The Project

*WARNING: LONG POST AND LOTS OF PICTURES*

Back in April I convinced Dave that the boys needed a sandbox. They got a swing set from my parents for Christmas, that was sitting in a box in our garage, and I wanted it to go in a sandbox for them to play in...instead of just on the grass. I also wanted it to be in the back yard, but in order to not take up the entire back yard with a sandbox, I decided to put it in the side yard and move the fence line up which would make it in the backyard. Still with me? Good. Our side yard had a big slope that we had to dig out with my Dad's skid steer and backhoe. While we were already destroying the yard with big farm equipment, I decided it would be a good idea to also get rid of the 4 dead trees in the front flower bed. I know, I know, I have an amazing husband :)

*the dead trees uprooted and awaiting removal from the yard*

*BEFORE*

*AFTER*

*the view from the front of the yard looking towards the back*

*BEFORE*

*the front flower bed isn't done yet*

*AFTER*

*link helping somehow*

*the boys LOVED riding the skid steer*

*sandbox in and ground leveled off*

*BEFORE*

*AFTER*

*moving dirt to level off around the sandbox.

notice the missing fence behind them*

*put the back fence up again and put sod in the tractor tracks*

*AFTER*

*handy manny fixing the back fence*

*first time the boys saw their sandbox*

*putting the swing set together in the garage.

it was raining pretty good that day*

*finally a swing set in a sandbox AND the fence is moved and up*

*almost finished**FINALLY FINISHED!*

The new sod still has patches that need to grow in and be "greenified", but all in all it's coming along great. It's been SO nice for the boys to have some where to play when I kick them out of the house :)
I need to say a few thank yous. First off, to my parents for letting us borrow pretty much every tool, tractor, truck, trailer, etc. that we could ever need or want. And for keeping the boys on a couple Saturdays so we could really get some work done. Thank you for your help!
To our new neighbor Jake for helping us fill in the sandbox with the sand, even though he'd just moved in two days before. He took a few hours out of his Friday night to shovel and shovel and shovel. Instant good neighbor karma :) And to the rest of our neighbors who helped out. We live in the best neighborhood EVER!
And finally to my sweet husband. He puts up with A LOT from me and I really appreciate it. I'm very bossy and knew exactly what I wanted. He went along for the ride even if it wasn't exactly what he wanted. He didn't complain, much, during this project even when it kept getting bigger and bigger and much more expensive than originally planned. He's had rehearsals every night for the play and usually spent the 90 minutes he has at home every night working on this beast. I've kept him VERY busy, especially on Saturdays (his "day off"), and he's been a great helper and sport about the whole thing. He had to learn a lot of new things doing this project: how to take down a fence, designing and building a sandbox, putting a fence up, laying sod, fixing and moving sprinklers, etc. He's now a yard pro! The boys and I thank you from the bottom of our hearts. We love you Daddy!