Every year in January I start looking forward to attending the Parade of Homes in June. It’s where home builders showcase some new homes that you can visit and walk through. I’ve gone every year for the last five or so years. Each year gets a little more challenging to attend as I add children and they get older.

This year I got to go a few times, sometimes with both kids (challenging, especially with Wes), once with just Carissa (blessedly easy compared to having both kids), and even once by myself (wow!!).

I had my camera the night it was me and Carissa. She is a fun little girl to hang out with. Because it was just me and her, and I didn’t have to keep a hand on Wes to keep him from running off or touching things or slipping under the barrier tape, we had time to slow down and enjoy each house we visited.

We saw some nifty things, like this live plant mural on the wall inside an ultra-mod house.

The same house had a rooftop deck with amazing valley views. We hung out here for a while, enjoying the warm breeze and soft pillows.

Another gorgeous house we walked through was very child-friendly. Carissa saw this reading nook and made herself right at home.

She’s really into trucks, motorcycles, cars, and buses, so this book she found was hard to drag her away from.

Visiting new, sparkly, innovative homes is fun. But sometimes after seeing such amazing houses it makes the sparse white box you live in feel a tad inadequate. Look at these two kid’s rooms. Somehow Wesley’s bare walls and unadorned bed seem kind of sad. At least he doesn’t care.