ikea.

Steve had Friday off, so we decided to make a little day trip out to Ikea (Californians, our Ikea here is 1.5 hours away. Go ahead, gasp in horror.) and since it is such a trek for the kids, and since Steve doesn't have a spring break, and for any number of other rationalized reasons, we decided to dip into the vacation fund and make a little mini-trip out of it, so I booked us a military-rate room (yay!) at our fav, the Embassy Suites, and off we went!

We had a blast at Ikea, taking pictures on the iPod of all the rooms we love/things we want to do in our place. They always have such great small space/organizing ideas! Our favorites were these full-wall maps and photographs. I found a pretty good map for cheaper online, but I haven't figured out how to print huge enlargements for cheap yet (if you have a hot tip, let me know).

Then we dined Ikea style. I am always surprised by how good their food is! Gracie ate some chicken tenders while Charlie eyed his raisins suspiciously. It is so much easier to travel with him now that he can tell us what he wants instead of screaming like a banshee in the back seat (which is how he spent a lot of the driving time during our D.C. trip).

Steve and I split a yummy turkey-spinach-cheese panini and a chicken cesar. And I made him take this picture with me. I find that if I kiss his cheek he feels compelled to smile, even if he is wishing he was just eating his panini. (Which looks good, right? Look how toasted and nice...)

You know I had Swedish ligonberry juice on the side.

Charlie tried to get the last drops of Gracie's chocolate milk. :)

After Ikea (where we spent a mere $26, on a train set for Charlie - $10!!!, markers for Gracie, and some little food containers so she can pour her own milk/cereal for breakfast) the kids were exhausted.

We checked in, let them have a nap, hit Panera for dinner, and did a little pre-bedtime swimming, which they both thought was the best thing ever. And then we all slept in because of the blackout curtains. Heavenly. (Well except Grace, she just laid awake in the dark quietly when she woke up at 7. What a good girl.)

Then it was on to breakfast! Breakfast is half the reason I love Embassy Suites (the other half is having a separate room from the kids, which is amazing, because then they go to bed at 7 and we still get to watch TV!). They have everything your heart could desire, AND they make you fresh made-to-order omelettes.

Gracie knew she wanted pancakes and would not consider anything else. She chose three, and ate almost all of them, with some fruit on the side.

Though we gave him two cereal options, Charlie demanded nearly an entire dinner plate's worth of fruit. We gave it to him, of course, because he is on vacation, too! (Plus, better than the sausage that I demanded.)

And Steve needed an entire tray to himself for pancakes, tons of bacon, tons of fruit, OJ, and two donuts. (And you'll notice, as previously mentioned, he is shoveling fruit into Charlie's breakfast bowl.)

Back at the hotel room Charlie played with the remote control as we packed up, happily changing the channel on the kids' TV and making Gracie call us in to find SuperWhy again.

We hit the outlets (snagging a couple of 18 month sized clothes so Charlie won't be naked this summer), and, since the kiddos were tired, hit the road for home, sneaking bites of this surprisingly tasty Ikea chocolate bar in the front seat.