...IKEA or bust...

Oh.Wow. I mean. Just.Wow. LOL! This is going to be one of those stories where you REALLY shoulda been there...

So. I love me some IKEA. It's one of those stores that you can ALWAYS find something to buy! Which- isn't really good for the unemployed! HAHA! No, but really...I have many lovely items in my home from IKEA...and so when summer started for my teacher peeps- I pretty much demanded that we all trek out there at some point to do some retail damage!

Today was that day. And boy was it a day! :)

Bre and Leighton, Jaime and Zoe, Jude and Emme and I all piled into Jaime's minivan to drive the 30ish miles to the store. I'm totally ready for this day too...I remembered to pack LOTS of snacks for Jude...a bottle/solids for Emme...got my iPhone w/ all it's movies for Jude...I even packed teething drops for Em! Oh man! So. We're driving (I really don't think you can imagine how packed we are...Jaime and Bre in the front...me and Jude in the middle and Zoe, Emme, and Leighton squished in the back- we literally barely fit!) when some warning light comes on...Jaime blows it off b/c the "low tire" light comes on often- and I don't think anything of it b/c there are SO many of us in the car, I assume it's all our weight! Yep. So like 6 miles later...BOOOOOM! Oh.Em.Gee, Marge. Jaime totally blew a tire!!! Oh my word! Now...it's about 10:15am...you'd think there wasn't that much traffic...um...no- there was actually a LOT of cars! And we're in the middle lane!!! Oh.My.Word. My heart was beating so fast...all I keep thinking about is that my babies are in the car! And specifically- that Emme, Leighton, and Zoe are in the very back and that someone might rear end us! :( But...Jaime was like a freakin' rockstar! She seriously just maneuvered her way over through the clearest path to the side of the road. Unfortunately...it was the lefthand side- next to the HOV lane...buuuuut at least we weren't blocking traffic, right???

So. After I finished saying "Thank You, Jesus!" a few times (I really thought we were going to get hit!)...I got my phone and used my USAA app to call Roadside Assistance (Jaime has USAA too)...the lady tells me that it's going to be 35 mins before they can get someone out to us... ?!?!?! Um. "We have 4 kids in the car under 5 years old...and a pregnant lady...if you can expedite this- that would be fantastic..." So. The lady gets some dood from Mesa to come help us...b/c he's supposed to be able to get there before 35 mins (which- for the record...he showed up 32 mins later...) but the guy was a MORON and didn't know his way around...I mean...we were under the freakin' I-17 stack...in a silver van...w/ a million kids...how hard is it to find?!?! I digress. I called my BIL, Kevin to see if he was "on duty" to help us...but right afterwards a DPS Assistance truck came to help us- and by helping us...I mean calling DPS and getting them to stop traffic for us so we could cross to the righthand side of the road! Awww- but the lil old man was super cute...asking us if we needed water or anything! :) Anywho. So the waiting game continued. The kids were all really good...Jude especially blew me away w/ his patience! I was starting to get annoyed w/ the waiting...especially b/c Emme's feeding time was rapidly approaching...and normally Jude goes down for a nap at noon...and it's 11am and we haven't gotten to IKEA yet! I vowed that if the driver didn't show up at 11:02...I was going to change the tire myself!!!! (Which...the only reason I didn't in the first place is b/c we were on the wrong side of the road and I would have died!!!) He's lucky b/c he showed up at 11:01! Sucka! Thankfully- the changing of the tire happened quickly... and then we girls decided to proceed (driving 50 miles an hour MAX! mind you) to go on our shopping excursion! Oh.Man.

I found a Costco a mile away from IKEA (using the AroundMe app! It's great!)...we thought we might go eat at Costco while the tire is being fixed...but unfortunately it was going to take WAY too long...but are we ever glad we stopped...b/c the nice man checked the air in the spare...and it was WAAAAAYYYYYY low!!! Can you imagine if we had blown the spare?!?!?!?!? Anywho...after driving in circles trying to use the "shortcut" to IKEA...we finally made it to our destination...and had a grand ole' time shopping!

I do have to brag...that my children- Jude especially- were absolutely fabulous! (Not saying the other two weren't- they just were in the play area for most of the time!) But b/c he hadn't napped and it was already a long and crazy trip there...he sat in the cart perfectly...and minus a few "mini-tantrums"...he was just so chill!!! I was a super proud mama! And bought Jude a trainset thing at IKEA as a reward! :)

(I'm sure my story would have been alot more "fun" - and lengthy- if I weren't so dog tired...but this is the gist!)

My "neverforgets" of the day:
* Mocha Frappe ...well...what I got to drink of it!
* Edward Cullen cups...it really does make me happy! LOL
* Leapsters...
* Emme's teething- and crying- and Leighton not liking it so much! LOL
* The fact that Leighton is going to have a baby sister (or brother) REAL soon haha!
* 36week pregnant Bre picking up my 40lb son! What the heck, Bre!
* "I NEED EARPHONES!"
* Being a child mediator! It was comedy! I just started making stuff up!
* Peeing on the wall...
* Jaime "not having" a spare...oh wait...it's under the driver's seat! LOL
* The lady in the white dress (::whispers- um...your bra is showing!::)...
* How NOBODY stopped to help us...is it b/c we were on the freeway???? Hmmm...whatever.
* IKEA food...it was cheap- and that's what counts! Haha- actually- I really loved their kids menu selection!!!!
* Drawer dividers...
* Apple Cheerios (um...sorry, IKEA- clean up in the frame department! LOL)
* Spending a day w/ some of my favorite people!

Awww...ladies...we must do it again! We'll squeeze Baby Sinclair2.0 in there somewhere! ;)