Dennis Quaid planning a 'no-brainer' move to Texas

When Dennis and Kimberly Quaid, parents to 7-month-old twins Thomas Boone and Zoe Grace, realized all that they were missing in Dennis’ home state of Texas they decided it was a "no-brainer" to relocate.  The couple have purchased "a really nice plot of land" near Lake Austin, Dennis said, where they’ll enjoy having "30 or 40 friends and family members within two miles."  Meanwhile, the twins are fully recovered from the near-fatal heparin overdose they suffered while still newborns, an ordeal Dennis deemed a "medical catastrophe." 

Thank God it had a happy ending.  We took [the twins] to the kiddie pool for their first swim today. They loved it.

Dennis, 54, is also dad to Jack Henry, his 16-year-old son with ex-wife Meg Ryan.

Source:  OK!; Photo by Luis Guerra/RAMEY via People

Comments

sigh on June 15th, 2008

I’m not surprised. He has been here (TX) so often in the last several months that I figured he must really miss it. Good for them.

Heather on June 15th, 2008

I’m sure Texas will be a nice place to raise the twins, but won’t he see Jack less since he lives in California with Meg?

Snapper on June 15th, 2008

Umm….

What about Jack? I think it’s pretty lame that he’s moving now. Jack is 16 and pretty close to graduation. He needs a dad too! Lame if you ask me.

Snapper on June 15th, 2008

Wow. This is disappointing! He has new babies with a new wife and abandons his older son. Jack is just a few years from gradation. Can’t he wait?? Lame.

dawn9476 on June 15th, 2008

Dennis said in a interview a few months ago that they won’t be moving to Texas permanently till Jack graduates from high school and goes onto college. It sounds like that are planning on building a house on the plot of land they bought so that could take a while. Their new house probably won’t be finished till Jack graduates anyways.

Amanda on June 15th, 2008

I thought they were moving to austin(her hometown)? i read somewhere else tht even though he’s from houston that they have more friends and family in austin and thats why they picked the location.

Britt on June 15th, 2008

I read on Perez he’s moving to Austin not Houston. Apparently he has a really nice plot of land and that would be more understandable in Austin not Houston (I’m from Houston).

Amanda on June 15th, 2008

I’m from Houston as well and I’d much rather raise my children in Austin because it is more safe.

Allison on June 15th, 2008

Britt…he said “right outside of Houston” There are beautiful stretches of land there. Im from Houston as well and I always hate when people dog on it.

Sadie on June 15th, 2008

There are plenty of places like Katy where you can get nice land. Houston is a great place to raise kids. Either way, they’re only a couple of hours from Austin. I see family in New Braunfels and Fredericksburg all the time, the trips aren’t bad, especially to Austin. But someone mentioned Austin is much safer than Houston…he’s not talking about living in the city, lol he’s talking about a suburb or small town outside of Houston…not dangerous.

Caitlin on June 15th, 2008

From the Austin American Statesman:

Dennis Quaid confirms that he plans to raise his twins in Austin, hometown to his wife, Kimberly Buffington. The star, who testified before U.S. Congress recently on medical safety after his infants were given overdoses of Heparin in the hospital, wants his children to grow up in a less stressful environment than Los Angeles.

“The train is going down the tracks. We have a lot of family there and we have a really nice plot of land,” he told Extra television magazine at the Maui Film Festival. “We have 30 or 40 friends and family members within two miles of us. It’s kind of a no-brainer.” Quaid purchased the land on Lake Austin after meeting and marrying Buffington, a real estate agent, three years.

“I’ve always loved Austin,” Quaid told us in 2005. “It has a sense of community you can’t get anywhere else.”

A sidebar on media ignorance of Texas geography: Many online news sources report the family is moving to Quaid’s native Houston, assuming that’s what he meant when he said he was going back to Texas.

Gaby on June 15th, 2008

It doesn’t say when they are planning to move. I hope he waits a few more years. Otherwise he will not see much of his 16 year old son outside of vacations.

Rachel on June 16th, 2008

Unfortunately he doesn’t see much of Jack anyway. For some reason Jack wasn’t with his dad’s new family in Maui to see him get his award and to spend Father’s Day with him. Instead he is here on the Vineyard with his mom Meg Ryan. Oh well, Jack is old enough to make his own decisions now and I suppose he chose his mom.

Aitch on June 16th, 2008

I think Mrs. Quaid is from Texas (along with the Quaid family.) I imagine he sees his son Jack frequently.

Kyle on June 20th, 2008

I know that Jack Quaid accompanied his dad in late March when Dennis spoke near D.C. at journalists’ medical conference. During this trip Jack was shown off stage during his dad’s Today show appearance making his dad really laugh. Jack appears to be a real perforner.

During the same trip, Dennis and Jack were looking over some eastern colleges…particularly ones with good film schools. Dennis was hoping at one time that Jack would choose the U of TX in Austin. He still may do so.

It may be a bit disingenuous to make remarks about which parent Jack wants to spend time with based upon a single day. None of us know these people, but from what I hear from a friend who has Quaid as a client, Jack is a great kid and shares his time with both parents.

Linda on June 22nd, 2008

The kid’s mother was on the other side of the world that week, so no wonder he spent time with his father for those days.

I doubt his son will want to go to a Texas university if he wants to become a performer. It sounds like he will go to university on the Eastcoast. Which will be close to where his mom will be living once he finishes highschool.

Lucy on June 23rd, 2008

When Jack was with his father in NYC, his mother was on the other side of the world so no surprise there.

Dennis has said in the past he would not move to Texas untill his son had finished highschool. Things have changed, I guess.

If his son Jack really wants to be an actor, I think it’s safe to assume he will go to university in NYC or LA, not in Texas.