playdate plans kindergartner style

The other day, Noah jumped off the bus, came running up to me and said, "Mom, Alex invited me to her house to play right now. Can I go?" Hold up! Who's Alex? Where does this Alex girl live? How old is she? Does her mom know about this invite? Noah had most of the answers - Alex is apparently a girl in his class who also rides his bus. She lives near the next bus stop and according to Noah, "in a brown house." Noah was certain her mom knew Noah was invited and we had to go NOW. I convinced him he needed to have a snack, do his homework and of course, practice piano. After all of that, we went in search of Alex's house. Can I just tell you how many brown houses are near the next bus stop?? Needless to say, we were unable to track down Alex's house (despite the fact that Noah wanted to knock on every brown house's door and ask if Alex lived there...) and I convinced him that I would send Alex's mom a note via Alex the next day and go from there. How exactly does one write a note to someone when you don't know a first or last name? Mine went something like this: "Hi Alex's Mom! This is Noah's Mom! ..." Gave her our phone number and address and waited for her call. She did finally call and Alex does NOT live in a brown house - it's actually gray. And though she lives NEAR the next bus stop, it's not on the same street as the bus stop. No wonder our initial search was fruitless. LOL! And to top it all off? Of course her mom had no idea that Noah was invited to their house and because Alex has a little brother named NOAH, every time Alex said, "Mom, I want to play with Noah" she was sent into the next room or outside to play with her brother. :)