URL Friends, IRL Meetups

Last week was filled with Bloggity Friendship Goodness!

First. there was the almost spontaneous (howabout tomorrow?) meeting with Lunasea at the boardwalk. During which I was somewhat startled by the feral fearless and adventurous natures of my children in contrast to her extremely cautious (and crazily adorable) boys. Our children were happy enough to meet (full adult disclosure: we were way more excited to meet each other than the kids were) and hang out together, but when it came to the rides, they became polar opposites.
I suggested that A and Ben take a moment to watch Supergirl and Bubbs go on the kiddie helicopter ride; no pressure, just watch them go and then decide if they wanted to ride. Of course Supergirl took that opportunity to show off the joystick of the helicopter ride, jerking it forward and back quickly, making the helicopter convulse as rebelliously as allowed on it's no-doubt extremely safe and regularly inspected kiddie ride. Up :{jerk}: Down :{jerk}: Up :: Up :: Up :: Down :: Up :: Down :: Down :: Up ::Down :: Up :: Up:: YOU GET THE IDEA, YES?
Nice job, kids. Scare the sensitive guests. Jeebz when will my kids start using the manners I have been using on them all these years? I mean the good ones.
After that ride it was no better. My kids wanted to ride everything, Lunasea's kids wanted to ride nothing, and all we wanted to do was eat fried food drink beer and talk.
We got along (I thought, though I tend to the deluded side) fabulously, and the children got along very well too - as long as there were no mechanical ride shenanigans involved.
The children's jaunt to the most polluted in all of town beach proved to be their most fun connection of all. Garbage and sewage drains brings children together.

Eventually, we convinced the Lunasea family to go on one ride with us. I was a little worried I was going to get a parking ticket if we lingered, but hell - I was going to go on one ride at least with them! The boys agreed to the merry-go-round. This was, I have to point out, after I was seen dragging my highly motivated (and slightly deluded) two year old away from the log ride and the giant roller coaster to ride the damn carousel already.
First I got my own kids situated. Supergirl predictably chose the highly dangerous outside ring horse, dangerous because she is waaaay to small to reach out and grab for the brass rings, which she does anyway, hanging nimbly yet obliviously and possibly falsely secure - by the strap of leather attached to her painted horse....
Bubbles chose the horse next to Supergirl, and after he was seated securely on his psychedelic steed, he insisted that I also take mount upon a magical ride. I guess standing next to him kind of ruins the experience and demeans his whole dizzy rainbow cowboy fantasy, so I obliged and did a side-saddle (I was a-wearin a-skirt) on my inferior, interior-ring horse.
I looked for my new friends and scanned all the horses before the ride started. I wanted to get pics of everyone on their horses, but I couldn't find them anywhere!
Finally, I saw LunaMom waving at me from (what she called!) the granny bench! She was on the very stationary wide bench that is for...well...grannies. Grampies too. But her small children? They were not amused. Benjamin, flirt extraordinaire and owner of illegally long eyelashes, who is three, was not entirely comfortable with the carousel, according to LunaMom:

Ben started looking around and groused, "Why is there no seat belt on this?"

Me[LunaMom]: "Because people don't usually fall off these, honey. Really. It's not that dangerous."

ZOMG I had to laugh. Because, hey it was the hall of ghostly death MERRY-Go-ROUND! Poor LunaMom looked like she could have used a few rounds on the Giant Dipper. Those damn adorable kids were cramping her style! I can see how she lets them get away with it though....they are HOTDAMN cute! And Momma?? She's pretty hot herself and I cannot believe I let her escape my radar while she was on her one day drop-in Blogher experience. My Bad was in not thinking far enough ahead to booze up have lunch at the local not-so-horrible-brewery which is very close to the boardwalk. We were instead, destined to dine on soggy fries, watery pepsi drinks, and slippery corndogs.
We hugged and said goodbye.
I am a local and cheap and paid for outrageously overpriced meter parking and scoffed at the standard $10 boardwalk parking.
I got a ticket. HAHA on me.

This weekend I had happy hour/dinner/duskytime (this is that time right after dusk, when your kids get sucked into the video you have suddenly started so that you and your friends can chitty-chat) with some local bloggy friends who I don't see enough. Because I am mountain, and I am lame. I don't get out much. And after the fun time I had with the crafty ladies, I don't think you can persuade me to do otherwise. So come on over.
I felt guilty when Michelle asked me why I seemed to say the word craftbloggers with such intensity, as if they were pariahs.
I laughed and said I had been completely misunderstood, because I am way more likely to call those crafty ladies of mystical achievements, messiahs rather than pariahs.
I do not think that had been properly conveyed.
Sara brought a salad which I am still craving more of and was oh-so-deliciousy garlicky bluecheesey. Michelle brought dough. To make fresh naan. And her own very well-seasoned cast iron pans. And chutney. And yum. I made the Grace1 Special Salad (fresh uncooked corn, sliced off the cob, chunks of avocado and heirloom tomatoes, red onion and a few splashes of high quality olive oil), and some grilled chicken and skirt steaks.
And of course the cupcakes. The little faux ice cream cone cupcakes.
Which were eaten faster than I could photograph that batch.

Oh yes, and if you live near me and are trying to find those tiny cones? Don't bother. I got all four boxes in the county.