Swimmin' & Smokin'...meat that is

"Swimmin' & Smokin'," I know sounds a little country but, we are from Texas & my brain is currently on overdrive as I mentally decorate the western room for the twins so, that's the title that came to mind!

Rob & I change year to year on how we celebrate our anniversary including gift giving. Many years we just celebrate with going out. This year we decided on dinner out (twice) & our gift to each other was the purchase of a Smoker. We have tossed the idea around for awhile but as my appetite for red meat became more & more expensive throughout this pregnancy Rob decided that he wanted to bite the bullet & start smokin' his own meat.  Since then he has thanked me saying that it was really a gift for him because he loves the entire process.  I just smile thinking "Whatever you say honey" while I salivate even thinking about the BBQ I have enjoyed from the 3 days of smoking he has done. It was definitely a gift for me too! 

A couple Saturdays ago he awoke at 3am to fire up the smoker. The rest of us woke up & enjoyed a leisurely morning before welcoming Jenny, Karis & Isaac over for a swim. Lovely Florida in January, it was a perfect 80 degrees with a breeze so sitting outside was quite enjoyable. 

Here's part of the crew with the smoker in the background....

All three girls fought over who got to hold the hose to fill the pools.  Thankfully Karis & Eloise were okay with just letting Charlotte take over for filling the big one.  You can see how intent Bella Blue was on watching the water.  That dog LOVES getting wet & biting the water from the hose.  Sadly enough she nibbled Elo's finger on accident.  No pictures but there is definitely video footage.  I just left the camera rolling since she wasn't hurt too bad & it reminded me of a video we have of my brother Kyle at nearly the same age getting nipped by our dog. 

Can't beat having cousins to swim with!

Bella couldn't help herself & within about 15 minutes ended up in the pool.  The girls were amused for a very short time....

Then they became angry & tried with all their might to pull Bella out of the pool.  All three girls together still don't weigh as much as Belle : )

Once they got rid of the puppy dog Charlotte enjoyed some jumping.  Karis & Eloise preferred to ride the side of the pool like a horsey no matter how many times we asked them not to. 

While the girlies were swimmin' Isaac ate his lunch & watched all the splashing. This adorable little guy is just a month away from his first birthday! He makes me SO excited to meet our boys & will definitely enjoy having some buddies to spend days like today with. 

After lunch Isaac joined in the fun. Well it was fun in the mini pool all alone until the rest of the crew jumped in.  He was NOT happy ha!

We got dried off & then Elo & Karis pretended to take a nap...

My sweet baby Eloise, who is still my baby until the twins make their debut was happy to cuddle up on mommy for a bit.  In some ways she is seeming so big as she puts words together & gets more coordinated but then I look at her cute little babyish body in the picture on the right & am reminded that she is still more like a baby than a big girl at the moment.  Her chubby cheeks & thighs just make me melt. Her difficulty obeying & sheer delight in running through the house in the nude after a bath are things to savor as the baby days come to a close. Although I think kids might experience those same two things for longer than babyhood ; ) 

The big girls reclined in their chairs. We could not stop laughing about how Charlotte looked like a little old lady. I am guessing there aren't too many old ladies that suck their thumbs though.

When I flipped back through the pictures on the camera immediately after taking them it happened. It was the moment I realized why people keep saying "You must be due any day now!" I was in shock when I saw my side view....wow! No wonder Rob continually says "I think your belly might just split open!" Haha! 27 weeks & more to go, how much bigger can I get? Only time will tell!

Jenny got to help Rob do some rearranging with the meat. I was so hungry at this point I might have grabbed it off the grill & made a run for it. 

Rob had taken orders from three different families & smoked meat for all of us.  Luke & Taylor stopped by to pick up their order & found me & Rob sitting out back with our country music on reclining in our lawn chairs.  Their comment was "You sure bring a lot of Texas to this neighborhood!" That made me laugh hard even thinking about it later.  We did notice that many people that drove by slowed down & stared...that wouldn't happen in Texas ; ) Robby did say that I kicked it up a notch when I brought my craft project outside & was stitching up some cowboy hats & cactus's for the boys room. Bottom line, I'm proud to be a Texan. We ended up eating a delicious meal around 4 so it was a long day for Rob since he woke up at 3am to get things started!

Lovely weather, pretty cute kiddos & some amazing BBQ = a wonderful day!