Day 3: get the bad stuff out of the way first

No pictures today; we were out and about and I just forgot to take any.

I had planned to take the kids to IKEA for breakfast today. Yesterday on the way home from the doctor Luke suggested what I had been thinking but was still figuring out how to approach without a lot of fussing: go get the dreaded but necessary bloodwork done first in the morning and then go for breakfast. Since the doctor had ordered that lipids be checked it needed to be a fasting test. So, this morning we slept in a little and headed off to LabCorp. Luke wanted to go first; I think so he wouldn't lose his nerve. Caroline sat on Erin's lap and they played a little game on my iPhone so I could stand by Luke. Alec had told him not to watch so he looked at me and squeezed my hand. He flinched a little, but did not cry. I was impressed.

I thought having Luke go first without a fuss would be helpful for Erin. No dice. She did NOT want to sit in the chair and started crying right away. I asked if it was OK for her to sit on my lap and the tech said yes. I guess for a 6-year-old she did pretty well - cried the whole time but did not scream or squirm. She cried all the way back out to the car also. I told her it was OK to cry but she had to be done by the time we got to IKEA. I think she quit about halfway there.

I'm glad to be done with that for a while. I didn't tell them they would likely need to do it again in a few years. We'll cross that bridge when we get there.

We had a nice breakfast at IKEA. I think that was the first time Caroline ate there. What's not to like with scrambled eggs, bacon and pancakes? We picked up some perler beads for later and then headed off to our friend's house in Columbia.

My friend Lisa used to go to our church but when she got married 3 years ago she and her husband started attending another church so I don't regularly get to see her anymore. They have a little boy who will be 2 next month and he LOVES playing with big kids, especially if they will play ball with him. The kids had fun messing around in the basement while Lisa and I chatted. She had made some cookie dough for the kids to roll in sugar and shape into cookies - that was pretty funny. Her little boy and Caroline had never done anything like that before and immediately started eating the yummy lemon dough. We let them watch after that!

I saw this cute idea for blowing bubble snakes on Pinterest a while ago and thought it might be fun to try with our kids, especially since they range in age so much. Caroline and Lisa's little boy didn't really get how to blow and it took Luke and Erin a bit of practice to really get it going but it was fun once we figured it out. We decided that bottles made from more sturdy plastic work better (the Minute Maid juice bottle was the best). I just used little baby washcloths but you have to put the rubber band far enough down that the cloth doesn't get in the way of the bubbles. We also tried it out later as a bath toy and that was fun too.

Caroline of course fell asleep on the way home and then refused to take a nap. I made her stay in her crib, but after she'd been yelling and calling "MAMA!" loudly for about 45 minutes I released her from her cribby prison. Oh, well. Early bedtimes are nice, too.