Roadblocks to the Temple

We had ward temple day yesterday. (For those who aren't familiar with temples, click here.) It was extra cool because the ward provided babysitting, which meant Lance and I could actually go together instead of take turns. (I can't remember the last time we did that!)

But first we had to actually get there. The closest temple to us is in Chicago, which means quite a drive there and back. We decided to leave three hours early, to give time for traffic or any unforeseen events. We should have left earlier.

Just outside of Lafayette we got stuck in traffic due to an accident. The accident must've happened just right before we got there, because we were pretty close. We sat on the freeway for a good 45 minutes. Which led to a lot of boredom. And pictures.

Here's a picture of the accident. We couldn't really see what was going on, but it didn't seem bad enough to close the freeway for 45 minutes!

Spencer was kind of a stinker. He kept saying "Let's go! Drive, Daddy!" Then he pointed at me and said "You're killing me!"

Josh decided to have a light snack.

Lance sat in the drivers seat and started losing his patience.

A self-portrait. Lovely, no?

We finally stared moving again. We usually take the 294 around the city to avoid traffic, but decided to risk taking the 94 in order to make up for lost time. We hit some construction traffic mid-way, but that was expected. Things were going really well until we hit Skokie. We were literally three exits away from where we needed to get off and we hit bumper to bumper traffic. It was maddening. And slow. Grrrrr...

But we finally made it. The ward took pictures of each child and their family in front of the temple. (Unfortunately, I didn't get a digital copy.) But I only had time to take these few pics:

Aren't the mums really pretty?

We were actually able to take the kids into the baptistery waiting room and the temple president and matron came and spoke to us for a few minutes. It was really neat. Then we had lunch at a ward building in Arlington Heights.

After lunch we left the kids with some WONDERFUL ward members who had put together a bunch of fun kid activities, and we headed back to the temple. We had all decided to take an alternate route because the way we had taken there was torn up from construction.

Mistake.

We had to wait for two trains to pass. It doesn't sound that bad now, but then I just couldn't believe all of traffic obstacles we had hit that day!

Oh well. Long story short: hard to get to the temple, but totally worth it.

Additional story: we went to IKEA afterwards. (Of course.) I luuurrrrvvve IKEA. It is my Mecca. I finally found a bookcase that I liked at a great price - only $150! (No really, it was that cheap but really sturdy and looked good! The perfect bookcase!)
But the boxes for it were far too big for our car. (Well, with the kids in the back. The boxes totally would have fit if we could have lowered the back seats.) Dang.

I looked into it, and ordering it online is out of the question. For some unknown reason IKEA doesn't use normal couriers for their orders. It would cost $299 just for delivery!!! Not in this lifetime!

So I'm thinking of heading up there again some time next month. Anyone want to come?