Wednesday Mayhem with Grandpa

We spent the day last Wednesday with Shanghai and Grandpa. It ended up being a really crazy day. It was Shanghai's school spring break last week. My dad called me the week before that to see if they could come up to visit while school was out. We don't get to see them very much at all and I rarely, if ever, turn down an opportunity to visit with family. We were planning to put our house on the market and had lined up for a real estate photographer to come take pictures but I didn't know exactly which day it would going to officially go on the market, so I gave my dad some warning that our house would probably be listed when he came. I told him that if we had a showing, he would have to be prepared to pack up their stuff and put it back in the car while people were looking at the house. He was on board with the plan and our spring break visit was set. I gave it some thought and was planning to maybe take the kids to the zoo, maybe go downtown to wander around, go to the park - so many fun options...or so I thought.

Grandpa Stokes and Shanghai arrived late Tuesday afternoon and I picked up the boys early from school and we went to their tee-ball game and met up with MaSha. Although it was pretty windy, I think Grandpa and Shanghai enjoyed watching the boys in action! They're really so cute playing tee-ball! Then we went and grabbed some dinner at Tropical Grille. Everything was going great.

Due to some lag time in paperwork and scheduling and deciding on pricing for our house, we ended up getting it on MLS and officially listed until around 10 PM on Tuesday night. I did not know what I was in for.

On Wednesday I took PTO from work and kept the boys home from school so that we could maximize our time with my dad and Shanghai. I knew that our house was "live" online on MLS and figured we may get a request for a showing but that it would probably heat up on Friday/Saturday timeframe. We were still in pjs and eating a leisurely breakfast of waffles and sausage on Wednesday morning when things got crazy. My phone started blowing up with requests for showings. The first one gave us a 30 minute notice. No one had showered yet and the kitchen was a mess from breakfast. I went into immediate crazy mode and just started cleaning/picking up stuff, putting toys away, making beds, wiping counters, turning on lamps, etc and grabbed the dogs and jackets and got into the van. We were literally pulling out of the driveway when the realtor was pulling in. Seriously. We took the kids and the dogs down to the neighborhood common area with a playground. They got out for about 15 minutes and were playing, but it was seriously really cold. We got back in the car with the thought of driving around until the showing was done, but we saw the realtor's car leaving the neighborhood as we were about to leave the neighborhood, so we knew the showing was done in about 30 minutes. I took this as a bad sign because I always feel like if they leave too quickly it was because they weren't interested. Anyway, we had a quick break before the next showing so we went back to home to shower and get out of pjs and prepare to be away for the rest of the day. All of my "plans" went out the window along with the warm weather, because the high was only around mid-50s that day. All of my outdoor activities were no longer going to happen. We ended up eating lunch at home, and had a few opportunities to come back to do stuff, but were away from the house for the majority of the day. Plus, each time the kids came in, I had to pick up after them. It was easier just to leave when it was clean and keep everyone away for the day. All in all, we had 6 showings on the first day. I was blown away. I was totally unprepared for how fast and furious the appointment requests would come in. A sweet neighbor allowed us to put our dogs in her back yard. Lifesaver. To kill some time, we took the kids to Gravitopia, an INDOOR trampoline place. It was so fun! The boys have been to a birthday party there and sometimes MaSha will take one at a time (she got them several sessions each for their Christmas present), but this was the first time I could go. It was so fun! Shanghai would bounce all over the place and Stokes and William were like her little ducklings, just following her around and doing whatever she did. So funny!

Ryan hung out on the couch
with Grandpa Stokes

After an HOUR AND A HALF of bouncing (that is a long time to be on a trampoline)...the boys seemed a little run down and tired. We couldn't go home for a nap, but I thought they could use a little quiet time to rest. I wasn't sure where to go next, but my dad suggested just going to a park and keeping everyone in the car and letting them nap. I agreed (and also wished that I had thought to grab a DVD before leaving so that they could watch a movie in the van). On the way to the park, we passed by Rail Line Brewing and I turned in there. I think Grandpa Stokes was very happy about that rogue turn as well. It was cool and had ping pong and toys and games to keep the kids busy. We ordered some apps and some beers and spent a few hours hanging out there until it was time to meet Thomas for dinner. It wasn't quite nap time, but the environment was pretty chill so the boys could wind down a little.

Shanghai and William

Sleepy Ryan - fell asleep on the table

Stokes eating chicken wings

apps with Grandpa Stokes and Shanghai

Rail Line was a nice break and a good way to kill a few hours. We met Thomas for dinner to waste some more time before we could go home, and successfully allowed for 6 showings while we had 2 dogs, 3 kids, a half sister and a dad in tow. I know it wasn't ideal for anyone, and I honestly had no idea it would be that crazy, and that the weather would be so cold and would prevent us from wasting time outdoors (especially since we'd had some beautiful spring days leading up to this), but my dad and Shanghai were total troopers and didn't complain once. The boys were just so excited to hang out with Shanghai, they didn't care where they were! 

All the craziness was worth it because we got an offer from our very first showing and were under contract on Thursday morning. 

I am relieved to not have to do more showings like that day, but also would have the boys in school for future showings! Despite the total mayhem, it was really good to see my dad and Shanghai and they were so helpful with the boys throughout the day when I had to be on the phone with Carole (aka Mimi, aka our realtor) to talk through house stuff. Next time they come, we will plan a much more relaxing, but still enjoyable day! Haha!

Stay tuned for more house updates. :)