Weekend Near The Bay

"When the lights... go down... in the city..." Every time I hear that song, I think about San Francisco, as I should be. That IS what that song is about.

This past long (Memorial Day) weekend, Princess and I accompanied T, D, and C to the Bay Area for a full weekend of gaming (them) and kid-wrangling (us). The hotel we stayed at was not near much, and I didn't have a car or carseat, but we made due.

We arrived Thursday evening, checked in, and got situated. Dinner was in the hotel pub, Knuckles. C was cute, cheering for hockey (that's D's influence, being from Canada). D had a staff meeting (she worked the event, T played), so T actually put C down that night. Princess and I decided it would be best if we went down to the lobby to read until C was out. We ended up doing that every night (although the other nights, it was D that put her down).

Friday, I found the hotel's STARBUCKS (better than most I've had, btw; not a big SB fan) and had the girls share a banana. That was our morning routine (since D showered & fed C when she got up every morning). D had to work 'til early dinnertime, so D.W. came down from Vacaville (a little over an hour's drive north of where we were) and did lunch and the park with us. She even brought her "fuzzy baby". C's funny about dogs; she loves them, but only when they're no closer than 4 feet or so... Any closer than that and she gets uncomfortable. In the small amount of time we were outside, I actually got a little bit of a sunburn. Not enough to blister or be uncomfortable; just enough to be red (forehead, nose, forearms, & clavicle areas).

We got back and C went down pretty easily for her nap. What surprised me was how good Princess was at the whole process. I guess it shouldn't; she has taken care of babies before. D was off work in time to meet us for dinner, so we headed back to Knuckles. Princess decided to give C a bath to give D a break, which was cute (I got video of one of her baths).

Saturday, D only worked a little in the morning, so we waited until she was done and did lunch buffet in the lobby. D & T got me a 20 minute chair massage, too, which was fabulous! C went down soon after that, and we had a relaxing afternoon. T was done with his game by mid-afternoon, so they had a little date night while Princess and I took C back to the room and ordered pizza. Luckily, a couple of pizza joints DO deliver to the hotel! They were back in time to get C down and T was off again to go play with his friends.

Sunday was a lazy morning for us. D had to work early (and most of the day), but T didn't have a game 'til later so he hung for a bit. I wanted to take the trolley to downtown for shopping and walking around (since there were no playground parks within easy walking distance - both were on the other side of the freeway & difficult to get to), but since C was napping, we didn't make the 150p. That meant we had to wait until 350p... I told T what we were doing, and after some back and forth, he asked us to stop by his gaming room before we left. That actually made us late, so we had to wait for the next one, 45 minutes later. Argh. That gave us only 45 minutes to shop before we had to get back on the trolley to make it back to the hotel by 6p.

I could have stayed in downtown all afternoon. Had we made the 150p, I would have been absolutely content. We basically had time to hit one women's clothing boutique (didn't buy), a baby boutique (bought a couple things, including a nice necklace for Princess as a "thank you" gift), and Baby Gap (bought a couple things there, too) before we had to go. However, I wasn't about to miss In 'n Out for dinner, so that was fine. After we all ate together in the big room T & his buddies were gaming in, there was an awards ceremony. T & D both won a little something, so yay for them! Their friends, M. S. and C. S., also won some stuff. M. S. paints miniatures; I've seen some of her work. She's really good. So is D, though...

That turned in to a later-than-usual night for C, so it actually took D about an hour to get her down. D was super-exhausted and was planning on going to bed early, but I kept her up talking. I love my SIL very much and am so very glad T has such an awesome wife (& daughter, of course).

Monday, D worked a little bit after getting C up and ready for the day. T, Princess, and I packed up most of our things and headed downstairs to meet their friends (and D; turns out she got off work in time to come eat with us). We planned to hit MAX'S (a diner practically across the street) for breakfast, but found out they were closed; darn holiday! So, we all traipsed upstairs to the atrium for breakfast.

During breakfast, I chatted a little with M. S. and found out since I'm T's sister, I'm "in". HAHA! Cool. I've been accepted! Actually, that was nice.

Highlights of the weekend include:
1. C saying my & Princess's names. Actually, her toddler-speak is very understandable for the most part. The funny part is how quickly it came back to me.
2. The chair massage.
3. Shopping in downtown.
4. In 'n Out Burger.
5. D.W.'s visit, even though it was short.
6. Being trusted with the care of my niece.
7. Being invited back next year.