on our way to the playground, we ran into an old friend (”old” in this case = “3 years old”.  this is Mia, who Em’s known most of her life).  we quickly detoured from our playground plans and followed Miss Mia to the laundry room and then to her apartment.
 

…where we found Pwincess dresses, a magic wand, and slippery puwple slippers…
 

…and even a magic mirror to inspect our own princess-ness (and Mia’s perfect green fairy-ness). 

we stayed all day, playing on Mia’s cool inside-slide… 

over-accessorizing and pretending to talk on the phone, riding elephants… 

watching Noggin instead of taking a nap, and playing some rocking tunes on the accordion.  we ate dinner there and Em had her first-ever chocolate milk, and by the time we got home… 

…em was too exhausted from a full day to even make it to bath time.

what did the mommies do during this 6-hour playdate?  we had a little wine, and she taught me how to make lambchops and really-good-pasta…i took lots of pictures, and we mooned over Mia’s 3-month-old brother…but mostly we just talked.  and talked.  and talked.  and i cried a little, and she set me straight, and gave me advice, and made me feel stronger and more brave, and i remembered once again how lucky i am to have her; dear “Tia Sonia” who treats us like family (in all the good AND tough ways) and is such a true friend. she makes me so happy to be right where i am.