Postage Stamp Yards, Revisiting the 70s and Street Decorating

You may ask, "what do the above have in common?" Why nothing else than the latest saga of the Vander Hart House Hunt. In our quest for the Holy Grail of homes, we encountered a few snags.

The first house we went to was actually a 2nd visit. A nice home on the southside of Des Moines was our top pick after making an offer on a house in Ankeny didn't work out. Which actually we are not disappointed at all by. Second visits do remarkable things, blemishes start to pop out at us - things we didn't notice during the first visit. We decided while the house isn't out of contention yet, it certainly will not be our favorite.

The next house we visited took the number one spot for now - a nice remodeled split-foyer home on the SE side that had everything we were looking for in a house. It didn't have a back yard though - it had two decent size side yards and a front yard, but since it was on a corner lot, and the driveway and garage were behind the house there wasn't a yard. It was a nice home however, and there was enough yard space to suit the Vander Hart children's needs. At this point though our kids were starting to not feel well, Morgan didn't even want to leave the van, and all of the children were starting to get whiney.

House number three - Lily and Morgan both wanted to stay in the van complaining about not feeling well, so Kelvey, Cheryl and I first looked at the backyard first. It was the size of a postage stamp, and what's worse - half the yard was going up a hill! If Morgan decided to sled down the hill (more like wanting to try out his snow board) he would probably crash into the house. We didn't even waste our time going in.

The fourth house we visited I believe I entered the Twilight Zone and was back in the 70s. This house reminded me of my childhood home in Bondurant with its 70s decor, except back then it was actually the 70s. Ah yes, hues of burnt orange, goldenrod, and brown danced through my mind along with replaying every BeeGees and Kool and the Gang song that came to mind. What a blast from the past, and as I got into the van I was thinking "cel-a-bra-tion time come on!" I was happy to be out of there.

The fifth house we were to visit is in Pleasant Hill, by that time Kelvey was startintg to feel sick, Cheryl wasn't feeling well, Morgan was moaning and Lillian was whining so it was time for the Vander Harts to head back home. As I turned onto Locust Street about three blocks from our house - Lillian says, "I've got to throw up, we pull over, open up the side door, she leans out and - well I didn't realize so much could come out of a little girl. Right on the street. I'm glad it rained tonight.