Our New Venice Home: SOLD! and Meeting the Neighbors

March 10 - We were told by the sales representatives at the model on Friday that there was a neighborhood get together at 2:00 - 4:00 p.m. on Sunday (write that down). This would be our opportunity to meet our new neighbors and, hopefully, have our children begin playing with some of the kids on their street. It was to be a glorious day filled with fun!

Mister Rogers Full-sized Action Figure not Included with All Models of Ryan Homes

So, we were so excited when we awoke on Sunday that we decided to make a day of our adventure. We packed the kids in the car and we headed toward our soon-to-be town. We decided that we would try from of the local fare for breakfast. Bryan is a huge fan of food. He can eat all types at practically any locale. So, we went to a place called Country Cookin' for breakfast. Nothing fancy, but it did have a nice Sunday morning breakfast spread for a low, low price. Remember, every dollar saved can go toward the new home.

Eggs, bacon, grits, biscuits and gravy - everything a growing boy needs.

We still had some much time to spend before the 2:00 meet and greet. Thanks to Daylight Savings time, we were so lucky to "spring" forward an hour. Thanks for the loss of sleep, time gods. The parents were already exhausted and it was only 11:00 a.m. What to do for the next three hours? Well, go to the site, of course. We drove to the site in the hopes that our sold sign would now be in place and that our dreams would somehow be validated with a piece of paper covered in adhesive. Alas, no sold sign.

I really wanted to see my sold sign.

So, we decided to shrug it off because surely we could get a sold sign at the meet and greet at 2:00 p.m. [I bet you are wondering why we keep reminding you of the start time, right?] Well, Bryan found a really cool place to take the kids. It is a business that recently opened and it was just for the kids. It is called KDz Kidz World. It is filled with bounce houses and slides. The kids could play all day long if they wanted for one low price. Our 10 year old was gone like lightening as soon as we entered. Our 4 year old took a little longer to warm up to the idea, but once he did it was no turning back. He had a blast bouncing around while his sister climbed the ropes to the highest slide over and over again. Angela thought this would be a good place to take the kids on days off and weekends after we move.

We decided to leave a little before 1:00 p.m. because our 4 year old son had virtually given up. He was laying on the bouncy house floors and trying to rest. All the jumping had tuckered him out. So, we packed them back into the car and headed to Barnes and Noble. We still had some time. If we left the bookstore by 1:45 p.m. we would make it in plenty of time for the 2:00 p.m. meet and greet. The model is only 5-7 minutes away from the store.

Then, the time had arrived. We excitedly drove into the model neighborhood and saw very few cars. Whoops. Well, it is only a little before 2:00 p.m. We could just be one of the first families to arrive. So, we unpacked the kids from the car and we reassured them that this is the time that they could meet some kids and families that will be on street. We were so very excited. Then, we were met by the sales representative. She was not our sales representative, but another one. She was very nice and we told her that we were here for the party. She looked at us somewhat awkwardly and said "Well, I think there may still be a few people left in there." [It was 1:54 at that time]. We were perplexed. Bryan said "Are we late? I thought it started at 2." The sales representative said, "Yes, but many people have left". Grrr! Oh, by the way, this was the same sales representative that told us it started at 2 a few days before.

So, we met a few neighbors. A man named Jesse and his wife Lydia were very, very nice. They will live a few houses away from us. We talked about the area, commutes, and how much we were all looking forward to our new homes. There was another woman who was building in another community and another that had just closed on her house on Friday. She was ready to move in immediately and was so happy with how everything had gone. She assured us that it was a process that seems like it takes forever in the beginning stages, but is very quick once it gets started.

Unfortunately, there were no kids there to interact with our children. They sat quietly eating pizza and waiting for the old people to stop talking. So, when we all decided that it was time well spent we packed up the children in the car and headed back for the rental. However, not before we made one extremely important stop.