Sunny Days and Our New Backyard

Lately, we've had gorgeous weather. It's even been hot enough on some afternoons for the kids to enjoy some water fun. We broke out Eli's bathing suit for the first time this year. We did take out Keira's, too. But, I got pictures of her nudie bathing experience in the kiddie pool instead.




Once again, Scott has wowed me with his dedication to our outdoor living space. Our multiple gardens all around our house are wonderful. We have a vegetable garden around the front of our house that we are growing from mostly seed. Then, we decided to buy a few plants for a container garden on the back deck. That way, if our seed results end up being less than extraodinary we have some back up. Here's Scott wheeling Eli and some soil for our container garden into the back yard.


Possibly more impressive than our multiple gardens is our new backyard space. Within the last week Scott and his dad have created a great kiddie heaven right next to our deck. The kids and I absolutely love it. As was Scott's plan, we don't have much interest in leaving our property now. First, over the weekend, Scott and Tom pulled out roots, took out the old sandbox and created an even space where the sandbox and a bunch of unused space used to be. Then, they framed it in wood and laid down some landscaping cloth. Finally, for Eli, the fun began on Monday with the sand and gravel delivery. He loved scampering around and sliding down the giant hills of sand and gravel.




On Monday night, after working a full day at their regular jobs, Scott and Tom got back to work and moved all the gravel into the space, built a new giant sandbox, and filled it with sand.



While the men worked, Dendi and I helped a little with the manual labor, but mostly watched the kids. Dendi and Eli played in the giant sand pile in the driveway, while Keira watched happily from the shady grass.




We got the idea to include gravel from Babo who recently added rocks into his landscaping. One day last week, the kids and I rode the golfcart to Grammie and Babo's for a change of scenery. Grammie and Babo were both at work. The kids spent a full 45 minutes quietly playing in the pebbles. It was amazing. Since Keira is unusual, in that she doesn't put many things into her mouth, (including food!) she safely plays with the pebbles, too. Here she is happily playing in the area halfway filled with rocks. Tom and Scott filled in the area completely with a new rock delivery on Wednesday.



Finally, after filling in the area with rocks, Scott had a brilliant idea. He brought the big toddler toys up from the bottom of the yard and put them on the rocks. Now, the kids new play area includes: a little slide, a play house, a picnic table, a toddler sized adirondack chair, and of course the sand box and rocks. It's awesome. It's made all those toys new again. Here are Eli and Keira sliding together.


I had planned on taking a few pictures of the completed area to include with this post, but as it's pouring now, I'll include them later.