"Road Trip"

One of my favorite things about the job's flying perks is taking quick "road trips." Traveling to some place to which I could drive, but go a lot more frequently now that I fly free. These trips have included various places across the state, but the most frequent has been going down to Austin to spent the day or evening with my aunt, uncle, and cousin.

A couple of weekends ago, I flew down Saturday night to go to the Austin Symphony with my aunt and uncle. Although extremely frigid weather for the usually mild Hill Country, we had a great night. The performance art center there is very new, modern and quite impressive looking. And the symphony was fabulous - a great performance by the orchestra and highlighted by a pianist, always a favorite. Afterward, we enjoyed late night desert at the very Austinish Chez-Zee. Diane tried a very unusual Creme Brulee French Toast and I had a cheesecake with a Bavarian twist.

Seeing as our last Saturday flights leave well before midnight, I stayed the night and Sunday got to see my cousin Brenda and her adorable daughter, Cailyn. We all ate Sunday lunch at Threadgill's, where I had the best King Ranch casserole since I last had my grandmother's. Diane would probably want me to point out that she did cook Saturday night and they hadn't eaten out all week long. Leave it to me to ruin the streak!

Before my flight, we couldn't help but dress up Cailyn for these adorable pictures. This mouse costume was Jacinda's first Halloween costume, but was too big for Cailyn to wear this past October, so we decided to put her in it now that it fits. Isn't she cute?!