Still crazy ...

... after all these (11) years. Yes, I know everyone's dying to hear about our romantic weekend away (that would be, our romantic 22 hours away), but FIRST, an aside:

As much as I commented last week on my appreciation for NPR, I must confess that no entertainment rivals driving a two year old around town, especially one who talks like this:
"Hey, guys! I have a story to tell you."
"OK, Caroline, we're all ears."
"Once upon a time, there was a girl named Goldilocks. [Schoolbus passes us.] No! Once upon a time, there was a girl named Goldi-BUS!" Uproarious giggles. She cracks herself up. "And she drawed a house ..."

Okay. So. Le week-end. It was, in brief, fantastic. We deposited our cherished offspring and then headed over to Central Market for a smoothie, since we hadn't eaten since breakfast and had burned lots of calories clapping for Eliza at her dance performance. Then it was on to the Omni Hotel downtown (yeehaw for Priceline; we got it for a steal on graduation weekend, no less!) where we were reminded of one of life's little lessons: When celebrating your wedding anniversary, always, always, mention it to any hotel or restaurant staff you might encounter. You never know when there will be goodies. In this case, a bottle of wine and a fruit and cheese plate when we returned that night.

We ate an early dinner at Z Tejas, avoiding the UT commencement crowds, and arrived in plenty of time to find a spot on the hillside for the Much Ado about Nothing performance. Ah, so much fun! Since I love the movie, I knew most of the lines, but it was so neat to see them performed differently. And the actors who played Benedick and Beatrice just exactly nailed it. Amazing.

Sunday morning, before picking up our kids at our church hall, we got to wander around downtown Austin, one of the The Coolest Cities on da Planet, pick up breakfast tacos at the Hideout, hold hands, and pretend to be tourists, which we NEVER get to do. It truly felt like assuming some kind of stolen identity, escaping for a little while from our mommy-and-daddy routine, which after all, was sort of the point.

Oh, and because this is US after all, we did have one of Those Moments. Waiting for the elevator Sunday morning, we watched packed elevators pass us by again and again, until we, and the college guy waiting with us, decided to chuck the whole thing and find the stairs (it was the fifth floor, after all). Well, let's just say the stairs were clearly never intended for Omni guest use. Nothing posh about them, and here's the rub -- no escape. We literally came to the bottom of the stairs and had to choose between a door that would set off the fire alarm or a locked door. Trapped with the dead grasshoppers in the stairwell of a grand hotel -- is this what you get for not paying full price for your room? We waved to the security cameras, and finally the guy with us got his brother on the phone, who called the front desk and asked them to come let us out. Did we all feel a teensy bit sheepish and in desperate need of explaining the elevator problem over and over to the desk clerk? Oh, you betcha.