An Elvis Sighting and other Stories from a Very Rock and Roll Weekend (A Very Long Post)

Aaaaaaahhhh....Monday. Thank goodness, because I need a break. If any family knows how to pack too much into a weekend, it's mine. We need to learn to space out our activities better. That being said, I wouldn't change a thing about the weekend we just had. It was a blast. And there will be plenty of time for doing nothing later on.

I would start with Friday night, but at the moment, I can't remember what we did Friday night. It seems so long ago. Oh yeah...nothing big. We had ice cream and watched the Little Mermaid. I'm not crazy about that movie, but Daphne has been asking to watch it again, so I got it at the library. Meh. Moving on to Saturday.

Saturday was the first day of the Summer Farmer's Market, so Daphne and I went to check it out while Kev worked in the yard. They had a bunch of kids' activities, so we stayed way too long and practically had to run home so we could get to soccer. Poor Daphne was exhausted before practice even started, and it was HOT. The humidity here is like nothing I ever experienced in Texas. I think we're in for a difficult summer. I will try not to complain too much. Anyway, Daphne made it through practice. She was tired, but never quit. I was proud of her. Several of the other kids checked out about halfway through, and just sat down on their soccer balls refusing to participate.

After practice, the kids had to all hurry over to another school for soccer pictures. Only five kids showed up from Daphne's team, and one of them refused to have his picture taken. But Daphne did fine. She wouldn't smile, of course. "Soccer players are tough." I'll post a picture when we get them.

At that point, Daphne headed off with G-Ma and G-Pa for a sleepover at their house, and Kev and I came home to crash. But there wasn't much time for rest, because I had scheduled band practice. It was really fun, and I got to play the bass. I think maybe the bass is the instrument for me. It's so easy and fun to play. Anyway, we ran through a few songs to practice for an upcoming house band get-together with some of our musical friends. PPHPHB is back in action, and that's a good thing.

Suddenly, it was dinner time, and I had failed to prepare the things that I had planned to make for dinner, so discussions began about what and where to eat. Kev mentioned going to DC, and I'm sure he expected that idea to be shot down right away. If you know me very well, you know that something like a trip into DC usually needs to be on the calendar for at least a week ahead of time. Anything that's any kind of a production requires advance notice. But for some reason, I liked the idea this time. In fact, I got all excited.

So, off to DC we went. And it wasn't such a big production after all. Navigation was a little tricky, even with GPS, but we made it, and easily found a free parking space too! We went to dinner at Jaleo, a Spanish Tapas place in Chinatown, and that is where we saw Elvis (above), who showed up to surprise a bachelorette party and created quite a scene. We were seated right in the front window, so there was interesting people-watching during dinner. Everything we ordered was delicious, but my very favorite thing was a cinnamon apricot that happened to be a garnish on our goat cheese plate. I told Kev I felt like I was on vacation. We need to do this kind of thing more often.

After dinner, we took off down the mall toward the memorials, which are cool during the day, but spectacular at night. If you are ever a tourist in DC, I recommend seeing it in the dark. Especially Lincloln, WWII, and the Korean War Memorial.

We probably walked over three miles total, and our feet were killing us, but we had a great time. I'd say we probably walked off most of dinner. We got home just before midnight, and I think I was asleep within seconds.

Sunday morning, it was time to play Rock Band. We were excited last time we played because we were awarded a bunch of new cities and songs. Unfortunately we discovered that almost all of the new stuff is death metal, and you have to play it on "hard" level. Just to see what would happen, we tried playing Metallica's "Battery," and failed within about 20 seconds. We immediately played a "make-your-own-setlist" of three easy songs that we like playing. I picked Spoonman, and am now up to 94% on medium. Then we tried a "Drummer's showcase" five-song mystery set, and it turned out to be "Battery" and 4 other of the new death metal songs. I played it on medium, but still failed a few times and Kev had to save the band. I think the guitar parts must have been pretty easy, but I was sweating so much by the time we finished the set that I needed a shower. It was hard, but it was fun. And maybe it will make me a better drummer. By the way, WHO listens to that awful stuff? It sounds like the "singers" are throwing up. Terrible.

After lunch, I went to pick up Daphne and brought her home to get ready for the big Dan Zanes show in Bethesda. It almost didn't happen. She was so tired from her adventures at Grandma's that she had a MASSIVE fit about what she was going to wear, and we finally just had to force her into her clothes and into the car, where she cried, then apologized, then fell asleep.

It's good that she "changed her ways" and got to go, because it was a GREAT show and we all three had a blast. Dan Zanes is awesome, and if you've never heard him you should check him out, especially if you have kids. (Some of you may remember him from the Del Fuegos). Halfway through the concert, Daphne had to go potty, and in the bathroom she looked up at me and said, "Mom, this is SO awesome." That made it worth it, fit and all.

At the end of the show, Dan Zanes and the band paraded us all out of the concert hall and into the lobby, leading us through "Sidewalks of New York" over and over. Hearing 4 or 5 hundred people all singing together like that was something special, and I'm so glad Daphne got to be part of it.

At the end of the parade, Dan Zanes stayed in the lobby signing autographs for about 45 minutes. Daphne got to meet him, and he signed her ticket:

He seems to have such a huge personality on stage, but he was very quiet and almost shy when we met him. Perhaps he was a little freaked out by the huge mob of toddlers and their parents which had surrounded him and blocked him against a wall. I would have been. But he was cool and I don't think Daphne will forget it. She got to meet the drummer and guitarist too, and we bought the new DVD which I'm looking forward to watching. The most disappointing thing was that in the chaos of the fit, I forgot my camera. I could have gotten some really great shots.

We had a post-concert dinner at the gas station Thai place, (which was out of Thai Iced Tea AGAIN!) and then came home and crashed. Daphne was asleep by 8:30 (and she actually slept in this morning!), and Kev and I weren't far behind.

It was great. But now I am ready for a few days of down time. A little reading and knitting sounds good to me. But first, I must go to the grocery store. All we have here is cheese and Nutella. So, I'm off to get food.

Whew!

The End.