I am sure it will surprise no one to learn that we’ve been keeping busy. So many people to see, so many things to do, so little time! And everywhere we go, as Sonja pointed out, there are hundreds of cameras taking billions of photos. We joked that we should start a Flickr group for our trip. And then Sonja went and actually did it, because she was smart enough to realize it was kind of a good idea: Bethany and Annalie take SoCal 2010.

I am tired right now (in a good way) from a late-night gabfest with Madge and her husband, and am unable to come up with coherent words to describe these photos. So I’ll just say that these are some of my favorite photos from the last week.

If you want to see more photos, my photoset goin’ back to Cali is on Flickr. And now there’s the Flickr group!

I know, I know! We’ve been here three days already and I have not blogged one little bit. But it’s because we’ve been having so much fun and taking so many photos that I have not had a single spare moment to write about it all.

Our direct flight from DC to LAX was uneventful and landed 30 minutes early. Good job, Alaska Airlines! And for the first time I brought along my iPod loaded with movies for Annalie to watch, which was awesome, and meant I had full access to my computer for the whole flight to enjoy the Gogo Inflight Wifi that I decided to splurge on. It’s kind of a kick to be online when you’re flying five miles above the earth at 500 mph.

After we landed, we caught a shuttle to the car rental place and picked up our car, which I had to call Sonja to find out how to start. It was a hybrid and I’d never driven one before. Luckily Sonja owns a hybrid and understood my crisis, having had the same problem when she’d first bought her car. (I had to insert the key, push a button, AND push on the brake.)

We got it sorted out and drove to Sonja’s house. We’d barely gotten our stuff inside when Brenda showed up with Bug, and she and Annalie had a joyful reunion. Then we went to IKEA and Trader Joe’s, because it’s traditional for some reason when I visit friends for them to take me to the grocery store first thing.

Back at Sonja’s house Brenda brought in her crafting supplies and we all did a top-secret craft that she’ll be writing about for her alphamom craft column soon. Sonja got a little carried away with the craft supplies and robo-ized her toaster. I love my friends.

Yesterday Sonja and I met Madge for lunch at a really fantastic restaurant where I wanted to order one of everything on the menu. Luckily, Le Pain Quotidien has a restaurant in DC! So I can go back there when we go home.

The one in DC probably doesn’t have an uber-cool sculpture/fountain outside it that kids are encouraged to play in, though. We might have to go back there before we go home, just so the kids can play there again.

Yesterday afternoon, Sonja needed to stay home with Noah and make sure he got a good nap, so Annalie and I went to the beach with Brenda and Bug! It was a gorgeous day for it, and we ended up staying for three hours!

It was warm but not oppressively hot. The waves were HUGE thanks to a storm brewing off the coast somewhere, but the tide was low. That created a big, wide shallow area where we could splash and play without worrying about getting dragged out to sea. It was awesome.

We had a great time, playing and relaxing. It was exactly what we needed.

Lots more fun ahead!

Okay, so I don’t mean “god” in the usual sense. Lauren is one of the founders of my beloved 7 Days group on Flickr, and when she and Sarah set up the group they decided to award themselves the title of “gods” rather than the more prosaic and commonly used “admins.” I’m a moderator of that group, but my title is “angel.” Those titles probably give you a pretty good idea of what a fun group it is, if you have not gotten a clue from seeing some of my own self-portraits from 7 Days over the years.

Lauren lives in England, but she happened to be in the States for work training last week. And since we were visiting Dana and her family in North Carolina last weekend, it was no big deal to detour to Norfolk on the way home and meet her for dinner. Then we introduced her to frozen yogurt and toppings by the ounce, which she declared to be an idea England needs to import, pronto.

Lauren and Annalie made friends with a kitty in the window of a gallery. We walked past the closed gallery, and there was a little black-and-white cat walking around in the front windows. We crouched down to look at her, and she went crazy, rubbing up against the glass and even putting her paw on the glass where Annalie’s hand was. Too bad the gallery was closed, she really seemed to want to be petted!

Annalie showed her Color Wonder Princess Glitter coloring sheets to Lauren, and then offered to let Lauren color on them if she liked. Lauren was properly impressed with how cool they were, thus winning Annalie’s undying affection.

We even dragged Lauren to a nearby park so Annalie could burn off some energy before we started the three-hour drive home, and she graciously insisted she was happy to hang out with us till we were ready to take her home.

Basically, the meeting went exactly as I expected it to: it was fun and relaxed and full of talking and laughing as I finally sat at the same table as a friend I’d already known for three and a half years online, who just happened to live on another continent. It was lovely to meet you, Lauren, and learn all those mundane details that get overlooked online, like what you do for a living. I’m looking forward to seeing you again sometime, and wondering with happy anticipation who the next 7 Dayer I’ll meet will be.

Sorry for bombing you with posts left and right lately. Annalie and I are packing up and heading to California for two weeks to visit friends and family, and I know I’ll probably have a ton of photos and stories to blog while I’m there…or possibly, I won’t have any time to blog at all. Either way, I’m trying to catch up before we leave. One more post is coming and then it’ll be all about California for a while.