Summer projects

Ok, so the pictures are of the 2 summer projects we took on over the hot summer. Speaking of which, it has been an unusually HOT summer here. It has also been really humid. That's why the pool project has been the best thing we have done this summer. We had help from Joshua's friends. They came and helped with the pool setup and the landscaping we did around the pool. The boys have enjoyed hours and hours in the pool. It is nice for me too, because I can take a book and read while they swim. It gives me an excuse to take a break from housework so I can watch them swim while catching up on some reading.

The other project was replacing the curb on the driveway. It was really old and broken up especially around the curve of the driveway. In fact, in some places the curb was pushed out over 12 inches by the soil. Myself and the boys hauled all the broken curbing away and then I started the long tedious project of digging out all the dirt so I could place the new retaining wall which I decided to install rather than new curbing. Jimmy was a great help with all the digging and hauling of dirt. He also did the majority of the hauling of the sand, stone and concrete wall pieces. I did the slow work of trying to get the first row of pavers perfectly level. At times I felt like I would never finish and I hated being so hot and sweaty and dirty everyday from working on it. The kids were pretty much on their own and since we had to take down the fence between the driveway and backyard temporarily while we worked on the wall, the boys spent a lot of time in the pool while we kept an eye on them during our work. All in all, I think the project took 2 weeks from start to finish. Maybe a little longer.

Next, we want to install artificial grass in the front yard. We saw some used in Las Vegas that looked almost real and we decided we loved the idea of having that in our yard since we have too many trees to allow decent grass to grow. But that is a big project too. We have to dig out 4 inches of dirt and then lay crushed limestone before we place the artificial grass on top of it. Then we use long nails to stake it down. But, that is for next year. :)