South and North

The W. family has spent the last couple of days driving all over. Yesterday we headed about 1.5 hours south to go to IKEA.  I LOVE IKEA, but Duane and the boys have never been. The boys were very excited about it,  but Duane wasn't really. He was a good sport though because there was a dresser I wanted to get and I needed him to look at it first.

Other than the fact that Ryan needed two bathroom breaks on the drive down to the store, the road trip was uneventful, but I guess that's kind of what you want when the family is taking a drive. Ryan was pretty bored on the way, but as soon as we got out of the car in the parking lot of IKEA he exclaimed, "I've been waiting my whole life to come here!" Grandma and Grandpa H. went too and we had a pretty good time!

We weren't in the store 30 seconds before Ryan saw this light.

"Look at the light! It's like a giant snowball! I love it!" cried Ryan

We ate lunch at the cafe, then sent the boys to child care while the grown ups shopped.

Team Brothers at the IKEA cafe

I really liked the child care at IKEA, but they limit the time kids can be in there. I completely understand why, but that left at least an hour that they had to shop with us. They hung in there pretty well, but by the time we left, they were more than ready to go.

Today we (they royal "we" meaning "Duane") finished putting the dresser from IKEA together. Of course, the instructions on those things are never clear, so we had to call in an expert.

We also took a trip north to Mansfield today. We had a lovely afternoon visiting with my aunt and hanging around downtown.

Lunch at Coney Island with rainbow ice cream for dessert

We went to the carrousel and the boys had three rides each. They always rode side-by-side and on the same type of animal. Team Brothers indeed.

Ryan used his money on a little white stuffed kitten he has named V.I.  Apparently she is the sister of his other stuffed cat, Violet.

We went to the the Children's Museum too. VERY fun place for the kids. Here they are playing the piano in the entrance

Wesley rescuing some of animals in the vet area.

Ryan giving V.I. some kind of examination

Checking out the bugs

Possibly the only time we'll see Wesley work on a car.

It was such a nice afternoon. Wore us all out - but we had fun. We've headed north this vacation. We've headed south. I'll be  glad to stay in the middle for a few days.