[ oh ikea! ]

sooooooo... my boys, 2 & 4,  LOVE going to ikea! not sure how long this will last but it can be very handy although i took them to the liberty science museum the other day & they were VERY disappointed when we drove straight past... mmmmm maybe they like it a bit too much.

we arrive just in time for a meatball lunch! YEAH!!! got to say love their meatballs & the gravy ~ but what is their obsession with those lingonberries!! just looked them up ~ full of vitamin c, that's good.

so i'm trying to manoeuvre 2 very excited boys, a shopping cart & one of those tray carts with our food on around to an empty table ~ how tricky it is that all of these are wanting to go in different directions, 'luckily' my toes are managing to control some of the deviation...

i'd just got everyone settled, things shared out & cut up, when nearly potty trained flynn, 2, makes the 'i'm doing a poo face'!!! no no no no no!! flynn you can't do poo you don't have a diaper [nappy] on. his response was 'i done it!' 

expecting to feel a 'hard ball' through his trousers (he hadn't been for a couple of days) i retracted a moist hand... i look down & a thick lumpy 'gravy' was running out of the bottom of his trousers forming a delightfully large puddle on the floor. 

there was a very 'stuffily clean' family of four at the table next to us & i hear the mother asking what is that? i was about to answer using every word i knew for it (keeping a smile of course), but the question wasn't directed at me!

flynn won't go on the toilet when we are out so i bring a plastic potty with me, so i grab that bag & pull out the roll of kitchen towels & clorox spray anywhere. (i LOVE that stuff!! it's a god send!!)*

i literally use the whole roll wiping this mess up & squeeze what i can out of the bottom of his trousers so i'm hoping i won't leave a trail to the bathroom..

all the ikea staff disappeared (can i blame them!! i think i would have got the first flight over to sweden to go lingonberry picking if i could!) i did do a really good job cleaning it up though ~ even if i do say so myself. finally i spot this lady & explain to her that i need to take my boys to the bathroom could she please not clear our food, ok... so i do my best slow talking & hand signs i can to try & bridge the language barrier!

i whisk flynn up, butt in the air & rush into the bathroom ~ gave him a 'pack of wipes' bath! change his clothes & give them both big hugs & kisses. oscar was a very good helper after i explained to him maybe 10 times that yes it stinks, every ones does, & it's not helping that you keep pointing that out...

we go back to the restaurant to happily find our food was still there... the very nice lady had covered it all with napkins...

got to say those meatballs are good cold too!! we finished eating & i suddenly realized why she'd covered the food... there were a couple of big buzzy yukky flies bombing around... probably signalled by my sons 'gravy'!!!

exhausted (me that is!) ~ the boys want to go in the ball pit... great i think, i'm going to test out a mattress for 20 minutes!! or minimum a couch!!!

had to wait 20 minutes to sign them in & the 'stuffy mother' was in front of me in line... i'm surprised she stayed!!)  (& i think i bumped into her at least 8 times around the store!)

off they went ~ i take a lovely deep breath & walk round to the couches... when loud speakers go off in stores oscar always says the ceiling is talking!! well the ceiling was asking me to return to the ball pit... flynn was waiting by the door... didn't want to stay. off we went back to the couches & there it is again... the ceiling asking me to go back... oscar didn't want to stay either, oh well!

my boys love to turn all the lamps off in the lighting section ~ oh the fun you can have! but ikea ALWAYS has to have the last laugh! it ran out of frozen yogurts while we were in line! we'll be back!! (hopefully without gravy!!)