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!

Bug lost a shoe at the beach the other day. We had walked a couple of blocks uphill away from the beach by the time we realized it was missing (she was sitting in the jog stroller), so I waited with the kids while Brenda went back down to look for the shoe. Annalie and Bug were having a fantastic talk about their wishes, mainly involving wanting the world to be made of delicious foods, so I scrambled for my camera and took a couple of short videos. They’re upside-down because I was trying not to interrupt the flow of their hilarious conversation.

Sadly, I missed taping the part where Bug was wishing the whole world were made of candy. Annalie informed her that if the world were made of candy, then she’d have to go to the dentist a lot. “Why?” Bug wanted to know.

“Because if you ate all that candy, then you’d get lots of cavities,” Annalie informed her.

Bug thought about that for a minute. “But I wouldn’t eat a LOT of candy every day, I would just eat ONE piece.”

“Then you should just wish for one special piece of candy every day,” Annalie advised her. “That way you’d enjoy it more.”

“Yeah,” Bug immediately agreed. “You’re right. I would just wish for one special piece every day.”

*Pah is Bug’s word for pacifier. She has pretty much stopped using pahs, but she remembers them fondly.

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!