Tiana's hometown

Rachel here. Shortly after Christmas, Bryan and I dropped our little ladies off at his parents' house and headed on down to New Orleans for the Sugar Bowl. VT was playing Michigan in what turned out to be a heartbreaking loss for us. Now to be PERFECTLY honest... HOKIES are relatively good at admitting when we choke hardcore. It happens so often on the big stage, it's hard to argue with outsiders. HOWEVER... my main squeeze Danny Coale caught that ball... no ifs, ands, or buts. Fake punt or no fake punt... it was a catch... a catch that would have won the game for us. I won't dare take the win away from Michigan... we had mistakes... they had mistakes as well... but frankly they did not earn that win. There was absolutely no taunting that we witnessed on the way back to our hotel that night... unlike any other bowl game we've been to. That game was ours to have won. With all the shenanigans that went down with the Sugar Bowl choosing Tech to go and people not thinking we deserved it... blah blah blah... I think we more than proved we should have been there... especially if the argument was Michigan deserved it. Stepping off soap box. :)

Now... when Bryan and I were discussing getting pregnant again... VT's bowl bid definitely came into play. Sad I know. I said to Bryan, "what are the odds that this year we'd go to Bourbon Street?" B said "like 1% chance... there is virtually no way unless we went to the ACC Championship, lost, and got an at-large bid." So... we decided if we won, we definitely weren't going to travel back down to Miami for the Orange Bowl... so why not... baby #3 here we come. Damn if we didn't get the bid. Such is my luck. Bryan was a SUPER good sport about the trip though and definitely had his share of Pat O's hurricanes, and we ACTUALLY remember the trip this time! Go figure. :)Something we didn't do last time... because we were busy drinking our faces off and eating nasty Bourbon Street pizza JUST so we could use their bathroom... we visited Cafe Du Monde for their famous beignets. They were scrumptious.Beware fat, exhausted, pregnant face...
We were able to catch the bowl parade. There were TONS of Michigan fans... flat out. Their alumni base is like 4 times what ours is, and from what we found out, there were people there wearing Michigan garb who never even went to Michigan... they were just fans... something you really won't see with us HOKIES. If we're wearing a shirt it's because we went there. There were also TONS of Saints/LSU fans, obviously, so there really was a intriguing mix of people. The blood between us and Michigan was pretty respectful for the most part... it wasn't until an Ohio State guy showed up during the parade that any taunting started. :)
For Reese and Emma Grace. :)While waiting for the pep rally to begin, we ventured over to the Fan Fest to see what they had to offer. Bryan just about peed his pants when he realized he could have the opportunity to kick a field goal. We hopped in line and watched dozens of people totally flop and look ridiculous trying to kick these things, which leads me to believe it's a lot harder than it looks. Wouldn't you know Bryan made one! He was so super excited... and I was super excited to have gotten it on camera!VT's pep rally.
Down by the Riverwalk.Bryan's happy juice. New Orleans at night.
Even the police officers enjoy the local entertainment. :)
Our final day... GAME DAY! Bryan and I spent the day eating beignets, wandering the streets of New Orleans for some photos, and partaking in yet another hurricane (Bryan, not me).These water meter covers are very popular down there. Apparently they are quite the hot commodity. There aren't very many around the city any more because of tourists actually stealing them. A few artists around town have taken the image and placed them on t-shirts, ceramic bowls, and glass. They really are beautiful... well, as beautiful as a water meter cover can be. I won't lie... I tried to pull one up... it would have made it into my bag home... :)Then we ran into Bruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuce! Bruce Smith that is. :) Please disregard my pregnant face. I swear I get fuglier and fuglier while I'm pregnant with these girls!It was definitely nice to get away from the girls for a while, but I missed them like crazy and am looking forward to sleeping in my own bed for the next 6ish months. :)