IKEA

We decided, rather ignorantly, to go to IKEA for lunch after church today. We needed some things for the house and the kids love going there. Perfect Sunday afternoon right? Wrong. It seems that Sunday is the day that EVERYONE in the greater Phoenix area--and many from some outlying towns, possibly even as far away as Yuma and Flagstaff--decide to go to IKEA. The first sign of craziness was someone in the parking lot directing traffic. I almost expected to have to park on an offsite lot and take a shuttle to the store. I have never in my life seen so many people streaming into a store at an unbelievably constant rate. Based on today's attendance alone I can guarantee that IKEA will meet it's sales goals for the year.

Even though my husband seriously considered aborting the mission and heading back home, all the gas we used to get us there clearly swayed his decision and we stayed. We did succeed in having lunch and wandering through the store and picking up what we needed. We even ran into a Russian family and exchanged a few basic phrases. IKEA is great for intercultural exchanges. People in all countries apparently go to IKEA on Sunday.

Getting home was a bit tricky. You see, we decided to buy the boys' bunkbeds and put an end to their sleeping on the floor. The problem was that our van is full with all 7 of us--not leaving room for two large boxes, flat packed or not! But we loaded the boxes regardless of the space issue and squeezed the kids into a few nooks and crannies (I'm not kidding) and headed home. There were many giggles as the kids felt the freedom of being unrestrained by seat belts as we drove down the highway. It was like a time warp back to the 70's when laying down in the back of the station wagon was common place and no more to be feared than riding a bike without a helmet. The good news was that we made it home without incident and now the kids have new stories for our family lore..."remember the time we rode in the van without seat belts and Rachel and Katya were on the floor under the boxes?"

So, you can be sure that we won't be heading to IKEA on a weekend ever again, but you should ask the kids about the crazy ride home on top of and under the boxes. I think they consider themselves fugitives from the law now.