The one percent

Question: At what age do kids not want to go on family vacations anymore? Because 8 seems a little early to me, but Luke was awfully quick to ditch us in Palm Springs in order to hang out with his friends who were staying elsewhere in the Palm Springs area. I hope we get more than 8 years' worth of family vacations with him, because we really were just starting to have a lot of fun. Before Luke left, we did have a great family day together at Soak City (water park), but there are no pictures to show for it, because, really, who carries a camera around with them to a water park?

The condo that we stayed at in Palm Springs was in the same development where Dave's parents used to have a place, and all of the condos have the same layout. So as soon as we stepped in the door, we knew exactly what to expect. My brain surveyed the condo and registered a "that's nice," and went on with my day. But Dave's brain seemed to experience something revelatory. For starters, he just seemed to go into total relax mode once he was in the familiar surroundings. Second, and more importantly, we had rented an upstairs unit with a full-on golf course view. And he was so in love with the view, he wanted to be looking out the window All. The. Time. In fact, he insisted on sleeping with the blinds open and the patio door cracked open so that as soon as the dawn light started coming in, he would get a mountain view and fresh desert air. (Lucky for me I had my eye mask.)

On Tuesday we brought Luke over to his friend's beautiful house in Rancho Mirage, which featured, among other things, a gorgeous kids'-paradise pool and a "bunk room" that was perfect for sleepovers. Then we took Zach out for a special dinner at Kobe (the Japanese steak house where they cook the food and do fancy tricks at your table), where Zach became fast friends with a little almost-5-year-old who also happened to be sitting at our communal table. (Next thing you know Zach's going to be ditching us for his friends too. Wait - did I say that out loud?) We also indulged Zach with some train-watching in the desert (which Luke would have totally complained about).

On Wednesday Luke's sleepover party moved to another friend's house (actually, his grandparents' house) in La Quinta. We hadn't planned on letting Luke go out there, but when we realized we wouldn't have enough time to swim at our condo before check out, we decided to let him go to the party and we planned to join him out there once we checked out.

Have you ever had an experience where you picture someone's house, and then when you arrive there it is totally different from what you expected? Imagine us driving to La Quinta and muttering about how far away it is from everything else. Then we enter the golf course/gated community and as Dave surveys the faux Spanish exteriors, he lets loose with a, "This just has no appeal to me whatsoever."

But we keep following the directions and winding our way through the community. Then we enter another set of gates. Then we find ourselves heading up a little promontory. Then we finally arrive at the house, which isn't really a house as much as it is the most spectacular mansion you've ever seen, perched on an absolutely enormous lot on the top of a hill, with the most sweeping and spectacular views of the valley that you can imagine.

No joke - out of all the houses I have toured in my life, this is just about the most jaw-droppingly gorgeous house I have ever seen. There is absolutely nothing pre-fab or mass-produced about it. Every detail in every nook and cranny has been thoughtfully planned and artistically executed. The home was featured in a big coffee table book on 21st century architecture so the owners (Luke's friend's grandparents) happily showed me the book and then gave me a full-on tour. I can't even say any more about it because I am just going to bore you with superlatives, but I honestly don't think I will ever see another house that rates as high up there in terms of artistry, execution, beauty, and comfort. Of course it helped that the grandparents were gracious hosts who were totally delighted to entertain the kids, and kept them happy with hot dogs, pudding, cookies, video games, and endless pool time.

I think I'll just be quiet now and stick in a few photos. The pool is an infinity pool that is designed to look as if it spills over into the nearby pond (which is in fact about a hundred yards away).

We had no intention of staying longer than, say, 1:00, but we couldn't tear ourselves away. Before we knew it, it was 4:00 and everyone was getting out of the pool to go to "dog happy hour." We all piled in the golf carts (including Grandma's hot rod special) and headed over to the "dog park" - a small corner of the golf course where about 20 golf carts were already assembled with dogs and owners.

Everyone knew everyone else, and all of the dogs as well.
"Hi, Jim"
"Hi, Bob"
"Hi, Barry"
"Hi, Trip"
"Hi, Carol"
"Hi, Diane"
"Hi, Tootsie"
"Hi, Muffin"
"Hi, Binkie"
(These are interchangeably the people's names and the dog's names.) Several people brought big buckets filled with ice water, and while the dogs chomped on ice cubes, the people chit-chatted at this little impromptu social hour. Our hosts' dog was named Tootsie, and Zach was delighted to follow Tootsie around as she met up with all of her other dog friends.

...And then just as quickly as it started, the dog happy hour drew to an end and it was time to zip back to our mansion. Do you see how easy it is to live like this? We could just slide right into this lifestyle.

Anyway, we are home now in our regular house. Luke says to me this afternoon, "Mom, if we win a lottery, I think we should get a mansion. I mean, we should keep the same house; we should just...you know... accessorize. Like add a few stories or something. And a pool. And a hot tub." OK - you're on.