Just sit right back
And you’ll hear a tale
A tale of a fateful trip,
That started from this tropic port,
Aboard this tiny ship.
The mate was a mighty sailin’ man,
The Skipper brave and sure,
Five passengers set sail that day,
For a three hour tour,
A three hour tour.

“The Ballad of Gilligan’s Isle”, written by Sherwood Schwartz and George Wyle.

The trip to Ikea in Tampa, Florida was to be a quick THREE HOUR TOUR – After pouring over the Ikea catalog, I was sure, positive, absolutely certain that we were ready to fill the house…3 Beds in Queen/Full/Twin, Dining Table and 4 Chairs, TV cabinet, 2 Dressers, some lamps, dishes, towels, shower curtain, sheer curtains, garbage can…oh yes, and a Couch.  How hard would this be and how long should this take??  My calculation was 3 hours and we’d be back in time for lunch by the pool.  Ikea delivers…we’d have the stuff by tomorrow…put it together (easy peasy lemon squeezy), and have the remaining days to explore our new vacation spot in sunny Florida.

SO…HOW LONG WAS THE IKEA SHOPPING ADVENTURE?

ANSWER:  NINE HOURS…5 hours day one….4 hours day two. Ikea couldn’t deliver on our time schedule and all these fabulous treasures didn’t fit in the rental van for one tour…so, we did it in two…Three Hour Tour?…not today.

And now the assembly begins…by one husband, one wife, two kids…..such craziness, to be sure.

Oh, and a quick P.S.:

The Pool furniture was a bargain at Target….another cash and carry trip…Cute, comfortable, easy maintenance, great when wet, and no assembly required.

  

 

And finally…shipped direct to the house from Overstock…a white leather bench…are you loving this??  White leather for a pool house with kids…the price was right and quite Mid-Century Modern, if I say so myself.  Hello Mermaid House – now let’s create some MAGIC!