Sarasota Home Exchange

Who we are...........

We are a family of eight! Yes all six kids have the same two parents (most people wonder, few are brave enough to ask). Bob and Diana run a service company in the construction industry and Diana is an independent distributor with Send Our Cards. Don't know what that is? If you would to know contact us for more info- even if the exchange won't work. Bob enjoys golfing, coaching his boys in baseball, attending sporting events and watching them on tv. Diana enjoys spending time with friends, entertaining, and reading. Cassie, who just moved out but may still go on vacations with us, is 19 and is a freshman in college and plans to be an accountant. Ariel, who is a sophmore, is 16 and enjoys spending time with friends, both in person and on the computer and LOVES to shop. Michael is 14 and he and Jacob (who is 12) are avid baseball players. Matthew, who has never seen a video game he didn't love is 9 and Hannah, the baby, is 3. We have a five passenger Lexus that we would consider trading, either for your vehicle or public transportation passes. Hannah's car seat will be coming with us, if you need one we can arrange for one to be rented.

We enjoy all sorts of vacation places- relaxing, sight-seeing, educational, etc. Because of the size of our family expensive types of activities are usually not an option such as skiing. Anything times 8 is a lot of money. Public transportation and urban areas are preferable if we are flying to your destination, unless we trade vehicles. In any non-English speaking foreign country public transportation is important. We do not want to drive where we cannot understand the street signs.

Our home

Our 3600 sq ft. home is on a two acre lot in a neighborhood that is close to shopping and restaurants. We have a pool and a really cool fort/swing set that younger kids love. There are lots of trees and a large swing seat under the best oak tree on the block. We love art and it shows. You can find beautiful artwork from all over the world gracing the walls of almost every room in our home. We have art from Smadar Livne, Marisa Meier, Lee Bursein, who unfortunately does not have a website so you cannot see his beautiful work, and Ferjo, a Brazilian artist, in addition to the photographic works of Jason M Solomon, and Mark Pericot, two most incredible photographers.

Our master bedroom has a bathroom with a beautiful shower and a separate water closet, double sinks and its own washer and dryer. The bedroom is large with a king size bed and a sitting area. It has a plasma TV, stereo system, DVD player and dvr. There is also a separate sitting area with a sofa and two chairs (one of which is a magnificent massaging chair- lovely to recuperate in after a long day of sight seeing).

Ariel and Hannah's room has a bathroom with double sinks, a shower, and a separate jacuzzi style tub. It has two walk in closets and a wall mounted plasma TV and a DVD player. It has a full size bed, a love seat that a small person could easily sleep one. It has a private entrance to the patio.

Michael's room has a full size bed and two small closets. He has a TV in his room.

Bedroom number four belongs to the boys’. It has two twin beds. They also have their own TV and the coolest round couch.

The family room has a fireplace and large lcd TV, and a large sectional that easily sits five adults with plenty of elbow room. There is a tall glass table with two chairs. We have a DVD/VHS combo player and a stereo. Of course there are lots of DVDs. We have wireless internet available.

Our living room has a beautiful bay window with a wonderful view of the front yard and fountain. It seats five for nice quiet conversation.

Our dining room is beside the kitchen and comfortably seats six, but we squeeze all eight of us into it. Sometimes there are more, when we have guests, which is quite often. When there are simply too many people we often send some children out to the patio to eat.

We have, of course, a fully functioning kitchen, with all of the regular stuff- dishwasher, microwave, fridge, etc.

We have a large laundry room/pantry. It has a full size washer and dryer in addition to a second refrigerator and a double oven that has both convection and a conventional oven, and a wine cooler.

Right off of the kitchen and family room is our patio, deck, and pool. The patio area has a large square table with seating for eight and additional table with five chairs. There is a commerical gas range a stove and grill. and there is also a regular gas barbecue. The deck area has a table with seating for four and there are also four large lounging chairs. There is a fountain on the deck that is surrounded by beautiful plants and contains live fish that don’t require any care. The pool bath is located right off of the deck.

Our home has a working office in it that houses all of our business office stuff (computers, files, paperwork, etc). It is, unfortunately, quite accessible. Of course all papers will be put away but we would ask that the area be left alone as much as possible.

*Our home is not immaculate. I often say that it is six kid, two dog messy. We do clean our home regularly, but it is not spotless. It is not "eat off the floor" clean, fortunately though, our home is equipped with plenty of dishes. If this bothers you, our home probably will not suit you.*

Our Town and surrounding areas

Our neighborhood, Desoto Acres, was originally created by circus folks who needed large properties for their circus animals. Sarasota was the summer home of the Ringlings and we are just a couple if miles away from the Ringling Art Museum, The Circus Museum and C'a D'zan- the Ringling's 32 room summer mansion. It is not at all unusual to see horses walking down the street. Most of the yards in our neighborhood are at least two acres. There are a few families on our block with children. Our neighbors directly across the street are wonderful and have already offered to assist you if needed. There are three large grocery stores, restaurants, and a discount movie theater within 1.5 miles. There are many ethnic restaurants (Mexican, Italian, Chinese, Japanese, Honduran, Peruvian, etc) within a five mile area.
Sarasota is family friendly, senior friendly, rainbow friendly, pet friendly. Because it is has a history of tourism, we encourage all to come and enjoy our town. For the performing arts lover Sarasota has everything you would hope to find in a cultured city. Check out http://www.sarasota-arts.org/ to see a few of the things will be happening during your vacation.
For the sun and sand lover we have some of the most beautiful beaches, Siesta Key and Lido Beach. There are places to rent jet skis and boats, you can go parasailing, or just relax. Don't forget about the golf! There are many beautiful public and semi private golf courses in Sarasota.
For shoppers right in town we have world famous shopping on St. Armands Circle , just a half hour away is Ellenton Outlet Mall , and about an hour away is the International Mall . Of course we have good malls right here in town as well. Downtown Sarasota is over flowing with art galleries and unique stores for a fun shopping experience.
For the nature lover there are two beautiful state parks about a half hour away and you would be free to grab our bicycle hitch and our bikes and head out to the parks for a day, or go there for some hiking, Myakka State Park and Oscar Scherer Park.
Near our home is a wonderful park with lots of shade and picnic tables. There are public tennis courts nearby, as well as a skate board park.
Do you enjoy gambling? Visit the Sarasota Kennel Club and One-Eyed Kacks Poker Room or The Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino which is about an hour away in Tampa. Just a couple of miles away from our home is Smuggler's Cove Adventure Golf. Where else can you see real live alligators while you play putt-putt? How about visiting a warm mineral spring? Warm Mineral Springs Resort is the only warm mineral spring in Florida. Its water has more mineral content than any spring in the USA; Third highest in the world!
Want to spend some time near the water? You can charter a fishing boat and spend the day out in the Gulf of Mexico or go for a day cruise on LeBarge or have dinner on the Marina Jack II Dinner Boat.

Where we would like to go...........

I am in the process of finding a swap to San Francisco as a suprise for Bob. It would only be the two of us traveling. All of the children would be farmed out to friends and family. We would like to swap in June '09.
Because of the weakening economy, particularly in the construction industry, we will have to take our vacation to a place that is within driving distance, two short days of travel being the furthest we can go.
Places in Florida for long weekends. Especially the Keys, we love our state, and even places as close as Ft. Myers or Tampa may be tempting.
Your house!

Our Pets

Nikki, the black dog, and Zoey, the white dog, are our beloved German Shepherds. We are unable to board them. In addition to the considerable cost of boarding, they need to be in the only home they have ever had. Our neighbors would happily introduce you and then the "girls" would know you are friends. When we are home we typically leave the door ajar and allow them to come and go as they please. Because our entire yard is fenced in and we have a large covered and screened in patio that has a doggy door you could even leave them outside if you spent the day out sight seeing. Their food is already kept on the patio and large bowl of water is all they would need to be happy.

Saturday, September 1, 2007

For those of you who are concerned about having so many children in your home, let me assure you, these ceramic plates sat on the coffee table in my living room the entire time that the construction of my new master bedroom was taking place. Not one child ever even considered messing with them. They have been raised around beautiful things and don't think to disturb them! They are of course normal children and they do things on accident, but not intentionally. I understand wanting your things protected. I feel the same way! Did you know that most hotels allow you to jump on the beds? Want to know how I know? Because when we stay at hotels I make the children walk down to the front desk and ask for permission before jumping. We really do respect other people's things.

3 comments:

Nicole I. Frank said...: This is the best personal home exchange web site I have ever seen! You have done an incredible job letting people know about your home and family. I would like to feature this page on my home exchange blog, Home Exchange Travels: www.HomeExchanger.blogspot.com

I answered your question that you sent me last month. See the blog for details.

Best,

Nicole; July 14, 2007 at 4:09 AM
Anonymous said...: Hello,
We have a family emergency and wonder if you would be interested in a short notice exchange in the San Francisco Bay Area/Napa Wine Country? It can be simultaneous, or of course, bank the time for future travel.

We need a place for Feb. 23 - 27 2007, as my father is having heart surgery in Sarasota.

We are non-smoking, experienced home exchangers, in our 40's, who run our own educational theater company. We have an 8 month old girl. Possible car exchange too, for our 2004 Prius or 2001 Sienna mini-van. Let us know if you are interested, and if you have a car to exchange. We have a lovely waterfront 3 BR/ 2.5 bathroom home, overlooking a wetland wildlife refuge at the mouth of the Napa River. Lovely views and relaxing landscaped yards hammock, flowers and fruit trees. It is very central for enjoying the Bay Area- 20 minutes to Berkeley or Marin, 45 minutes by car or ferry to San Francisco, 45 minutes to Sacramento.

View photos and map at

http://sarasota.craigslist.org/swp/578971542.html (housing swap)

Thanks for your consideration.

Michael, Renee, and Arabella Oakes

(707) 643-7819; February 21, 2008 at 9:35 PM
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