A Real Possibility

This one is probably our front runner right now, assuming Crazy doesn't come to his senses. These are the best pictures I have of it. The inside is really nice. The lower level is a 4 car garage, guest suite, and a HUGE playroom that opens out onto the pool deck. The main living area is on the 2nd floor along with the master, 2 additional bedrooms, and an office. The main negative for me with this one is the thought of lugging all my groceries upstairs to the kitchen. I guess it would save me money since I'd never have to buy a Stairmaster!

Another Contender

This is another top contender, if we decide it's not really that important for the boys to eat.

Front ViewMother-in-Law Suite over the 3rd GarageView from Front BalconyRear Patio/DeckRooftop Deck over Lower Patio/DeckLiving RoomDining RoomKitchenMasterBedroom 1

Bedroom 2
MIL Suite

Do We Have a Winner?

We spent Monday afternoon house-hunting, and I am disgusted to report that we have now seen every single property in the area that remotely seems like it could suit our needs. We've even looked at a few properties that haven't yet been listed. Yes, we are a realtor's worst nightmare! Even though our realtor assures us that we're her "dream" clients, I know she is lying. ; )

Anyway, we did find one property that we liked yesterday. Too bad it's DOUBLE what the Crazies want for their house thanks to the waterfront location. I really, really like this house. It has that "vacation home" feel, but that's okay with me because if we bought it, we'd never be able to afford another vacation. I think this one will quickly lose it's spot on our short list.

Oh, I forgot to mention the dolphins. You see a dolphin about every 30 seconds when staring out at the view. DOLPHINS!

The Front

View from Upstairs Front Balcony
Floor Plan

The Mother-in-Law Suite over the Garage

The Crazies

We spent yesterday house-hunting, and big surprise we had no luck. One would think that I'd be used to wasting my time by now, but I actually had high hopes before yesterday's outing because we had an appointment for a 2nd look at a house that we saw a few weeks ago. I liked this house the first time we saw it, but ruled it out because it was a 3-bedroom, and we need 4 minimum. It's in my favorite neighborhood though, and it really is pretty much everything we want. I thought it would be worth our while to go back for a 2nd look to see if there was space to add on, if needed, down the road.

Yesterday was actually our 2nd attempt to schedule another tour of this property. We tried to look at the house a week after we initially saw it, but the owner's refused to let us come by. In a week's time, he had decided to let the house go into foreclosure. Our realtor is the listing agent for the property, and she was unable to convince him that this was a horrible decision. He made her remove the key lockbox and take down the for sale sign in the front yard. He was deadset on letting the house go. Evidently, they built the house when the market peaked and paid top dollar. Now he owes the bank more than the house is worth, a situation a lot of homeowners find themselves in right now.

Rather than just staying put in the house until the market has a chance to somewhat recover, they have already purchased and moved into a new house and are now sick of carrying 2 mortgages. So rather than sell the house for what they owe or slightly less, they'd rather ruin their credit and my chances at finally finding a house! When he had his meltdown and refused the 2nd showing we began referring to them as the Crazies.

Well, I guess Crazy came to his senses because he agreed to let us in for a 2nd look yesterday. Since he had made our realtor return the house key, he said he would meet us at 5pm to unlock the door, but when our appointment time came and went, we realized he had flip-flopped once again. He refused to answer his cell when our realtor called to check on his whereabouts. Obviously, we were all annoyed. He had completely wasted everyone's time. I guess this one just wasn't meant to be, but it's so frustrating because it was the absolute closest thing to perfect that we've found.

The one positive from yesterday is that my boys were extremely well-behaved. It's a bit of a hassel dragging them around with us because we're in and out of the car so much, but they were both real troopers.

Confusion

Baylor was quite fussy last night, and as a result, Anh and I are both completely exhausted today. So this morning we were quite lazy about getting out of bed. Jax eventually wandered into our room to see why we weren't up yet, and after seeing that we weren't in any real hurry to leave our bed, crawled in between us to chat. Conversation with Jax is always interesting. His thoughts are all over the place which is entertaining and worrisome at the same time.

One of the more humorous parts of this morning's chat was when Jax brought up Baby Baylor being in Mommy's tummy. I told Jax, "You know, you were in Mommy's tummy too." He smiled and responded, "Yeah. Baby Jax was in Mommy's tummy. Then he came out." Then things got a little confusing because Jax pointed to Anh and said, "Daddy was in Mommy's belly too." I laughed and said, "No. Daddy was in Ba Ba's belly." Jax's expression was that of complete confusion and he blurted out, "What?!" I told him, "Yes, Daddy was in Ba Ba's belly because Ba Ba is Daddy's Mommy. You understand that, right? Ba Ba is Daddy's Mommy, and Grandma is Mommy's Mommy." He looked at me like I was a complete fool, and said, "No." I guess we'll need to do a better job of explaining the family tree to Jax.

More Fun

We ended our 4th of July celebration by gathering with thousands of others on one of the Intercoastal bridges to watch the city's fireworks display. Originally, we had planned to light fireworks in the backyard, like we did for New Year's, but there's currently a burn ban in place because of the dry conditions. So our only "legal" option was to attend the city's display.

It was a fun street party atmosphere with food vendors and a band. We made our way through the crowd and managed to score a great spot on the bridge. The weather was great. A nice breeze created the perfect temperature. Much better than last year when it was really windy. So windy that the city's display was actually cancelled because they had planned to launch the fireworks off a barge anchored out at sea, and the high winds sent a wave crashing onto the barge ruining the fireworks. I guess the city wasn't going to be outsmarted by Mother Nature 2 years in a row and moved the celebration to the Intercoastal waterfront park.

The highlight of the experience wasn't watching the fireworks rocket into the sky and explode into a multitude of brilliantly colored patterns while enjoying the patriotic tunes played by the band. Nope, it was Baylor's perfectly timed "explosion." There we were on the bridge enjoying the show and the moment, and our kid decides that is the prime opportunity to set off his own "fireworks." So Anh was forced to change his diaper right there on the bridge. There really wasn't anywhere to go for privacy at that point. Those standing around us were treated to an extra special display. Kids! Ya' gotta' love 'em!

Fun on the 4th

The crowds are in town for the Coke Zero 400. Since Jax is a HUGE Nascar fan (Thanks, Grandfather!), we decided to take him to the exhibits they have setup outside the Speedway. We spent most of the morning hunting for the Jimmie Johnson exhibit, Jax's current favorite driver, but we didn't have any luck. Regardless, Jax had a great time. There was so much to see and do. Baylor, however, slept through the whole outing. Oh well, maybe next year he'll be more into it.

Part of the TeamGrandfather's Favorite, Jeff Gordon

Jax Still Likes Tony Stewart (Keep working on him, Grandfather!)

Still Looking for Jimmie Johnson

Daddy's Current Favorite, Dale Jr.
Mommy's New Favorite Car
Testing His Skills (All those hours on the Wii might pay off!)

Settling for the Old Favorite, Kyle Busch