Jordans

On Thursday Nic, Matt, and I loaded up Allie & Ryan and took them to Jordan's Furniture Store. If you have been to visit us, you have most likely seen Jordan's (as it is one of our favorite places to take people). If you have not seen Jordan's (either because you never visited us - shame on you - or because we failed to take you - shame on us), it is truly the most amazing furniture store you have ever been to or will ever visit. It appeals to all ages. For example - it became on of my residents' favorite places to go in the winter for a trip, we often see college/career aged couples on dates, and families with children can always be found in abundance.

What do they have that is so appealing? First, an incredible theme that never fails to delight - especially children. Beantown. But not baked beans - jelly beans. They have giant flowers made out of jelly beans, a "Make Way for Ducklings" sculpture made out of jelly beans, jelly bean floors, jelly bean table tops, a jelly bean state house, and the big whopper - a giant "Big Dig" Sundae (that houses the Richardson's Ice Cream stand...yes, ice cream in the furniture store). Words cannot describe. It must be seen (seriously, go here, and take the virtual tour of the Reading store. It's almost like being there!). They also have a trapeze school where you can pay for lessons, or enjoy watching someone else's lesson (for free). They have an Imax theatre and a Fuddruckers restaurant. They also have Liquid Fireworks - a.k.a. lighted fountains choreographed with music. And , of course, they have furniture!

The big draw for us were the cool cars they have for children to ride in. Lucas and I have been dozens of times and I always looked at the taxis and fire trucks and thought it would be such a blast to be a kid in one of those. I knew this time that Allie & Ryan were probably old enough to ride in them and enjoy them, and I was right! We put them in the fire engine and the second we started moving Allie (who loves ANYTHING with a steering wheel) broke into grins, which turned into giggles, which turned into peals of laughter that caused everyone we passed to turn and watch (and smile). Ryan played it a little more cool, but you could still tell that he was thrilled. They could not get enough of the steering wheels!

We walked all around the store. We started with the youth rooms (they are all themed and SO much fun!). They have giant stuffed dogs in some of the rooms, and Ryan thought those were pretty cool. Nic, Matt, and I all found the bedroom furniture we would have loved as kids (had we known that such cool furniture even existed). We then roamed and let the babies enjoy "driving." Allie kept trying to pull on Ryan's seat. I think she wanted to pass and was frustrated that she couldn't! We ended the trip in front of the liquid fireworks. The twins had a yummy snack of mum mums and water while the boys and I had ice cream :) Then we watched the liquid fireworks (which the twins liked...but they really enjoyed watching the two little girls playing in front of the fountains the most), and headed home. It was a really fun adventure, and I'm so excited the boys were here to give me the motivation to try taking the twins there!

And the pictures...as I mentioned before, our camera battery is dead and our charger was en route from Michigan. But I couldn't make a trip to Jordan's, and have the twins ride in their first non-stroller vehicle, and not document it in some way! So, I dug out our old digital camera, and used it. It gave me some fits (every now and then it would decide not to turn on), and the quality is not as good as our other, but it did the trick. It also takes video, and I got a few short clips of the twins driving. The only problem is that I turned the camera sideways (totally NOT thinking), and no matter what I tried (even using my photo shop video editing program) I could not rotate the view. However, I thought the videos were really cute (you get to see the beginning of Allie's extreme giggle fit over driving, and Ryan trying to play it cool while he's really excited). So....tilt your head and enjoy!