Sammy Goes to Campus, or Brief Interviews with Happy People

Samuel's been asking us to take him to UT. He sees the tower when we're out driving and shouts and points repeatedly. I'm pretty sure he thinks they keep cars in there.

Saturday, we decided to indulge the kid and walk around campus. He did love seeing the tower up close, but the highlight of the excursion was finding rocks. That's right. We walked from LBJ Library to Dobie Mall, showing Sammy all our old favorite spots ("Look, Sammy, that's where I wrote that one German Film Comedy essay about Marlene Diedrich's embodiment of the spirit of Berlin!" Bleh.), and his response was "Rocks! Sammy find rocks!" Although, the hot air balloon detail on the side of the Harry Ransom Center was a big hit. Sammy kept asking to "ride in it" which is both cute and alarming. Where's his depth perception? Where's his understanding of "this is a wall; this is not a real hot air balloon; I cannot ride in it; no one's ever ridden in it; it's made of glass and could never be airborne, etc."? Kids are strange.

You know who else is strange? People. People filming strangers on campus. People asking strangers on camera if they're happy, why they're happy, if they think Austin is happy, and if they wouldn't mind stating their happiness on a scale of 1 to 10. Apparently, Will and I look like [happy] people who wouldn't mind standing in front of a camera to answer [happy] questions. Because I know you're dying to know my answers, here they are:

1. I'm happy.
2. I'm happy because of breakfast tacos and my kid.
3. I think Austin is happy. Why? There are hills and the lake and music and breakfast tacos and sunshine (?). (Yes, I'm great on camera.)
4. I'm a 7 on the happy scale.

Will said he thought Austin was happy with itself. (I love my husband.) And then he stated he was an 8 on the happy scale, which is a lie, because there's no way he's happier than me. This almost led to an argument, which really, when you think about it, is the best way to end an interview about happiness with a stranger.

Fun times before The Happy Interview:

Sammy finds a real hot air balloon in between a sad lady (a 2 on the happy scale?) and a scary lady (no higher than a -1).

More fun at the Harry Ransom Center:

The tower in all its glory and happiness:

In other news, Sammy told me the following after breakfast this weekend: "Thank you, Mama, [for] cooking p[ot]atoes and bacon." People, he said this on his own. Which leads me to the following conclusions: (1) Sammy is the cutest boy ever, (2) I'm really good at making potatoes and bacon, and (3) Sammy's probably a 10 on the happy scale.