Scoping out the new neighborhood

On Saturday, when temperatures crept up to triple digits, we decided to head to the Sellwood pool, which is 15 blocks from our new house. It's a beautiful old building, acquired by the city in 1924. Back in the roaring 20s, it was segregated by gender for use- males one day, females the next. Now, fortunately, the whole family can go swimming together. Which we did.

It was a great pool, with many young families (in fact, probably the entire neighborhood, due to the high temps). We got some good preschool advice from friendly moms. The girls swam and kicked and jumped with new friends. Curtis bought lemonade for 25 cents at a local stand.

We can't wait to move into the neighborhood! Where, by the way, we already have a friend. Our friend Brian from high school (along with his wife Becca) just bought a house two streets over from us. We can't wait to reconnect.

Lucy Ladybug

Little Lucy Ladybug turned two today. We had a fun celebration at the Loeb house with both sets of grandparents. Lucy loved her cake, screamed when it was time to open gifts (when I admonished her, she replied, "I just excited, Mom!" in the cutest little voice), and enjoyed every minute of the festivities.

Happy Birthday to our Lucy, who lives every minute to its fullest!

Cousin Chiara

For a few days this week, I got to play nanny to my beautiful new niece, Chiara. My sister Amy is finishing coursework for her teaching credential. While she went to school from 8:30-4:30 (yes, mighty impressive with a seven-week-old baby!), I got to be Auntie Ag (my family nickname).

Chiara is such a sweet baby, so content and smiley. It was a fond flashback to my days with Mary, when my schedule included daily walks with her in a little infant carrier on my chest and folding tiny little onesies fresh out of the dryer. Those sweet days are fleeting-- too bad we are so sleep deprived that we don't fully enjoy them!

We head back over the mountain next week for more Chiara playtime! I can't wait.

Home Sweet Home

In a whirlwind house-hunting weekend, we were lucky enough to find a house that had all of the qualities that Curtis wanted (easy biking to downtown, walking distance to grocery, shops and restaurants) and all of the qualities that Megan wanted (good schools, quiet street, open floor plan). Which is good, since we had to go to separate corners after every heated house discussion we had. What a struggle to find compromise when we both felt so strongly about the home we wanted.

Surprisingly, we found it. And even more surprisingly, it is in Westmoreland. It's a neighborhood I wasn't very familiar with until Saturday, tucked between the river and Eastmoreland. But, it's spectacular. Nice quiet streets, less density and bustle than the other NE areas where we were looking, yet still close to downtown. (Curtis' bike ride to work will be four miles, most of it on a trail.) From the house, we can walk four blocks to dozens of great restaurants (including Caprials!), gelato, bakeries, and clothing stores. Two spacious parks are both within a few blocks of the house for playground time and jogging. And the river is less than 1/2 mile away, for canoeing and kayaking.

Now, onto the house itself. It was built in 1915 and has all of the original charm. Yet, they just sunk a ton of money into a complete remodel to open the main floor and provide a spacious great room off of the kitchen, so it really flows like a newer floor plan instead of the small, cramped feel that is common in many older homes. The home has a few drawbacks (for example, two full baths, but both have showers, but no bath tubs) but we think we can work around those issues because the house is perfect in so many other ways.

We brought the parents (all four of them) over to the house yesterday. After their thorough inspection of lifting area rugs, identifying non-native plants in the yard (I'm sure you guess who did this!), scrutinizing the furnace and hot water heater, and inspecting the kitchen for ample storage, they all gave a hearty seal of approval.

The sellers accepted our offer last night, and we are delighted! Inspections begin this week, which will probably being a cakewalk compared to the parent inspection process. If all goes well, we will have the keys by mid-July. Get ready for a summer bbq at our place!

Real Estate Realities

So, now that our lovely Pleasanton house has closed escrow, I can tell you a little more about some of the odd things that happened while it was on the market.

First, people going through open houses are insane. They like to steal toilet paper (yes...every last roll!), leave green gummy goo on door handles and glass doors (maybe a child eating candy?), ditch empty coffee cups in strange places (the strangest: in a bedroom closet), and they routinely leave sliding glass doors open or unlocked.

Second, when you are packing a house, you never know what you might find. While we found plenty of random toy parts that had gone missing, that's not all that awaited us during the packing process. As I was cleaning out our closet, I found a small, heavy box on the very top shelf, covered with dust. I pulled it down and to my surprise, it was a LOADED .22 caliber pistol. Yes, you read that correctly. In our closet for the entire four years we lived there. Ready to fire at any time. (It turns out, through a bit of investigation, that it belonged to the two-times-removed owner, and we were able to give it back to him.)

So, now that the tables are turned, I promise to be a much more respectful house hunter in Portland than my Pleasanton counterparts. And, Ray and Lynn, while we might have forgotton something behind, I guarantee you won't find any more loaded weapons in the house. After my find, I scoured the place to make sure of it!

Speaking of house hunting, no finds yet, though several houses have come close. We'll keep you posted (and we'll keep our old coffee cups in the car, we promise!).

Northern Exposure

In between house-hunting excursions, Curtis and I took a quick three day vacation to visit my little sis Emily in Sitka, Alaska. It was amazing.

Our first amazement came from traveling with nothing but a solitary suitcase and a small purse -- a far cry from diaper bags, suitcases, strollers, car seats, and the myriad of books and snacks that we usually have to lug on planes. It was incredibly easy.

Our second amazement came once we landed. Sitka is truly a real-life Northern Exposure set. The entire town knew Em, even though she's only lived there for two years. During a hike on Sunday, Curtis and I met three different locals along the trail. They all knew Emily.

Emily and her darling roommates were such great hosts. During our short stay, we were able to experience Wild Kingdom moments such as a sea lion devouring a three-foot salmon as we were kayaking, a close-call with a bear during a hike, bald eagles diving for fish, and yes, climbing a mountain.

The only disappointment was that we had mediocre weather, which meant that after climbing thousands and thousands of stairs to the top of Gavan, we couldn't see more than 20 feet around us. Though we missed the spectacular view from atop, the hike was well worth it for the slide down the slope on our bums!

It was an incredible three days. Emily's Boot Camp definitely lived up to its reputation!

Oregon or Bust!

We made it to the beautiful city of Roses, just in time for the Rose Festival! The car was packed to the gills, and the drive was long. But, with the wonderful care packages from Pam and a little bit of luck,we made it.

We are overjoyed to be here. We got to meet Chiara this weekend, our beautiful, sweet new niece. We got to see the whole Buck family to celebrate Grandma and Papa's 62nd anniversary on Sunday, which was so much fun. And, we have weeks and months and years ahead to catch up with all of our other Portland family and friends.

We drove around Portland on Saturday, looking at neighborhoods and trying to decide where we want to live (or, more accurately, where our budget will allow us to live). And it was gorgeous. Everything was green, people were out and about, and the neighborhoods were so family-friendly. It's going to be great living here.

Now, the house hunt is ON! Wish us luck...