In need of a nap

Kelly, Andy and Kitty arrived Thursday evening late enough that we ate at the local Appleby's, it being the one restaurant in Alameda I could be sure would be open late enough.  Per my request, Andy had picked up a couple of small, cheap, probably Chinese-made drums for me at their local Japanese festival in Phoenix. Just in time for my class at Kingdom A&S too! I'd played around with his at Estrella and liked it enough to ask him to get me one or two should he see them again.

I figured Friday (being a Friday) might be a good time to attempt Ole's Waffle Shop, because every time I've passed it on a weekend there's a line down the block. I now have to wonder why there has to be a line around the block on weekend mornings. It's not like it's the only game in town for breakfast. It was OK, not stellar, and the waffles were meh.
  ("Papa, WHY can't I have an espresso?")

We headed over to SF and spent part of the afternoon in Japantown. We ran into Dustin and Ri (in town visiting family) at Soko Hardware. I acquired a new pair of zori and a travel chopstick set. Did Kinokuniya and Ri and Kelly went into PikaPika with the baby - and came out with little plastic maneki neko figurines with Kitty's face on them. Dustin and Ri went off to meet friends at or near the zoo and we had lunch at Kushi Tsuru. Also discovered that Genji Antiques has moved out to a new location so not anywhere near Japantown, it's going to require wheels and a map to find it the next time I have the urge.

We were going to attempt to meet Dustin and Ri again at the tea garden in Golden Gate Park. That didn't come off, but we did go and walk around. The irises were still flowering and it was a pretty day to be there. The baby was pretty wiped out by the time we got out of SF, so I ordered a pizza and we stayed in with a dvd of "Madagascar."

Saturday we had a much nicer breakfast at the Little House Cafe. I had a spinach and gruyere crepe, but I did taste Kelly's waffle and it was excellent. The place is tiny and most of the seating is outside, but it's definitely worth a little wait. They even had a crate with toys for guests' children to play with.
(Hanging at Little House.)
We met Dustin, Ri, Seth and Heather over at Marina Green  by Fort Mason, walked along the waterfront and met D & Ri's family for lunch at the Buena Vista Cafe. There was a stop at Ghirardelli for those that wanted ice cream: those of us who didn't sat outside enjoying the view of the Hyde Street Pier down the block. We walked out to Pier 39 amid holiday crowds - OK, I've done Fisherman's Wharf a lot. I've seen it. I don't want to buy anything down there and crowds make me twitch. We cut down to Beach Street for the walk back up to the car.

Took baby home for a diaper change and some play time, during which she scent marked my carpet as they do. Decided to try Scott's Seafood over at Jack London Square. Decent seafood, nice view from the patio of the port of Oakland and the bay at sunset, and we had a fabulous waiter who brought a big plate of fruit for Kitty, who gnawed a bit of canteloupe. My sole was very good.

We had a slight adventure, walking up Broadway so Kelly could check out Sacred Tattoo, then back to the car and home for the evening. layla_lilah  will be pleased to know that Kitty has been bonding with the sock monkey and has named him Baba. (What do you want from an 8 month old?)
(Baba's tail is perfect for teething on.)

Yesterday, we dropped Kelly and Kitty off in Sausalito to meet a friend for lunch. The place was teeming with tourists, so Andy and I decamped back to Berkeley, hit Moe's and Amoeba Music, had lunch at Bongo Burger, then collected Kelly later in the afternoon and brought her back to Berkeley to check a couple of tattoo parlors. She finally decided on Galaxxi, consulted with an artist and added another hieroglyph (well, three small ones) to her collection. By the time she was done, it was getting late-ish and we were all tired and nobody could decide what they wanted to eat. I made a command decision and navigated us back to the Appleby's.

They packed out and left this morning. I'm going to make myself an egg in a few minutes and contemplate my day.  Hell, I may do nothing!

EDIT: More photos here. Insulin injections optional.