Can you believe how tan Lily is compared to the boys?
I think Jack had the best time. He hit the water over and over to make big splashes.
Poor Bennie got the safe seat. He just wasn't quite sure what to make of the whole thing. He kept trying to stand up, crawl, and get out....So we gave him a duck to gnaw on for awhile...
Bennie and Jack checking out the manatee. Or was it checking them out?
I swear Lily wasn't smiling until I pulled the camera out and pointed it at her.
So, really, what's cuter? The beer belly, the double chin, or the thunder thighs? He is quite the butterball these days. As you can imagine this tornado can do some damage.
Both Jack and Lily have been pulling up on furniture as well. Lily cannot be stopped. Once she sees something she wants that's it. She's off. There's no sidetracking or distracting her. Determination and grit is what she's made of. Except when she falls and she CRIES. I mean loud, can't breath, sobbing tears. It's terrible. But, she's soon to wipe away the tears and put on her normal happy face. Especially when there is a camera. She always turns it on for the camera!
Lily pulling all of the toys out of the toy basket...and having a ball. She also loves playing peak-a-boo.
For some strange reason the bathroom holds secrets I cannot imagine. We have to leave the door closed now. Did you know toilets are fascinating? How about toilet brushes? Apparently that is where the real fun is. Ick.
They play together a lot now. By together I mean they crawl over each other, try to rip ears off, and are especially interested in gouging eyeballs out. Mine or theirs it doesn't matter. Then there is the toy stealing. Poor Jack has taken to playing by himself because if he gets near the other two they steal his toy. It's so sad. He just looks at the toy...looks at me...and looks back at the toy. Then he whines a little and holds his arms out...He's my little lover. He's happiest when he's being cuddled. He rarely wiggles or wants to be put down. Such a sweetie.
We seem to be having a particularly difficult time changing Jack's diaper lately. He is a flipper. As soon as you get him down he turns over. Fast. I've gotten really good at changing diapers upside down. Heck, I've gotten good a changing diapers period.Watching the Cowboy game with Dad.
Just hanging out in Jack's bed.
Brian and I caught the opening UT game, which was no where near as blistering hot as we thought it would be. I was prepared to sweat like crazy and it wasn't that bad. We went down for the weekend with our friends Jason and Kim. We hit Trudy's before hand and enjoyed some Mexican Food. A fantastic day filled with good friends, good food, and a good game. Which, of course we won, against some team I had never heard of before. We did spend quite a bit of time stuck in traffic, and there is a strong possibility I broke a few laws while finding a parking spot, but I did find the very last spot on the top of a nearby parking garage. Of course, I also got stuck for an hour trying to get out of said parking garage. We finally just parked a whole floor down (yes it took an hour to make it only one floor) and enjoyed a local pub while waiting for the traffic to die down. Worked like a charm!
We stayed in New Braunfels at a nifty little rental house on the river that Brian found. It was the perfect place to relax and replenish my sleep.
And...the REAL reason for the trip??? A visit to a few of our fine State's finest BBQ joints. The first stop was Smitty's Market in Lockhart, TX.
After a shocking wait in front of a blazing hot pit fire (Brian and Jason) I see Brian emerge from behind the double doors with a heck of a lot of meat wrapped in brown paper. Kim and I were holding seats in the common area. He carried it like carries his own babies. Carefully...very carefully. It contained a selection of Smitty's finest...perhaps cut by Smitty himself (an unusually slow older gentleman, thus the 45 minute wait). Smitty's is consistently on the top 5 list each year and was well worth the wait, even if I just sat in the AC and sipped my Pepsi. Hey-it was entirely too hot in that room and there's just no reason we all had to suffer, right? Your only utensils are spoons for the beans and a knife to cut the sausage up. Other than that you had to use the two hands that God gave you to stuff mass amounts of meat in your mouth. It was fantastic. The overall favorite was the ribs. My second favorite thing was the sausage. Pure greatness.
The next stop was Cooper's in Llano. Again, another wait, but at least not in an actual oven. I LOVE their BBQ sauce. The brisket was my favorite there. The best part is that they will soon have a store in Dallas. I can't wait!
We took the scenic route back. As good as it is to get away for some much needed rest, I miss those babies so much. They are a lot of work and some days can be exhausting but they are the joys of my life and being away from them is just so hard. I know it is good for all of us to have some time to be spoiled, though. I'm pretty sure that if I wasn't the only one driving I might have snuck home Saturday night. They probably would have told me to go away because they were enjoying all of the spoiling they were getting!
