Settling In - Day 2

Good golly this house is fab! I'll give you a little tour of our home for the next 10 days or so. All furnishings, dishes, towels, bedding etc was of great quality. This was so far beyond a 'rental'. You felt like you were in someone's home...which we were :) My dad got connected to this place through some customers of his. The customers have kids who own this place and rent it out when they aren't using it. They are definitely not short on the cha-ching as was evidenced by the very luxurious vehicle left in the garage for when they are down here.


Here is the great room which was the hub of all activity. It was spacious and perfect for the eight of us.



The eating nook. We managed to all find places to eat. The boys on some outdoor wicker chairs we brought inside and some of us would use the island as a table as well.
There was a main bathroom with a seperate room for toilet and shower. We are all good at sharing so there wasn't much in the way of conflicts in this regard. My parents also had a full ensuite they shared.

The very large two piece bathroom just down the hall near the laundry room.

The laundry area with state of the art washer and dryer. I want some of these magnificent machines! I have appliance envy.

There was a great little fridge for all our beverages in the pool table area.

Looking from the entry of the house into the great room.

Looking from our room into the pool table area.

And the view from our room. Not too shabby hey? Okay just one teeny tiny complaint. We had an east facing bedroom and the morning sun woke up dear Liam very early each morning. Oh well...it's a small price to pay and we survived to tell.

The boys really enjoyed the pool table. Keith and I played a few games as well which reminded us of our dating days when my dad had a table in our basement.

So after we woke up on our second day our boys headed off to the Air Museum with my dad, brother, uncle and cousin (who were staying in Indio). Keith and I left Liam with my mom and headed to Toys R Us to get the kids some gifts for Christmas. This is a picture in the parking lot of the store. The clouds had started to clear a bit and the rain let up.

As we were out over the lunch hour we decided to stop at In N Out for a bite. Just so delicious are these burgers!!!

After lunch we stopped at Albertson's for a few groceries. It's about equivalent to a Safeway and in my opinion a bit pricey but it was close to our house. The people in that store (not the employees) were some of the crankiest seniors I have ever come across. I guess they resent tourists or perhaps the rain was addling with their brains.

We came home and watched it rain once again for the afternoon. We tried not to be too discouraged as we knew the forecast was for clear skies the next day. The pool was beautiful and salt water too. Such a great thing for one's skin and sure saves the swim suit fabric.

There is a pool guy who comes twice a week to clean and adjust the levels of the pool. Oh and a gardener who came once a week to do the lawn and flower beds. Must be nice to have 'people'!

My parents brought their laptop and as tempting as it was to use it I did my best to refrain. I only checked emails once a day. No facebook or blogging!

The boys came home from the museum just as we came home from our errands. They busily got straight to building their wooden models they had bought themselves.

That evening we climbed into the hot tub and saw that the stars were shining! No clouds!

And there's nothing like time in the hot tub to get the kids drowsy and ready for a good sleep. They shared a room with Andrew. The room had a set of double bunks for them.

Nathan opted for the pull out single bed for a few nights and then moved back 'upstairs' with Chad. He said he was too cold down there.
We knew tomorrow would be sunny and had plans for a much more exciting day.