Annalie was digging around in the sparkly pink Caboodles case we use to store the costume jewelry and hair clips she never wears. I idly asked her what she was looking for. “Barrettes,” she answered, handing me a handful. “Can you put all these in my hair for me?”

“Sure,” I said. “You want all of them in your hair?”

“Yes, please.” She rummaged around some more in the case and produced more barrettes. “Oh, and I have to put this one in too, and this one…oh, and this one, of course.”

I gave Annalie’s hair a quick combing and started clipping. We had our usual hairstyling conversation: I remarked that it would go much faster if she would just sit still for two seconds, she responded with her standard but-I-only-wanted-to comeback. Traditions are nice, aren’t they?

The barrettes stayed in her hair for an hour or so, which was 55 minutes longer than I’d expected. I had left Annalie upstairs coloring while I unloaded the dishwasher downstairs, and when I came back upstairs she had moved on to putting various stuffed animals in a toy grocery cart, and there was a neat, colorful pile of discarded barrettes on the cedar chest.

I wish she’d let me put clips in her hair for real occasionally.

Aebleskiver and bacon for breakfast. I usually cook bacon in the oven (on a cookie sheet, 15-20 minutes at 400F, turn once) but when we took it out it wasn’t quite crispy enough. I rhetorically asked Deborah if she knew any tricks for crisping bacon up, and she said, “Just stick the whole plate in the microwave for a minute.” It worked like a charm.

Is 10am too early for a popsicle? Nah.

Then we ran some errands, but I have no photographic evidence of those so you’ll have to take my word for it.

Lunch at Chick-Fil-A, which was something we did all the time with our playgroup friends in Maryland. It was nice to continue the tradition and to eat waffle fries again. This photo makes me laugh because I moved just before the timer took the picture and it looks like I am doing a robot dance. That is especially funny if you know me in real life because I can’t dance.

We stopped at a mountaintop amphitheater to take in the view and enjoy the breeze. The kids climbed all over the stairs and stage and even did an impromptu concert featuring “Jesus Loves Me” and the A-B-C song.

We tried to get the kids to pose in front of some flowers, but they wouldn’t. So Deborah and I posed instead.

As Annalie would say, there’s nothing better than playing in the pool on a hot summer day! The kids had fun anyway. Deborah and I spent much of the time refereeing arguments and saying things like, “Walk please, don’t run!” and “You’re in the pool, you have to expect you’re gonna get splashed. Just splash him back next time!” and “I said DON’T throw water in your sister’s face!” Good times.

Christian (Deborah’s husband) called to ask if we could be ready to leave in half an hour. We said sure, no problem. Then we spent the next 30 minutes rushing madly around, packing and cleaning up the kitchen and Annalie’s bedroom and loading the vehicles with suitcases and bags and still-damp children. Christian drove their SUV and enjoyed the peace and quiet. Deborah and I took the kids in the minivan. Five hours on the road in a minivan with two preschoolers and a toddler who skipped her nap: REAL good times. At least Deborah and I had lots of time to chat in between handing out snacks and asking the kids to stop screaming.

That’s all for now, folks! Thank you and good night.

It’s getting late and I need to go to bed so I can get up early and make aebleskiver and bacon for breakfast, but I know if I don’t throw a quick post up now I will have new things to blog about and this fun day will get overlooked. And I don’t want to overlook our first visit from Maryland friends!

My good friend Deborah was one of the moms in our playgroup back in Maryland. She and her family moved to California six months before we did. They live a few hours’ drive away from us now, which is fantastic.

They invited us to go to Sea World with them for an early celebration of Christian’s 4th birthday today. It was an extra-warm day and we were all hot and sweaty running around the park and sitting in the sun for the shows…but it was completely worth it! The kids LOVED the Shamu Show and the dolphins, they got to feed sea lions and touch starfish, and they got to eat Shamu-shaped ice cream bars. What more could a kid want?

Annalie was extremely excited for her friends to get here. She asked me about 87 times over the last two days, “WHEN will Christian and Anna get here? Why is it taking SO LONG?” She really misses her Maryland friends, which isn’t surprising considering how much time we spent with them all.

It’s been wonderful to see our dear, familiar friends again. You know the kind of friends who are so comfortable and close that even when you have not seen them for six months, it feels like it’s only been two days? That’s what kind of friends Deborah and her family are. I love friends like that.