Colorado!

As long as he has food, Tavin is happy!!!

Salem lovin' first class!!
@ Tamayo= best restaurant in Denver!

We all know where this is!

UFC

My beautiful friend, Emma

I heart him!!!!!

Lets see, mmmmmm...... over a month ago, we ventured out to Colorado to see my parents. The kids and I flew & met Andrew out there.... he did a stop-ova' in Telluride to see some friends and got a few days of "shredding" in on the slopes. We also spent some time in Denver, where I was able to catch up with one of my bff's from Alaska, Emma. We were able to get in a John Mayer concert, UFC fight, and yes, get snowed in Denver for a day! While this was happening, my parents got snowed in at their home in Trinidad with Tavi, who ended up having a double ear/yeast infection/kept my parents up all hours of the night boondoggle! Poppy and Butty were troopers throughout the whole think and we are extremely grateful for all their help with the kiddos!!! Salem especially loved making a special snowman with her Poppy!!!!

We all drove back together as a fam.... 15 hour drive!!! Can someone explain to me the obsession men have with a car that looks like its been driven to hell-&-back!!???? I just don't get it!!! It's like you're labeled more of a badass.... like "Dude, I've been places", or some shit... again, I don't get it; however, it does give me a good laugh!!! I love him for it!

Spa Day

We had it all planned. She was excited. We put lips on before we left. She picked her outfit out for such festivities. A mommy/Salem spa day. The intentions were true. Real. Until.....

She freaked the F' OUT!!! I got her in the doors, she picked her polish color, they sat her very own "pedi chair" up.... & she wouldn't have it! The screaming started. More than anything, I think she was overwhelmed by the other 50 women sitting in there, sipping their wine, relaxing AWAY from husbands/children... then here we are, all eyes on us. Salem didn't like it, not one bit!

She did like pretending 2 dry her non-painted/non-manicured nails!

I finally got her calmed down enough to at least let MEEEE get my overdue pedicure done. She sat in my lap the entire time & then we did what she wanted to... we went shoe shopping! Hey, I wasn't complaining!

Envious????

Push the cart, drag the kids! Tavin is hiding in the front of the stroller.

This photo was taken @1230 am in Orlando... after a LONNG airplane delay/travel day!

Been jet setting a lot lately & this is what we look like..... just mommy Quinn and her 2 cubs. 7 pieces of luggage, 2 car seats, double stroller, purse, diaper bag, 3 year old, lap child, & rental car! Oh, its been fun; & we're gearing up for it again in 2 weeks to go to Colorado to visit Poppy & BuTTY!

Not even unpacking the luggage this time around... it's sitting by the door... ready to rock!

3 1/2 months later....

We've been on a date or 2.....
Salem made a funny card.....
& he turned 1... so sad!

We're still alive and kicking!!! Well, sort-of. Andrew took a crash today skiing in Tahoe, dislocated his shoulder for the 2nd, 3rd, 5th, oh hell, I lost count how many times!!!! My hip is still giving me the shits and am doing rehab 2 x's per week. Slow process, but optimistic that I will, one day, have a running career again; or should I say, SANITY back (is more like it!)

Kids are fan-freakin'-tastic; which is all I could ever hope and ask for!!! Salem is still digging school & has moved onto learning how to read and write... this is all she wants to do... ALL DAY LONG!!! Writing Mom and Salem, are her favorites! We've also signed on to have her in swim lessons this summer; looking forward to that!

Big boy Tavi, is exactly that... BIG!!! Today, he wore a pair of 5... YES... 5T shorts 2 the gym!! He is massive & loves to cuddle with mama; which can b difficult to do with his size/circumference!

Hhhmmm.... other than that, we've been busy with travels and don't c that slowing down anytime in the near future! Drew recently went skiing in Taos, while I took a trip to LA/San Fran/NAPA/Sanoma/Sacramento with some girlfriends!!! Andrew gets home this weekend & next week, the kids and I head out to go visit Andrew's fam in Florida. Then, we're back a few weeks, only to turn around and head north to visit my parents & close friends in Colorado! Fun, fun, fun!!!!!

Will post more of our happenings in the days to come. For now, I just wanted to do a quick "fill-in" to inform all and motivate me to get on here more frequently!

Longhorn Ironman 70.6

Okay, for those of you who facebook, this will b repetitive....& for those of you who don't (DADDY!!!!), here you have it!!!

FINISHED!!! 5 Hours, 34 minutes!!!

Transition 1... thousands of bikes! (Someone asked and no, that is not me in the photo!)

Contemplating throwing in the towel.... just by looking at the hefty swim!

The swim waves were in age groups and a different heat went every 5 minutes

SO, I LOVED THE RACE!!! LOVED, LOVED, LOVEEEDDD ALL 70.3 MILES OF IT!!! Even the swim; which I totally suck at! It consisted of a 1.2 mile swim (my time=43 minutes), 56 mile bike ( 2 hours, 51 minutes= average speed of 19.6 mph) & 13.1 mile run at the end (1 hour, 52 minutes =8:33 average minutes per mile.) 22nd place in age group/wave & 96th overall!

Running into the arena for the finish! I love the sign that is being held up in the background... "Enjoy the Moment!!"

The only downfall to all of this is that now, I have my heart set on completing a full Ironman=140.6, in Arizona, as soon as next year. That is also the dilemma. I'm having an inner battle trying to decide what is best for my family. I felt good on Sunday when I finished, GREAT! Had it been the full, I think I could have done it, for sure.!! BUTTTT... I won't lie! I trained my tail off, REALLY! I tried my hardest to have it take away the least amount of time possible away from the fam., but there were just days, especially on the weekends, that I couldn't get around being gone during the day for 4 hours or more.... AND THOSE DAYS SUCKED!!! It's one thing to be gone for an hour or so run (I like to call it "free therapy"), but being gone for HOURS, brings a tremendous amount of guilt and stress on. Again, the feeling of completion is amazing, but it came at a huge expense.... emotionally, financially, physically... and I realize all those things. This isn't a poor mans sport! U know you're f-d in the head when you start selling things to buy race running shoes or those hefty entry fees ($280 for the Longhorn!!!) I know, $280 to RACE, that, in itself, is CRAZY!!!

So, a lot to think about and ponder during this "off season." Now, marathon training will kick in and I'm planning on running the Austin 26.2 in February. I know this will come as a shocker, but I'm going to take a huge (for me) hiatus from Thanksgiving- January 1st off and spend every minute with my family... they deserve it!!! I think Andrew is more relieved that it's over than I. For me, I feel as if I checked that goal off and now what's next???.... obviously the 140 miler!!!

Any takers on buying me a tri-bike???? What, it's only like $4,000!!!!

Catching butterflies!

Okay, I hope you're all in need of a good laugh this am because this, THIS, was comical!!! With a million butterflies swarming all around, you would THINK it would be an easy task to get ONE, just one damn butterfly, in the freakin' net!!! No, hell-to-the NO, we were out there for an hour, and I think we succeeded MAYBE 3 times. Andrew attempted first.... until I got completely frustrated with him because HELLLOOOO they were all around us and he was taking FOREVER to catch one!! So, I took the net (in a pissed off "I'll show you fashion") & went at it myself. Mmmm.... as you can see, it was way more difficult than I initially thought and found myself spinning in circles while the kids/Andrew laughed out load behind me!

Oh, and in attempt to do so, I knocked Salem over, sent her into a crying frenzy, pissed Andrew off for doing so/not having more SA &....... eventually threw in the towel... after I caught my precious butterfly a flippin' butterfly of her very own!!

Next time, I'm buying a bigger damn net!

Ahoy, Matey!

I decided to dress Tavin up in one of his Halloween costumes over the weekend... just to make sure it would fit!!! I even taught him to "growl" (not sure what else to call it that they do), "Rrrrrrrrrrr", like a pirate!