Adventures in Ikea... I don't think I ever want to go back. :)

As far as furniture goes, there's not a whole lot around Cáceres.  We knew we would have to go to Madrid or Sevilla to purchase the majority of our furniture.  Since both cities are 3 hours away, we also knew that we would need to purchase everything at one time, as it's hard to make several trips that far away... not to mention we would have to have them deliver, so we only wanted to incur one delivery fee.  SOOOO I planned and dreamed and shopped Ikea by catalog and through the web.  I had our entire list made out on the internet, every room diagrammed as to what was to go where and what we needed to buy.

We decided to go to Sevilla, because we have some co-workers there that we love to spend time with.  They live at the same exit as Ikea, so we thought we'd do to Ikea first and then go spend some time with them.  As many times as we have mentioned never having been to Ikea before, not a single person thought about mentioning HOW Ikea worked.  I never thought to ask, because I really had no idea... :) Maybe it's good none of y'all warned me...

I'm not sure if ALL Ikeas, all over the world are like this, or if it's just in Spain?... or if it was just this one particular weekend?  I don't know, but maybe it was good I wasn't forewarned... I might not have gone.  For those of you who don't know me too well, I am NOT a shopper.  When I have to do it, I go in, get what I want and get out.  So, now that you've learned that about me, some of you are just laughing... because that's SOOOO not possible with Ikea.

We arrived very close to the time that Ikea opened, and thought we'd get a good start before the "crowds."  Spaniards don't like to get up early, so we thought it wouldn't be TOO crazy.  Yeah, we were wrong.  There was a line to park, that should have been our first indication.  We had no idea what we were doing; so once we got in, we kinda just looked around a little, trying to get our bearings.  We knew there was a kids' place, so we thought we'd be able to get a bunch done pretty quick.  Once we got up to the front of the line, they had each of the kids stand up against a measuring stick.  Weston was too tall to go in, and Carolina was too short.  So, Nathan and Jonathan got to go in, but only for an hour.  Well, Weston wouldn't be difficult to handle, but Carolina is a whole different story.  She, quite opposite from her Momma, LOVES to shop.  She loves to look at everything and TOUCH everything and sit on everything and open everything... need I go on? :)  Well, 2 was still a little better than 4, so we started on our way.

We had our list, but it was all picked out from a catalog and the internet.  I wanted to SEE some of these things.  So, those of you who know how Ikea works, know that it's a maze.  You can't just get from one place to another, even if you know exactly what you want.  In addition to that, there were so many people there that we just had to stay on the path and follow the mob.   It was wall to wall people, and there was no getting around ANYONE.  I think we spent that first hour, just being overwhelmed by all the people and all the "stuff."  I wished I could look and then go home and think about it... but, we didn't have that luxury.  We HAD to be out of the apartment by Feb. 1st, which meant we HAD to buy furniture on this particular day, so that we at least had a bed to sleep on! :)   I got a good idea of about half of the things on my list during that first hour... I wanted to see them and decide what I actually did want and what looked much different in person.

So we weren't even ready to start shopping yet, and the kids' time was up in the kids' place.  We had a buzzer and it was going off like crazy.  We'd only gotten halfway through the displays, though, so either we had to go all the way back the way we came or all the way through the REST of the displays, in order to get the kids!!!  It was nuts! Carolina was pretty crazy at this point; definitely tired of being in a cart.  So, we decided to split up, rather than trying to drag the cart all the way through all those people.  Wes went to get the boys, and we were going to meet at the restaurant.  I thought maybe if we could get the kids a snack, we could finish what we needed to do.

Once Wes returned with Jonathan and Nathan, Carolina was even antsier.  I was flustered by trying to occupy her for the 1/2 hour it took for Wes to go get the other boys... Wes was flustered by HALF HOUR it took to get the other boys... :) haha... if you could have seen us!  We sat down in the restaurant part (which wasn't really even open yet), and tried to put a plan together.  Wes and I just looked at each other... how in the world were we going to do this?  We had a whole HOUSE full of furniture to buy... not just a room, not just a few items.  After getting some churros for the kids and coffee for Wes and I, we decided it was crazy to try to keep going.  The kids were just ready to be done... already.  I do think that part of that was because they were all anxious to get to our friends' house; they have a trampoline, and my boys just LOVE it.

We had planned to do lunch with our friends, so we called them and just decided to head their way.  We'd have to come back.  We were both so overwhelmed at the task... and the thought of doing it with all the kids!  But, after we'd had lunch with our friends, and the kids got on the trampoline, our friends told us to GO.  They kept the kids, and Wes and I tackled the task, kid-free! :)  You'd have thought that would've made the whole thing easy!... yeah, nope.

I AM so thankful that they had the kids, though.  I can't imagine what we would have done if we DID have the kids while trying to do this crazy thing. :)  With just Wes and I, we were able to navigate the crowds a little easier (although, it was STILL wall to wall people, with a very slow, flowing mass walking the aisle.)  We finished looking at what we needed and I had narrowed down my list... now, we just needed to GET it all.

So,  we made it through the 2nd floor with a very full basket... I had things slung over my shoulder and we had two bags (full) hooked to the cart, but at least it was only one cart.  Wes was determined to just use one; b/c otherwise, how else would we pick up the REST of the stuff?  It was wishful thinking.  We actually realized that it was just down-right dumb.  There was NO good way for us to do this.  We had already waited in all the lines to get the "papers" to pick up the big, bulky items after we paid, but it was all those other "medium" items we still had to get. 

We started off with me pushing the cart full of the little stuff.  Wes got a flat cart and began stacking boxes and crates on it.  It filled up really quickly.  So he went back and got another one... which filled up very quickly.  Once we figured out how things worked, we began going row by row and getting everything we needed in each row.   It got to be almost comical... Wes would head to the row with his cart, and I would make several trips back and forth trying to keep ALL our carts together, while he loaded yet another cart.  It was nuts!  You'd think, with spending SO much money in one store, someone would come help ... but, no.  My guess is, it's just how Ikea functions, so that they can keep their prices down?  I'm not sure... maybe it's just Spain.  By the end, (before we had gone to pick up the bulky items) we had 6 carts.  Yes, SIX.

This was one particular day that I was very thankful for a BIG, STRONG husband!  I can't imagine what I would've done by myself!?  Finally, as we got toward the end of our list,  I just stood in the middle of the aisle with ALL of our carts, while Wes finished.  I got tired of pushing and pushing.  As I was waiting there, I saw two guys with shirts that advertised for "transportation."  They were picking things off shelves and they took their cart through the check-out counter over to one side of the store.  It made me think that maybe, once we paid for delivery, they might come help us get it through the check out.  We didn't even know where to go to ask about delivery, so I found a guy who worked there (which, in and of itself was quite a feat!) and tried, in my limited Spanish, to ask for directions.  I didn't know the word for "deliver", so I took the long route and used all my other words: "lots of stuff," "no room in my car," "carry to my house," etc, etc.  You get the picture. :)  I obviously didn't do a good job, because the guy just kept telling me that he wasn't allowed to help me.  I think he thought I was asking for help to get it to my car?  I have no idea.  I finally made myself clear and got the directions I needed.

Then, for what felt like an hour (in reality, I have no idea how long it was... :) it could've been an hour!)... I waited in the middle of the aisle with six carts all around me and everyone staring, while Wes went to ask about delivery.  He came back and told me that the guys couldn't help us push the carts, but they WOULD deliver (praise the Lord!... we probably should've checked that out first! haha...)  So, Wes and I started the process of trying to check out... with SIX carts.  I'm telling you, everyone thought we were crazy!  By this time, it was well past dinner time and BED time for the kids, so we called and let them know we were just checking out and we'd be home soon.  (Right...)

It was a little frustrating, because people kept pushing in front of us, b/c we had to leave the carts and go and push other ones.  Wes finally got fed up and stood his ground.  The guy argued with him and argued until someone from the line next to us (who had watched everything) said something to him in Spanish (which I didn't understand at all...).  Apparently, he was on our side, though; b/c the other guy walked away.  Wes ended up carrying on a conversation with this guy for the whole rest of the time.  As we talked, I think it became apparent (or maybe obvious is a better word) that we were foreigners who were still a bit clueless.  Wes is good at making friends; so by the time we were done, we had others around helping us push our carts up and making sure no one cut in front of us.  It was actually kinda sweet.  It took us about two hours to get through the check out line.  They take out everything of your cart to scan it, and then put it right back in... so, we did that for SIX carts. 

Once we got through check out, we had to go pick up our "bulky" items.  We had to have EVERY item before we could drop our carts off at the "delivery" station.  So, we pushed all six carts ... one by one, by one, to one station and waited for our mattresses and things.  THEN we had to  wait in another line to drop our stuff off to be delivered.  Are you tired just from reading about it???? :)

After a total of THREE HOURS,  we finally finished getting the stuff over to where they would deliver it.  My feet were aching; and although he never once complained, I'm sure Wes was exhausted from picking up all those huge boxes!!  All in all, we spent SIX hours in Ikea (just the second trip... without the kids...)  We got back to our friends and picked up the kids and started our three our drive back home at midnight... and then, the fog was so thick Wes could hardly see on the way home. Talk about a CRAZY day!?!?  We were just thankful to finally get home!

I know we got a TON of furniture for the amount that we spent; but man, we WORKED for it!  It certainly didn't come cheap! :)  At least we didn't have to load it and unload it ourselves!!  And... after all that, my amazing man put each and every item TOGETHER, once it got delivered!!!...we are grateful for Ikea; I just don't think I ever want to go back! haha....