We have a great home in the desired Phinney Neighborhood. My husband and I did a complete remodel of the house before our first child was born. Inside you'll find the first level has 9' ceilings and is full of windows to let the sun shine in. If it is raining (in Seattle? Imagine!) cozy up to a gas starting, wood burning fireplace. We have a TV, no cable, but lots of kid VHS/DVDs. The dining room table seats 4 or 6 with the leaf in. A Viking stove (gas) and central island are in the kitchen which is open to an adjacent play area/office. A 3/4 bath is off the play area.

Several upstairs bedrooms can accommodate your family. The master bedroom has a queen size bed, vaulted ceiling, walk in closet and a rocking chair. The connected bathroom has a deeper soaking tub (no jets) to melt your travel wearies away. Our sons' bedroom has two twin beds with toys to boot. The third bedroom has a full size bed and desk. We are presently using it for storage - I will post a picture when it is cleaned out. There is a full bathroom down the hall from both of these rooms. All of the rooms can easily accommodate a pak-n-play for a infant/toddler.

Throughout the house, there is natural fir trim and flooring, designer lighting, and radiant floor heating. A front load washer, and dryer are located in the basement.

Also in the basement, is a one bedroom mother-in-law which is currently rented out. Our lovely tenant has been with us several years and we adore her. She has her own entrance, is extremely quiet, and uses the laundry two days a week.

Out back there is a patio with sitting wall, teak picnic table and chairs, a play structure, and a charcoal BBQ/smoker. The garden in back and front is filling in with lovely blooms.

I love the Phinney neighborhood! Greenwood Ave is 1.5 blocks away. Along Grreenwood Avenue you will find several coffee houses, (including one that has tasty locally made chocolates) small retailers, a book store, a hardware store, public library, a small modern gallery, new clothing retailers and ladies consignment. There is a small newly remodeled grocery store with great ready made meals to take home, yummy chocolate and last minute milk.

The restaurants consist of everything from Red Mill Burgers (a must), Mr. Gyros, Thai, Pete's Eggnest, The Stumbling Goat (great locally farmed food), Chupracabra (Mexican) Gorgeous George's Mediterranean lamb kabobs, to Carmelitas' vegetarian fare. The bars range from trendy Oliver's to The 74th St Alehouse (pub) and Bleacher's Sports Bar.

Within walking distance along 85th St. is a grocery store, a Fred Meyer general store, a beauty school to get your hair cut, and the small but quality Taproot Theater.

For something different, stop at the local Fire House for a tour, or take a 30 minute walk to The Woodland Park Zoo. A large kids park is just North of the zoo, a small pocket park with a sand pit just southwest of us, and a park on the other side of Fred Meyer. There is also a playground at the elementary school 2 blocks north.

And then... you can drive to Golden Gardens park for a bit of beach, walk by the Marina there, stop by the Ballard Locks, take in Ballard. Discovery Park is a fabulous place to hike and feel instantly out of the city. Carkeek Park is a 5 minute drive to the north with a large field, hikes in the woods, small play area, access to the beach, and best of all you can stand on a catwalk and have the train chug down the track underneath you.

Oh yeah, and then there is downtown Seattle and surrounds, but you can Google that... To get downtown (or to the zoo) simply hop on the bus that runs long Greenwood Avenue for a direct route into the middle of it all.

Our dates are somewhat flexible. Todd's job allows him to get a week off here and there if he can trade shifts with someone. I can easily take off work. We are willing to pull Nathan out of school if he gets a cultural education while we are gone.

There are few weeks in the summer when we are gone to camps. If these weeks work for you, the trade does not need to be concurrent.

Open to any dates

Try us! We are open to all kinds of destinations.
Usually in March/April I want to go some place sunny and warm, but I'll take clear skies and cold too!
We would love to do long weekend exchanges here in the Northwest as well.
We would like to go to San Diego, CA Nov 2012.

Now that our boys are old enough, we have the urge to travel again! Originally from Pennsylvania, Merrily is a stay at home mom, part time move manager, and volunteer at church and preschool. Todd, from Wisconsin, is a full time Seattle firefighter, stay at home dad, and church volunteer. His schedule allows him to be home with the family much more than an 8-5 type job. Our oldest, Nathan (8 years old) loves biking, legos, books and climbing. Graham (5 years old) also loves to bike, put together puzzles and drive Matchbox cars around. We expect them to respect family property as well as others. They are polite and great kids (if not a little silly). We are non-smokers.

We have two indoor/outdoor cats. One is a bit skittish, but they may still sleep with you. Please feed them and bring them in at night while we are gone.

We are hoping to take a vacation to a different locale every year and have our East Coast parents join us if they please. This way everyone gets a vacation and they get to see the grandsons. We would also like to do long weekend concurrent trades here in the Northwest with just the 4 of us.

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