The Hunt

The last week of August we drove up to Milwaukee and went house hunting.

We saw this house first. It seemed a little cramped, the side yard was right on a busy road and the neighbors behind had a huge trash pile in the back yard.

We saw this house too. It is a cute, old farmhouse with the most beautiful, large yard. It didn't have enough bedrooms.
And this darling bungalow had five bedrooms but only 1 and 1/2 baths and radiator heating. Haven't totally figured out how I would do that with babies around learning to walk. Oh, and the area was not our favorite. It was getting a little discouraging.
We concluded the first day with what I called the "not-cute-bungalow-that-ticks-all-the-boxes." Sorry, no picture. It ticked all my boxes except initial curb appeal and backyard. The kitchen was huge and the layout worked out pretty well. The basement went on forever and would have stored all our storage stuff for about three lifetimes! It was in the best school district and had a studio over the garage that Chris could make into the ultimate play space. There were somethings that I wanted to change, like the laundry room in the master bedroom, but I ended the day with hope.

We finally got the see the one we were perhaps "most" interested in the second day.
This house ticked all the boxes too. I wasn't really in the market for a split level and still worry that most buyers aren't (no, I don't think we will live in this house for the next thirty years) but it seemed to have all we needed and then some.

Wanna take a tour?

This is the living room, on your right as you walk in the door.
Want another view? The door you can just make out on the left is the front door, the door facing you on the left is the coat closet and the door on the right is the door to the garage. Beside that, behind the pony wall, are the stairs that lead down.
Down to the playroom, as we call it. The hallway leads to the boys room.
The downstairs bath.
And the laundry room,
complete with sump pump.
If you take the stairs up you will come to the kitchen and dining area. Apparently, it is true. Kitchens and baths do sell houses.
Down a hall off the dining area is the upstairs bath. See that towel rack? Someday it will be a door to the master bedroom.
And perhaps one of Chris' favorite parts is the .5 on the garage. Not pictured here: the built in workbench.
In all we saw something like 19 houses in two days. We had a couple that could have worked, with a little work. Chris was pretty won over by this house the day we saw it. Totally renovated (except the windows:( it was alluring to think that we wouldn't have to anything to the living spaces with Chris working all the time and me with three little kids. For me, though, it has actually taken a bit more settling in.

All of this was made possible by the letter S. For Stephanie, my amazing, magnificent, brave, generous, insanity-defying sister-in-law. (What else would call the woman who took on three kids in a hotel room for two days?)
And entertainment and company was provided by the letter J. For John, pictured below with baby Cole.
And the letter K. For Karisa, John's better half:), mother of cuties Benson and Cole, and generous hostess.
Yep, they were there too. But they didn't see any houses. They did finally get to meet cousin Benson and found out that he has wonderful toys and an enviable playroom.