Fun Afternoon Touring

A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to visit the local Parade of Homes.  I try to do this every year.  I get some ideas and I see some trends.  I also see some things that I'd never do in my own home.  This year I got to see the homes with a new perspective.  Things just seemed to look a bit different during this tour.  Little things I'd never noticed or paid much attention to before stood out.

You know, little things like wearing the shoe protectors while inside each house.  My new perspective showed me that this wasn't really a hassle to stop and take on at the doorway of each home.  It really is pretty cool and a new experience sometimes.

Perching on the fireplace hearth and hamming it up for the camera is kind of fun, too.

Every closet makes for a fun hiding place.  Every. Single. One.

It is important to check out the showers in each house.  Nobody cares if you just step inside and close the door.

It can be great fun and is really kind of cool to pretend you are taking a shower in these fanciful places.

Some of those showers have a cool bench where you can climb up and sit down for a spell.

After a couple of stops, it is simpler to just walk around in sock feet instead of wearing the little protective booties.  Of course, that means having to sit down and put shoes on to walk to the next home and that part isn't always fun.  Mom can be pretty persuasive, though.

Some of these places have a cool porch or outdoor room.  There are lots of little niches, a couple of cool built-ins, several steps to climb up and down, and sometimes cushy grass and sunshine!

Some of these homes have cool decor that seem to welcome with open arms or just give a guy a big old bear hug.

One place even had a creative place for little fellows to express themselves and pass a little time while the grown-ups looked around.

Every home on this tour had staircases for fellows to climb.  Climbing up.  Climbing down.

It is fun in every one of them.  Every. Single. One.  Sometimes even requiring a climb up and down - twice.

All the furniture was cushy and comfy and welcomed little climbers and loungers.  The tchotchkes were interesting and not easily broken, either.  Of course, the glass-topped table might have been breakable if there wasn't a grown-up nearby to remind little guys to be gentle.

Again, a cute little wink goes a long way with grown-ups when there is something a little man wants to check out that might otherwise be hands-off.  That wink is the insurance needed so that Mom and Dad never find out!

There might even have been a time or two when the socks had to come off so that the cool fuzzy rug could be experienced to the fullest by squishing little toes around.

Touring the homes was so much fun that at the end of the tour a little fellow might not want to leave.  That little fellow might sit down in a chair and say he isn't ready to go. That tired little fellow might even sit down on the steps at the front of the house and refuse to walk to the truck.  (Moms and Dads can be pretty persuasive at times like that, too!)

New perspectives make even the ordinary and traditional seem lots different and, in this case, lots better!