Pictures from NOLA

We had a peaceful ride to New Orleans.  We drove until we got to Slidell and ate lunch at this yummy place.  The shrimp even pinched Walter's butt!

Then we went downtown and rode the Riverboat Cruise that went to the Battle of 1812 site.

Thursday we stayed in Slidell and went on a Swamp tour.

Thursday night was GAME TIME at the Sugar Bowl.

We Lost, But Memories Were Made

Walter asked me a couple months ago what I wanted for Christmas.  I told him a vacation.  I love to be on the go and I love seeing new places.  When I said a vacation, I was thinking with the kids, and I knew I wouldn't get it.  After all it's hunting season and going out of town is not on Walter's favorite things to do list! 

 

When he came home one day and said Merry early Christmas, we are going to New Orleans to the Sugar Bowl to watch Alabama play, I was shocked!  A vacation?  With no kids?  No way!  We haven't been out of town without kids since I was 11 weeks pregnant with the twins... so about 3 years ago.  We took that trip because we figured it wouldn't happen for a while once we had 3 kids!  Neither one of us have ever been to New Orleans so I was pumped.  Thankfully, my Mom stayed each night here with the kids and my Dad, Dale, Erica, and Paige helped with them during the day. 

We packed all we could into our trip.  We left January 1st at 6:45 in the morning.  We made it to Slidell before stopping to eat lunch at a place called Nola's.  I had my first shrimp po boy and it was yummy!  Walter had his first seafood "fix" too.  We left there and went straight to downtown NO.  We we first pulled up to Canal St we heard a boom.  We both thought we were encountering a shooting!  Haha!  Instead it was some mean teenagers throwing fireworks near a homeless person sitting on a bench in the middle of the day.  Sad.  We finally found parking and met up with Walter's parents to ride a Riverboat Cruise that took us to the War of 1812 Battlefield.  It was a nice ride along the river.  When we got back it was turning dark.  We wanted to experience Bourbon St, so we headed that way.  Wow!  How sad it is to see women posing in doorways wearing barely anything trying to lure you in.  Not much there for us now that we are old, so we headed on out. 
Thursday was game day and we decided to stay out of NO until that night.  We took it easy and stayed in the Slidell area visiting a little county store called Bayou Country, had some beignets for the first time, ate some authentic seafood, and then went on a swamp tour.  We saw turtles, a juvenile bald eagle, other birds, raccoons, a cottonmouth, and a water snake on our tour.  The houseboats people live on were interesting to say the least.  By the time we made it back to the hotel to get ready for the game it was COLD!  With a little, okay a lot, of maneuvering we found our parking deck and went in the Superdome!  Huge place!  I loved the pregame show, fireworks, the game was exciting even if we didn't pull off a W, and the halftime show was good too.  We could see the field good even though we were high up.  Definitely the best Alabama game I've ever been to.  After we lost, I wanted to stay to see if they dropped confetti.  Walter thought I was crazy but he waited anyway.  The field was rushed and no confetti, so we thought.  We did get to see a crazy OU fan run in circles on the field with security chasing him and then dragging him off the field.  That was exciting. 
This morning we woke up, Walter turned it on ESPN, and guess what I spotted?  Confetti!  What in the world!  Major disappointment that we missed it!  They need to pull the cord faster next time!
We got to sleep past 6:30 both mornings, enjoy peace and quiet, eat alone, have uninterrupted conversations and are now refreshed! 

Christmas Memories

I love CHRISTmas time!  I remember as a child being so excited to help my Mama decorate the yard with lights (white only because she didn't like the color ones).  I remember looking for a Christmas tree with my Dad along the river banks.  One year in particular sticks out because while trying to get a tree, my Dad stuck the saw down the back of his pants.  He squatted down behind the tree because he thought he heard someone coming and ripped his brand new Levis!  The same tree blew out of the boat on the ride home.  We found it in the road, crushed.  I cried so hard!  We ended up having a tree that was flat on one side up against the wall!  I also remember the joy of taking out the ornaments from the old and worn shoeboxes and placing them on the tree.  We always used homemade ornaments too, not the fancy ones.  I loved that!  I have so many great memories getting ready for Christmas!  I am trying to do the same for our three sweet boys.

Life is all about making memories.  The boys and I made salt dough ornaments one day.  Dillan and Daniel made a Santa and Rudolph from their handprints.  David wanted a baby Jesus (made this Mama proud) and a snowman.  They have each colored an ornament.  David was talking about D & D's scribbling so I showed him his ornament from when he was 2.  Yeah, it looked just like theirs!  He thought that was funny.  Walter (we conned him into it), David, and I put on the Christmas ornaments one night after the babies went to bed.  Maybe they can help next year.  Daniel has only broken 2 of them this year.  Yes, he's the destructive one!  David helped me wrap presents for everyone.  He was a big helper.  I cherish these time because I know they probably want last forever... although I hope they will.  We made snowmen out of powdered doughnuts for David's class party Tuesday night and then went to look at Christmas lights with my Mawmaw, Aunt ReRe, and Mom.  It was a fun night of laughter...mostly at my Mawmaw and the crazy things that happen to her.  The Quinn 5 went to look at lights one night too.  We really like the Christmas story in the neighborhood behind Smokin S BBQ.  All three kids SCREAM "Christmas lights" EVERY time they see some.  Scream and every are in caps for a reason! 
Christmas memories are in the making for the Quinn's.  I hope they are for you too. 

Thanksgiving Week

This week has been great so far! I am a busy body and have a hard time staying still.  I like to go, go, go and that is what we have done!

Saturday we participated in the Hope 4 Houston Run in Wetumpka.  This was our first experience with 5Ks.  We ARE NOT runners, but this was something we felt led to do... all of us.  David wanted to run to so he could earn miles for the 50 Mile Club at school.  We froze our rearends off, but had a great time. 

Sunday we traveled to Georgia.  I have always wanted to go to Callaway Gardens, but have never been.  Walter hasn't ever been either.  We went early so we could enjoy the trails and other things there.  I think our favorite was the Butterfly Garden.  David wanted to catch one of the butterflies so bad.  We enjoyed the outdoors.  Walter wants to go back another day so we can see everything.  That night we rode on the trolley to see the Christmas lights.  They were beautiful.  By the end of the ride, Daniel was ill and ready to sleep!

Monday we froze again and enjoyed the outdoors at my Dad's.  We walked around in the woods, had a leaf fight, threw rocks and sticks into the creek, and ate junk! 

Tuesday, it was a rainy, wet, cold mess so we stayed in.  I decided we would make ornaments thanks to Pinterest.  David and I mixed the dough and baked it.  David, Dillan, and Daniel made handprints.  We used a cookie cutter to make each one a dinosaur.  After we baked them and let them cool, they painted them.  That was fun until the babies started getting paint all over my floor... game over! 

Today, we left early and went to my Dad's work.  I wanted to take them again before he retires.  It was a good day.  We were taken on a fire truck ride down the runway.  At one end we squirted water out the front of the truck.  David was grinning ear to ear, Dillan was silent and staring, and Daniel had his mean luck shaking his head no!  The noise scared him a bit but he was a trooper.  We went to the other end of the runway and waited on the F-16s to taxi down.  This was the coolest thing!  We saw how the crew works!  The pilot kept waving at us and the kids waved back.  One of them gave us the thumbs up when he left.  Daniel told each plane bye as it left.  It was a great learning experience and great memory.  I know my Dad was happy and so were we. 

Tomorrow we will eat as a family at my Mom's house and be thankful for all we have and do.  I can't wait!

A Ninja and 2 Train Engineers

I love this time of year!  Kids have so much fun... and so do I.  This year David decided he wanted to be a Ninja, and he made a cool looking ninja too.  Daniel and Dillan were cute little train engineers.  The first time they dressed up, we went to our old church to a Trunk or Treat.  We enjoyed seeing our friends that we haven't seen in a while and the kids had a good time.  We walked around the field and played games, got candy, let the kids pet goats, and rode on a hay ride.  It was a pretty wild and bumpy hay ride!!!  Haha!  Dillan and Daniel didn't want to wear their hats at first, but I told them they had to wear them to get candy... so they did! 

On Halloween night we went trick or treating.  We like the more traditional approach to Halloween.  We don't see anything wrong with trick or treating.  My Mom, Dad, Amber, Daniel, Preston, Walter, me, and the kids went to River Oaks neighborhood.  Lots of candy was collected, fun had, and memories made. 

Atlanta Motor Speedway

Pawpaw took David on another journey Saturday.  A day trip to Atlanta Motor Speedway to watch the Busch series.  He used to take me to races when I was a child too.  I actually wanted to be a race car driver when I grew up.  Walter says I just practice on the road now. 

Anyway, he enjoyed his trip.  He got to go up and wave the green and white flags during time trials!  How cool is that?  Lucky little fellow.  His car of choice came in 2nd place.  Thankful that he has grandparents (all 4 of them) who spend time with him.

^This is the car he waved the flags for.

They Keep Each Other Occupied

In the last two years I have learned people have many misconceptions about having twins.  I hear comments from friends, family, and random people.  The most common remark is "They (Dillan and Daniel) can keep each other company."  This may happen for some, but this is not the case in the Quinn household.  If they are playing together, they are usually fussing over a toy or a blanket.  They are individuals and like different things... including things to play with.  They also argue over my attention.  Don't think they are going to sit in my lap at the same time.  Not a chance.  That would be way too easy.  They want one on one attention, not shared.  Don't get me wrong, they do sometimes laugh and play at each other, but not a whole lot. 

We also hear "I'm glad it's you, not me." Although I want to say "I'm glad too because obviously you are too weak to handle it" I keep my thoughts to myself.  Surprising, I know.  Instead I just smile.  I know God won't give me more than I can handle.  We have had to remind ourselves of this when times are tough or they are screaming and won't stop. 

 "You have your hands full" is another one that sticks out.  Do you think they offer to open a door or help in any way?  NO!  They are busy telling me how full my hands are as if I don't know.  But don't worry, I like having my hands full.  It keeps me busy.

The one that sticks out the most, "I'd shoot myself."  I know, I know, people don't think before they speak.   If they only knew how badly we wanted all three of our children, they wouldn't say anything.  When I got this dumb remark I had to speak up.  With both babies (at the time) screaming and David standing there, I looked at her with one of my looks and said, "No ma'am, no shooting here.  We are very blessed.  Then I turned away.  She got out of the line and went to a new one.  I think she knew she had said the wrong comment.

If I had a dollar for every time someone asked "Are they fraternal or identical?" I would be rich!  I think it's the only question people know to ask.  I think I used to ask this question of other twins too.  But as I look at Daniel and Dillan, I don't see how they could be identical.  One has blue eyes and the other has brown.  One has lighter, curly hair and the other has straight brown hair.  One has light skin and the other dark.  They have about 4 pounds and an inch difference in them.  I just don't see it!  It gets even better when they tell me they know someone with identical boy/girl twins!  Not possible people!  They have different parts! 

Last, but not least, I love when people tell me about all the twins they know.  For example, "My Daddy's brother's cousin-in-law has twins."  How do you respond to that?  "Oh, really?  Cool." That's all I know to say. 

I say all of this, not to complain, but to share the humor I find in other people.  I hope you can laugh at them with me!