It's not IKEA, but it'll do...

Yesterday turned out to be a very interesting Sunday. My parents, sister Jackie, and I all drove down to visit my oldest sister, Steph, and her family. We all went to church together at 10 then planned to go to IKEA. I have never been there before, so I was really looking forward to it. Well...things did not go as planned. Here is where we ended up:

Yup, we were stranded on the side of the road! We were in my mom's van when it started making a crazy noise then car parts starting falling all over the place. Seriously. We quickly pulled over and called AAA to get the van towed (bless them!) Steph drove her husband and one kid back to their house, then came back to pick us up. We were all squished so tight in her little car. I was sitting halfway on Jackie's leg and halfway on the floor. Not safe, I know, but we had no choice.

Since we only had that one car we couldn't go to IKEA (it was another 30 minutes away). It was a bummer. But we all decided to look for the positives: At least the van didn't break down when my mom was all alone. Or at night. And although we were out of town, it was nice to have Steph there because she gave us a ride.

Here is my nephew, Shane, being adorable in the car:

There was a preschool open house that Steph wanted to go to because Shaners is turning THREE in May. My little Shane-O is growing up way too fast! Since we were all in the car, we all decided to go with her. Since I work at a preschool, I was interested to see another one. When my sisters, mom, and I all walked in the teachers and director probably thought we were crazy. But, everyone was so nice and it seemed like a really great center. Shane came inside for a little bit and he was in heaven! He was jumping around from puzzles to books to toys. I think he's going to love preschool, even if he only goes a couple days a week.

We went to Bob Evans for lunch/dinner. It was the nicest Bob's I have ever been to. For awhile there I was starting to haaate the place, but this one really restored my faith. And the best part: I bought my nephew, Shane, a harmonica. Everyone LOVED me for that, especially since he was rocking out in the tiny car on the way home. Here he is with the harmonica and his guitar...What a little musician:

Once we got back to Steph's house we got some quality time with nephew #2: Nate! He is 10 months old and is getting into everything. Jackie took Shaners outside for a little bit so it was nice to have Nate get all the attention to himself. What a cutie:

It was so nice to spend the day with my whole family. I missed Steph and her little family so much! I wish I could see them every weekend! We'll have to go back soon to finally make the trip to IKEA.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!