TOS Love Part I: Resort Living

A year ago we were staying in corporate housing trying to decide where to live in our new city. Most days I would research a good school, and then the girls and I would drive around different neighborhoods for that school, then play at the parks to get a feel for the energy of the neighborhood. More often than not, we had the parks to ourselves. Occasionally there was a nanny there with a couple kids. I started thinking every kid in Seattle went to daycare.

And then we drove thru TOS. (My blog is not private, so I'm exercising a smidgeon of restraint here.) There were kids walking and riding scooters and bikes through the neighborhood. With tennis rackets! Lots of kids! When we passed the tennis courts they were all hanging around waiting for tennis camp to start. And there was a pool! My girls were as excited as I was.

We lucked out and found a rental house in that neighborhood when our house in Portland sold. And every day we grow to love this neighborhood more. Despite having a "country club" (swimming, tennis, and golf are all free for residents--part of the HOA dues), TOS is anything but fancy or pretentious. It is a community of modest sized homes built in the 60's and 70's, which means there are plenty of ugly and tiny homes. But a lot of the land was too soggy and hilly to develop, so they built a golf course on it. The pool and tennis courts followed, and these things created a gathering place for the community.

Tonight we walked over to the pool when Kolby got home from work. The girls swam with friends. We swam a little, read the newspaper, ordered some dinner. And it hit me. This feels like vacationing at Sweetwater, the resort at Bear Lake where we vacationed every summer while I was growing up. Our days consist of going to the pool, playing tennis, golfing (we just went for the first time!), and going to the beach. The kids ride their scooters and bikes around. Sometimes we go days at a time only getting in the car to take the kids to the beach, which is five minutes from our house. I've even considered grocery delivery because we have no other reason to leave the neighborhood.

I feel incredibly lucky to have stumbled upon this neighborhood. The people are great, the kids are sweet, and every day feels like Summer Camp.