Maria & Kai in Denver

[I'm going to ask Maria to write up this section]

Mike in Philly

This was my third trip to Philly. My first trip was a road trip with my brother John in March - it was a way for him to get most of the way back home to RI since he doesn't like to fly (he was helping me finish up the work on the house in CA), and it was a way for me to get my car to Philly. While I was there I met with our real estate agent, so she could show me the different neighborhoods. The second trip was with Maria and Kai in April: we did our house hunting, and had our offer accepted on the house which became ours. After the offer was accepted we went to Ikea and ordered our kitchen cabinets, as we decided the first project was going to be a kitchen remodel.

I had a smooth flight from Denver, and Maria's friend Jen met me at the airport. I stayed at her place in Manayunk for a couple days (Manayunk is a hip neighborhood in Philly). I also got to spend some time with my friend Mike P. We spent the summers together when we were kids, and he ended up settling in the Philly area. It was definitely nice to have some friends in our new town!

The closing itself went smoothly. The seller was a bit sad to let it go, as it was the house she had grown up in. But for the past couple years she had rented the house to these 5 Irish guys, and they had done a number on the place. But it's a rock solid house that was built in the 20s, and with some work it will be a grand home.

The movers arrived right on time, the day after the closing. Unloading the truck took the whole day, and I was busy going through the checklists, making sure everything was there. I had them put everything in the basement, the garage, and the sunroom, as we were going to have the floors refinished (it made sense to get that done before unpacking all our stuff). The Ikea delivery ended up happening on the same day, so I had to play traffic cop for a while. At the end of the day I put down one of the mattresses on the dining room floor, and managed to unearth some sheets, as I was excited to move in!

I spent my remaining time making Home Depot trips and working on the house. The main thing I got done was painting Kai's room. We picked the same color he had in his room in CA, to help him feel at home. Kai was having a rough time in Denver without me there, so I managed to get on a flight back a day earlier than scheduled.

Here are some pictures of the house - these were taken on our previous trip in April, before the renters had moved out. My favorite picture is the one with the fridge in closet (I checked, and sure enough, it was full of beer).