Good Times

One of the things that I am really enjoying is that our children are making such good friends with the children of our oldest and dearest friends. I have two friends in particular, one from high school and one from university, who have children whose ages are not too far off from our own. When we get together, the kids are at ages that they can really enjoy each other and truly, Pk seems to love them as much as I love their mothers. Today, we got together with one of those friends, her wonderful husband and the children.

They live about 2 hours from us and we have had a hard time getting together - every time we make plans, someone gets sick. On a whim, my friend emailed this week and wondered whether we wanted to meet at Ikea, since it's at the halfway point between our two homes. We would have dinner and then maybe browse around. We didn't know how it would work but it was worth a try.

I can't remember the last time I had so much fun. Their restaurant is open enough and casual enough that the kids were able to have a great time. As we wandered through the store, the kids ran around having a marvelous time. Pk is 3 and R is 2 and a bit, and he is finally old enough that Pk and he can really enjoy each other. They ran like fools, chased and, luckily for us, older brother A who is now 9 didn't mind actually as our sheepdog, herding them in the right direction. We ended with tea and cinnamon buns by the exit and the kids again had a great time - until little R got a little too close to the escalator and moms and all the kids actually had to chase him upstairs to grab him. It has been agreed amongst the parents that Pk and R will need VERY close supervision when together - they like each other a little too much and as they ran around together holding hands, they were adorable.

Who knew that Ikea could be more fun than a trip to Disney?