We love our house. The previous owners did a beautiful job with it. But the backyard left much to be desired. It was basically a pile of weeds, leaves, and mud, with a shed placed in a terrible location. The yard is pretty small and we have been wanting to do something beautiful with is for these last two years. Harry drew up some gorgeous plans for us to utilize the space to the best of our ability. And this April him and Dianne came out to visit for two and a half weeks to help us get it done!
It was HARD WORK. Holy cow. I could not believe it. Plus, of course, it decided to rain every single day. I tell you we had the muddiest mess on our hands. For a while there I did not believe that it was ever going to turn out. I remember going out to the yard one morning after another torrential downpour. The entire backyard was mud. There were trenches dug everywhere with electrical and water lines laid. Nothing looked like it was going to come together. And then somehow it all of a sudden did.
Here we go!
Before:
Pretty boring stuff huh?
During:
This shed was a beast to move. Harry spent an entire day just digging it out and then the next day him and Tim plus our two friend Alan McCown and Andy Crockett came to help move it. It just barely fit in this random out of the way spot between our deck and fence!
My beautiful pergola and they built it in just 1 day!
Seriously. I think it took less time to build this then to move the shed.
Harry is a master with wood crafting.
The kids (+ William of course!) super enjoyed all of the heavy equipment that was used.
They were way into all of the saws, this dumper, and the jackhammer.
Spreading the base to prep for the patio pavers
You can see the paver patio in the background that Tim and I built.
I so regret that we didn't get a pic of us working together to build it. It was a lot of work and
I was so sore but it was a ton of fun to work on it together!
Things are starting to come together!
7 yards of mulch to spread on the new play area.
This picture does not do that mulch pile justice. It was beyond huge! I had told the kids that they couldn't play on the playground until the mulch was spread. We were hoping that they company delivering it would bring it to the back of our house and we could have it dumped right into the yard and just spread it around. Unfortunately we didn't have enough clearance in the back for them to feel like they could do it safely. So I employed our wheel barrow, several shovels and buckets, all of my kids, and William to move it. It took us about 3 1/2 hours. And it started to rain of course. But we powered on. It was itchy and poky and sweaty but we were not going to stop! I just wanted to get this yard done! And they just wanted to be able to play on the swing set!
And here they are. All happy and joyful! They play on this thing all afternoon, and when they wake up in the morning they eat breakfast quick as a flash so they can rush out there again. I love it!
Enjoying his own special swing, Isaac loves this thing!
Time to Pack Up:
Well, our 2 1/2 weeks came to a close. We weren't quite done with the yard but we got most of it done! We will miss you Harry and Dianne! Thank you so much for all of your hard work and talent!
This was a huge project that they did together!
DIY project love :)
After!!!
This is the BEST part! I love seeing it all come together!
Pergola + Lampost + Firepit + Water feature?!?
This girl has just had three life dreams fulfilled.
As of writing this post we have already enjoyed this backyard so much. We roast marshmallows and hot dogs over the fire frequently, we're hosting lots of Young Women's events here this summer, the kids love the swing set, and they use the pergola for a stage. I couldn't imagine a more perfect backyard for our family!
