I have a particular weakness for homes with disappearing walls. The glass doors that slide into the walls providing a sweeping view of the backyard, and at times a view of the Pacific Ocean. We recently helped some good friends find an incredible Santaluz home that was just under 9000 square feet. In today's real estate scene, for awhile anyway, you can purchase an estate home for far less then it would cost to build it. This particular home has it all, pool, ocean view, outdoor kitchen and of course, those incredible disappearing walls
I stopped by to check on our friends new home, after picking up two of our boys from soccer practice. Raymond and Ryan were wearing their soccer cleats as they clamored out of our Honda Element, (it was Santaluz so I parked our Honda discreetly). Our boys complained I would not allow them into the home. "C'mon dad? Why not? Do you think they will invite us over after they move in?" I laughed as I held our youngest son, Ryan's hand to make sure he did not fall into their incredible pool with a beach entry.
Standing on the rear patio we looked through the massive sliding glass doors into the living room. I described, in exhaustive detail, how the glass doors slid back to reveal the panoramic view. It was then Raymond exclaimed, "Holy cow, and Ryan yelled, "Oh my gosh". I was pleased they appreciated the architectural marvel I was showing them. I wondered if it was the engineering of the doors or the view to the ocean that made them so excited. I then saw their eager faces in the reflection from the glass doors.
Their attention was not on the disappearing walls or the ocean view at all. In fact, they were staring intently at an old Walmart trampoline in the rear yard. Their excitement built as they begged me to jump on it. It was another reminder that our kids are pretty much like all kids. They don't really care about square footage, disappearing walls or awesome views. To a kid, life is about having fun. It's about frisbees, footballs, and kicking a soccer ball. I think sometimes we try so hard to provide the best for our kids. In the process we forget what their top priorities are. They really don't care if a home is a thousand or nine thousand square feet. They just want our attention. As we stood in the backyard of our friend's home with the sun setting over the Pacific Ocean, all I could say was, "OK, kick off your soccer cleats. You have five minutes and don't dare break your neck!" The solitude of Santaluz was likely broken with the Shay boys yelling at the top of their lungs, "Yippee, this is awesome dad" as they laughed and jumped around on that trampoline. It reminded me once again to learn from my kids. They have it right. We really shouldn't mess with perfection.
Theresa, myself and our family hope you have an awesome week with lots of laughter!
