There-is something about Ikea that makes me want to say it like IKEA! Like I am yelling it as I chop a block of wood in two with my hand. Anyway - our excellent adventure to Ikea.
Last Wed.
We already know that kelli does not drive in Atlanta unless by court order. So, Abbie - brave thing that she is, drove us:) The kids were excited. Here is the sales pitch I gave 'em: We are going to a big store with mostly furniture. But they have places to eat there, a kids play area and some stuff you may like to see...but no toys. This seemed ok to them. We drive there - like 30 min at the most - and drive around Ikea. And around it. There wasn't a real easy way to get to it from the highway. You could see it...just not get there. So I, smartie that I am, go "look kids, Big Ben. Parliament." Abbie, not getting the allusion to European Vacation - a movie that probably came out before she was born - thought it was funny once I explained. Well, she laughed but now that I think of it it was more a polite kind of thing. We head over to the breakfast/coffee/hot dog eating area. Hot dogs 50 cents. You know there is no meat in those:) Sticky buns - $1 and worth every penny. David got the sticky buns stuck all in his appliance in the roof of his mouth that almost made me throw up trying to help him with. I am NOT a very helpful mommy with stuff like that. Take kids to play are - wooops, Max can't go 'cause he isn't potty trained. D&A seem fine leaving him behind. Ball Pit, fun stuff, movies playing. They give me a restaurant pager and tell me to come back in an hour. I think their security, etc. was pretty good. The place is two floors. It reminded me of an English majorie girl (like me) going to a science museum. Lots of stuff to see, but you could just keep on the main path and only veer off to see things close up when it was especially interesting. They had an area of kids rooms set up, toys, etc. Max had fun there. They had all these apartments set up so you could see how to use their stuff to live in the tiniest little places you have ever seen. We looked for an hour. Skimmed is more like it. Went back to get D&A. Asked them how they liked the play area. Alex said "Great!! We saw two shows!" More TV. That is super. Carted the kids around a little longer. Went to the restaurant - not the cafe like at breakfast - but a mini K&W Cafeteria. Except with good, fresh and yummy food. It was good. Abbie and the three boys and I ate for 13 bucks. That is less than lunch at Chick fil A. Paid. Stood in line forever right after they rang up Abbie's purchase. The guys said he would have to reboot the computer. It had nothing to do with Abbie or the purchase or her credit card. But dont ya just love those moments when something takes a little too long and it LOOKS like it is your credit card they are having trouble with? So - I got this yellow muck box 'cause I got muck and it will look so cute in this box. I got this pet like red lamp for David's room. (Note the little robots with moving parts he built this morning, the book from 1979 about the planets as told by R2 D2 and C3PO that I read until it almost fell apart when I was a kid. And the tooth brush. Hey - we don't leave these things just sitting around....) I got them a fun cushionie thing for balancing on. Gotta take it back. No bolts came with it. Got some wrapping paper for Christmas (QUIZ:WHAT COLOR DID I SAY I AM COLLECTING PAPER IN FOR CHRISTMAS THIS YEAR? A prize to whoever knows - other than Abbie:) The pic of the kids - during the wait on the computer system to reboot. The D&A were asking Max how much he loved them. Alex is loved 4, David and Mommy 3. They were really into the conversation. Max, as you can see, HATED to be the center of his two brother's attention:) Waved to Daddy's building as we drove by it (he works in the tallest building in Atlanta - so easy to see). Unloaded the purchases at home. Procured a Ikea catalogue from a friend and started planning the stratagy for our next trip there. I am shopping for a large table for David's room and items to re-do my closet and a dresser for the guest room. Abbie is decorating imaginary town homes in her head..... A note about ordering from the cat. Their shipping is like $140 no matter what you order under $1000. SO, ordering something for $80 is really expensive shipping. However - ordering furniture (like my craft room table, chairs, the kids' tables in their classroom) that is heavy - it is a good deal. Just FYI. It isn't that I want my home decorated by IKEA!...but we have been very pleased with what we have purchased there. Store was bright and clean. Happy people work there. We will see about that customer service when we return the cushionie thing. If that goes well, then congrats IKEA! kelli Crowe is a very loyal customer. kelli
