Move to Bucks County, PA

Our happy family :)

Guess what?  We've moved again!

For all the readers who have been following our adventures: thank you for joining us on this journey, and for new readers: a big welcome and feel free to check out the archives to catch up on why we sold our house back in October 2015 and have been living all over the east coast since December (how have these past 6 months gone by so fast?!)  And a HUGE thank you for all our family and friends who have supported us during the ups and downs along this road - love to all of you!

So no surprise here, we've moved again.  But this time it's for longer then a month in a vacation rental because this time we signed a 13month lease in an unfurnished townhouse - gasp!  Yes, it's true, we are settling down for a little while to enjoy some non-traveling adventures ahead of us.  As many of you who know, I'm now 7months pregnant.  It's a good time to settle into one place with more consistent doctors, stable living environment, and not to mention getting our own bed back finally - yippie for comfort!!  My husband also accepted a great career opportunity at a solid company which is super exciting!

Ok, ready for the tour of our new naked home before we put millions of boxes or furniture inside to create chaotic clutter?  Welcome to our new home, complete with 3 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms, and a finished basement!

Our end-unit townhouse

PODS being delivered

We sold a lot of our stuff before we put it in storage, but we still had one completely full POD and one packed about 1/3 full.  Being in a townhouse means we don't actually need to use our push-lawn mower, snow blower, power washer, etc so we are just keeping them in our utility storage until our next place.

Keiki with our new keys!!

Dining & living room, outside patio

Kitchen

Master bathroom with two sinks!

Master bedroom

Kids bathroom

Two equivalent kids rooms

Such modern utilities!
Keiki's whimsical attire makes me giggle,
complete with:
1. Minnie Mouse purse filled with bracelets
2. Irish shamrock antennae headband
3. Star shaped fairy wand  

Spacious finished basement,
soon to be huge playroom and a place
to simply run around on rainy/snowy days!
Also has an extra finished room that can be
made into an office or guest room

AND second floor laundry - I'm going to become super spoiled in this place!

Rent vs. Buying

The past month has been a whirlwind of chaos as we decide where our next adventure will take us.  My husband got a new job so it looks like we are going to stop moving around the country on a month-to-month basis and settle down in Pennsylvania for at least a year while we also gain our parenting-legs with a second child.

We have owned our own home in Massachusetts for so many years now that we just naturally assumed it was the next step for us to find a new house to settle down in so we aggressively started looking.  Although the housing market is still not recovered in most of the country, it turns out that the area of PA we were looking in was just as a hot market as it was back in our prior MA area.  We underestimated that solid houses were selling within days of listing and predominantly over asking price.  It caught us off-guard and we lost out on a couple of possible new homes.

But God always has a plan, right?  Turns out that the rental market for three bedrooms is competitive as well, but we found exactly what we needed - if not much more!!  Plus renting with a one year lease just seems to be a smart decision when we are not only new to the area but unsure if my husband would even like the new job he starts.  Renting is also a great option for us because we are about 2 months away from when our new baby is to arrive so we can get settled in and I can start nesting  :)

I think we all have weighed the risks and rewards to renting vs. buying - what experiences have you had?

Lehigh Valley Zoo

We visited a zoo in what felt like the middle of nowhere this week!  A drive through the countryside of family farms leads you to a very minimally marked gated entrance.  Up the windy mountain and then back down into a secluded valley, built as if to almost exclusively create an oasis home for a small zoo!  This zoo was perfect for taking younger kiddos because we actually could see all the animals available in a morning before afternoon nap time.  There were many informative signs about endangered animals and nature preservation to raise awareness, a diverse population of interesting animals from a varying environments, and even a playground for kiddos who wanted to get the extra energy out.  And after you leave the zoo, your car is led on a "safari tour" through a nature preserve that takes you through a shallow river (the water comes up a few inches over your tires - a cool effect as if you are truly in the wild!) and the park houses bison and elk (behind a fence), a scenic overlook of the zoo, and parking areas for hiking trails and picnic spots!

Penguins

Eagles

Kangaroos

Endangered Wolf

Camels

Looking into a wolf den

Snack bar and gift shop

Overlook of the zoo

Nature preserve with bison & elk

Crayola Experience

Crayons and markers and fun... oh my!!  We used to call this place the "Crayola Factory" when I was a kid but now it's more of a museum and visitors center for kids - called the "Crayola Experience!"  Centered in the heart of Easton, PA,  Crayola has created a four floor discovery museum for little and big kids alike.

We bought our tickets online ahead of time to save a few dollars per person because our 2.5 year old toddler is too tall for passing (i.e.:lying) about her age anymore.  But if anyone reading this has little tykes, children can explore the Crayola place for free  :)

Upon entering, there is a display of the worlds largest crayon.  It's 16 inches in diameter and weighs 1,500 lbs!  After the Crayon census of 2000 showed fan favorite color was blue, this worlds largest crayon was unveiled in 2003,  it was collectively made of left over crayon bits sent in by children across the United States.

The main attractions are on the second, third and fourth floors and let a child's mind run wild!   You can name and wrap your own crayon, play on two separate indoor playgrounds (age appropriate 2-4 and 4-12), create art projects, puzzles, and paintings, and even melt crayons into a shape crayon too. In my opinion this place would be overwhelming if visited on a busy or rainy weekend day, but since we visited on a Monday morning the place was practically empty so we could visit each station at leisure and without standing in line.  Our Tiny Tot even made a few friends to play with while visiting which always makes it more fun when sharing discovery experiences with friends!