Ik*ea with Mia!

Mia is AnnaClaire and Kate's little friend. We met Mia and her mom last year at storytime and were shocked to discover that the girls were both from Chenzhou! It never ceases to amaze me that AnnaClaire and Mia lived in the same orphanage for 7 months and now live not even 5 minutes away from each other. They share such an awesome bond and I think it's so cool that AC has a friend her age who not only shares her Chinese heritage, but is also from the same CITY/orphanage as her (which is pretty amazing in a country of over a billion!) Now that Kate is home, she enjoys seeing Mia, too, and the three girls have become such sweet friends! Mom and Mrs. L have become great friends, too! The girls and the mommies get together pretty much every Friday, which is always a time that Mom and the little girls look forward to. This week, we went to Ik*ea. (Yes, I joined this time since we had no school!) An Ik*ea just opened about 30 minutes from us on Wednesday, so Mia's mom suggested that we go there! We had such a great time and even found a few small things. I cannot tell you how PACKED it was there! We have only been to Ik*ea one other time when we were in Newark last summer. We were once again amazed at how huge it was and the prices of everything! They had face painting, balloons, and sparkling juice to celebrate the store opening. Booie got a beautiful pink and blue sparkly butterfly on her face! We enjoyed walking around and ended our little adventure at the cafeteria. We had such a fun morning and I know Mom and the little girls are looking forward to next weeks outing north for AC, Mia, and Kate's birth certificates!