3 years, 9 months.

Dear Jack,

Over the weekend I made it “Facebook and Twitter official” that our family bought a new house two weeks ago. To be specific, we’re building a new house in the “bedroom community” of Spring Hill, TN. (Our new home is currently a concrete slab.)

(See Dear Jack: We’re Building A New House In Spring Hill, TN.)

I know this sounds strange, but other than going to our lot on the day we “bought” it (meaning we put down the honest money), that was the only time we saw it. We didn’t even check out the surrounding neighborhoods on that day.

Granted, we had well researched the neighborhood online, making sure it was in the “right county for schools,” which is Williamson if you live in the Nashville area.

Plus, our real estate agent Dave Stanley also verified it was a good neighborhood, too; as did another real estate agent in my office, along with about 4 or 5 other co-workers who live in Spring Hill.

(The picture directly below, looking out the car window, is a shot of our new home.)

So our family decided, now that we’ve signed all the proper paperwork and got all the financial approval and all that fun stuff… that we should officially check out the neighborhood.

Plus, we were able to pick out the color of our house (sort of a sea blue), carpet, and granite countertops. You helped the in-house agent enter the info into the computer.

To keep you entertained, I played “Easter Egg Hunt” with him using balloons in the model home; which is the same floor plan as we will have. We also played “Balloon Basketball” using a shelf on the wall.

Afterwards, our family did a “neighborhood drive-by”, checking out the elementary school and new rec center which you can see from our street.

It’s also convenient that the church we will be attending is right around the corner too.

We were also able to meet our next door neighbor; a really nice lady from Detroit who has a 5 year-old granddaughter who happens to live in the neighborhood too.

This is really exciting stuff!

Of course, the whole time, we were cruising around in the glorious 2014 Lexus GS 450h. (I’ve been regularly reviewing cars for a solid year now, as a daddy blogger.)

I should say right off that I very much appreciated that it averages 31 miles per gallon. (The “h” in its name stands for “hybrid.”) Considering all the driving we did to, around, and from our new home, I never had to think about fueling up.

After having driven the 2014 Lexus GS 450h for an entire week now, it’s still not down to half a tank yet.

Your favorite part about the car was that the windows have sun shades that pull down. I think it made you feel like you’re in your own private limo. You also liked the Sirius XM station, Margaritaville, (Ch. 24).

On the way to school this morning, you begged me, “Turn it to Jimmy Buffet, Daddy!”

(Speaking of the radio, you can control it (along with the air) from a special console that folds down from in between the back seats.)

Needless to say, Mommy thoroughly enjoyed getting to test-drive the car. You and me had as much fun while she did, as we apparently pretended to be pirates, I think…

I also enjoyed one particular safety feature it has where it beeps anytime it senses another vehicle as you’re backing up. That’s really cool- came in handy a time or two.

As always, people’s heads turned the entire week as we drove this Lexus around. It happens every time we review a Lexus.

I just whipped up this for anyone interested as well: Syncing Your Phone To A New Lexus Vehicle.

And obviously, in the months to come, there will be more house updates as well.

Love,

Daddy

2014 Lexus GS 450h

Fuel economy: 31 combined/29 city/34 highway

Price as shown: $70,000.00.