After an unexpectedly busy weekend (more about that in a bit), we did almost nothing today. I am fighting a summer cold, so sitting around on the couch, watching TV, reading books, drawing with markers were all fine by me. I did think we should leave the house at some point today, though. I asked Annalie a few times if she wanted to go play outside, or go to the coffee shop in our neighborhood with the kids’ play area, but she was happy to stay home. Then I suggested ice cream for dinner, and she thought that was a great idea, so we headed to the Green Mall.

Annalie loves going to the Green Mall. Like many malls in Southern California, it’s open-air. There are raised islands all along the center, planted with flowers or trees or just plain grass, and there are two large tiled fountains at one end. It’s almost like being at the park—a park with a movie theater, a food court, and Macy’s. Annalie loves to walk along the islands’ low walls, and today I remembered to bring pennies to throw in the fountains (the change is gathered and donated to an organization that improves the playgrounds in local parks), so she was having a fabulous time.

After we walked around for a while and tossed all the coins into the fountains, Annalie told me that before we had ice cream, “we should probably eat some healthy food, because you should have healthy food before you have ice cream!” I had to laugh. Here I was offering my kid ice cream for dinner and she was telling me she wanted healthy food?! I reminded her that we had eaten a late-afternoon snack of crackers and cheese and apples, and that the ice cream was really just a delayed dessert. We went to Cold Stone Creamery and she chose a Berry Trinity smoothie, probably one of the healthiest things there. I got a peanut butter & chocolate shake. They were both delicious.

Are you wondering what we did all weekend that made us want to sit at home all day on Monday and then have ice cream for dinner? First, we met another internet person, Sonja from the 7 Days Flickr group and girl with greencard.

I know, I know, it seems like all I do anymore is meet up with internet friends! But you know, when I move to a new town it usually takes me months to make new friends, and thanks to the internet when I moved this time I already knew a half-dozen people around here! Some of them I have not met in person yet, but I am looking forward to doing so. Because I’ve yet to have a bad internet meet-up.

Wait, he was smiling a second before Sonja took that photo, I swear!

We drove up to meet Sonja and her husband and their brand-new baby Noah at their beach hideaway, and other than Noah being a bit fussy and Annalie being wary around Sonja’s husband at first, it was great! We walked to a park near the beach and found a shady place to park the stroller while Annalie ran right over to the playground and began digging in the sand. Sonja and I chatted while she nursed Noah, changed his diaper, nursed him again, tried to get him to sleep, etc. I was very impressed by how calm Sonja stayed throughout, much calmer than I would have been at the same point in Annalie’s newborn days. Though I don’t have quite the same baby-whispering abilities my mom has, I was able to hold Noah for a little while so Sonja could play with my Nikon.

We ended our get-together with lunch at a local burger place. Sonja had claimed their burgers were almost as good as In-N-Out’s, and I have to agree—they were very tasty. And after all his fussing and nursing at the park, Noah was so worn out he slept straight through lunch so his mom and dad could both eat without worrying about dripping ketchup on his head. Wasn’t that sweet of him?

We were saying our good-byes in the parking lot when we realized we had not taken any photos of me and Sonja together, and as Sonja said, if we don’t get a photo it’s like it didn’t happen! Good thing we remembered.

We were not that far from Brenda‘s town, and it seemed silly to be that close and not at least call. I called and was told to come on up. I originally had vague plans to be there long enough for dinner, and we ended up leaving at 11 the next morning! In between, we tagged along to the last hour of a 2-year-old’s birthday party, but at least I knew the birthday boy and his mom, so that didn’t feel as awkward as it otherwise might have. We also went to the grocery store, as is our tradition, and I made mashed potatoes while Brenda made the rest of dinner. Due to the party and the grocery run, dinner was rather late, and Brenda’s husband Toby kindly invited us to stay so we wouldn’t have to drive home at night. So we borrowed pajamas and had an impromptu slumber party. After the kids were asleep Brenda and I watched three-fourths of Amelie. In the morning we got doughnuts and lattes and walked to the beach for breakfast.

Photo by secret agent josephine on Flickr

Not a bad way to spend a morning, even if I was wearing the same clothes as the day before.

For more photos of our busy weekend, see my Flickr photostream.