Brother, Joy, Alice, and my mom came up this weekend to visit.  It’s to celebrate Joy’s birthday and as a last-hurrah trip before she goes back to work full-time.  My mom arrived on Thursday night and Brother arrived with the gang on Friday around noon.

I was lucky enough to get the afternoon off so when I got home, we headed out to Downtown to meet up with them for a bit.

For dinner, we went to Hillstone per my mother’s request.  It was a beefalicious meal and we took advantage of the free corkage there.

Both Alice and Kumquat did pretty well that evening. On Saturday morning, we got up early and met up at the Ferry Plaza Farmers’ Market.

First meal of the day was a Belgian waffle the size of my hand and a cup of Blue Bottle Coffee – I felt like such a hipster.

Then after shopping for produce, we headed over to Pier 39 to see what else we could do, see, and eat.  We stopped at the mini-playground to let Kumquat burn some energy and Alice got to ride on Joy’s lap on the slide.  As Joy and I were in the restroom doing diaper changes, my mom picked up a bag of these scrumptious mini donuts from Trish’s.

Then we went over to pay the sealions a visit.  There didn’t seem to be as many of them today.

While we were there, my mom and I reminisced about the first time we brought Kumquat to this same spot.  It was right around Alice’s age so that made it even more special for us.

By 11, both kids were pooped out so we stopped for some clam chowder.

The grown-ups grubbed while the kids napped.  Aaaah…it was nice to have a little peace and quiet.

Next stop was the Aquarium of the Bay.  The kids were rested and I got 50% off everyone’s admission with my SF Zoo membership.  Awesome!!!

It was Alice’s first time at an aquarium and she couldn’t keep her eyes off all the activity.

For dinner, my mom was on babysitting duty with BOTH Kumquat and Alice.  Jes, Brother, Joy, and I went to Bouche, which is a little French bistro in the space that Bar Crudo used to occupy.  I had a tasty sole with risotto balls and lobster sauce.

Their crab mashed potatoes were also pretty tasty.

After dinner, we went next door to Tunnel Top Bar for one more drink before heading home.  It was nice to go without Kumquat for a change.  This place was definitely not kid-friendly so it was the perfect choice for the evening.  Thanks for babysitting, Mommy!!