Ikea

Dave and I had never visited Ikea. I now realize that this is "bucket list" kind of event that most people our age have already accomplished. When we told people we were going for our first time their eyes about bugged out of their heads. We decided last week that we would take off on Friday after work with Elliette to Dallas (which houses the closest Ikea). My in-laws were thrilled to watch Will for two nights so we only had to watch one rugrat as we shopped.

 

We arrived at our good friend Matt's house that evening and headed to our day of shopping first thing Saturday morning. Wow. Room after room after room of decorated living rooms, kitchens, and home offices. We very (very!) easily and quickly filled up a wish list. 

We broke for lunch after 2 hours of shopping (at the Ikea restaurant, of course. Oh how wise they are!) we looked through our list and did a little math. Matt then informed us that we had only gone through one floor. Whaaaat?!? We then proceeded to the lower level where we went through kitchen items, home decor, linens, and outdoor accessories. We loaded stuff into our cart as children would in a toy store. 

Finally we arrived at the warehouse. By this point out littlest shopper was worn out. 

This was perfect as Dave and Matt and I walked up and down the isles looking for items on our wish list and loading our dolley. 

Can I just say thank God that Matt came along? I don't know how we were planning to lift all of these boxes! 

So then came the super interesting part. It was time to leave. With all of this stuff AND a baby in a car seat AND three adults. And a stroller. Well I let the boys figure that out while the princess finished her nap. When I came out the van (borrowed from the Burris's) was jam packed. I had to squeeze in and this was my little view: 

 I could not see Elliette even though she was in the captain chair next to me. We somehow managed to get that all back to Matt's and settled into his amazing home theatre to relax after a big shopping day. Matt is a bit of a techie and has the coolest toys. We were able to hook up a night vision camera so we could watch Elle sleep (since the theatre was on a different floor and we had the volume up!) (oh, and before you ask- cause I did- he has the night vision camera so he could check on his cat while he was away in business trips.) 

It was a super SUPER fun weekend. Shopping and friends make everything better. I'll post some pictures of our new furniture in the house next!