the story of our annual Ikea trip. :)
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