Back Yard Overhaul Part 1 - Wagner Winder Weekend

We have been renting our duplex for 2 years now. We love living here! One thing that has caused some trouble is that when it rains, the back yard floods really badly. The back half of the yard has been a veritable swamp. You would get stuck in the mud to just walk back there. Grass only grew in patches, and it was impossible to even mow back there because it was so soggy.

I've always wanted to do something to make it better, a usable space instead of an inconvenient eyesore. This summer, since Baby John, and Stella next door are going to be 1 year old pretty soon, and love to be outside, I wanted it to be a nice playground/picnic area. So I made a plan, drew a blueprint and told Seth about it. He mostly just thought I was crazy, and that it wouldn't work and would be too hard, etc... I told our neighbor Beth Winder about it, and she thought it would be a good idea. Her husband Bob kind of thought it was crazy too. But I asked our landlord about it, and she caught the vision! She was very generous and said she would fund it. We would do the labor of course. I was so excited to start! I measured the yard, and calculated how much gravel and mulch we would need, and ordered it. I drew my plan, and Beth and I got to work. And Seth and Bob warmed up to the idea and even volunteered to help.

 We dug 6 large trenches and 11 small pits so that the water would have somewhere to go. So hopefully instead of flooding the yards, the water will just run down the trenches and then sink into the ground. Seth helped us finish the trenches and clear the enormous pile of branches and clear and sticks all over the yard.

Then Beth, Seth and I hauled 2 tons, yes, that's 4,000 pounds! of gravel from the driveway to the trenches. (Well, Seth and Beth hauled it, and I raked it and leveled it into the trenches)

(I forgot to get a picture of Seth! He really did help a ton! It would've taken forever without him!)

John and Stella LOVE to play together! 

They have so much fun, and were very helpful by just being happy and having a great time sharing their toys (and eating grass...they love to eat grass.)

John and Stella think each other's toys are way more interesting than their own. It's nice they are pretty good at sharing. It's funny though that when one see's the other with a toy they just discarded, that toy seems so much more interesting to them. Like, "Hey, maybe that really is a cool toy! I think I want it back."

Then when Bob finished his GMAT practice test, Seth went in to study for the GMAT, and Bob came out to help us lay down the playground mulch. Bob shoveled it into the wheel barrows with a snow shovel (thankfully it was so much lighter than the gravel! and therefore a much faster process!) Beth wheeled it over and dumped it, and I raked and leveled. 

Our friends the Foutz' (who are actually moving to Seattle today! We'll miss them!) gave us their tree swing, which was really my big inspiration for this project. Gosh was it a pain to put it up though! The best lowest branch of our weeping willow was 50 feet in the air. I tied the rope to a rock and tried to throw it over. It was a sad attempt...so I asked Seth to come help me. We tied the rope to a roll of duct tape and then filled that with rocks and taped it to give it enough weight to go over the branch and come down the other side. It took so many attempts, and poor Seth got a rope burn when the rope caught on his leg. We ended up having to get a ladder for Seth to stand on the second time we got the rope over, and he had to catch the duct tape with a rake to get it down. Somehow we did it, and then tied a million knots, and after apologizing to each other for getting so frustrated (we were so tired!), we got it done and the swing was read to go!

 Stella and John both love the swing! The first time John swung in it he just laughed and smiled! When we would hold the swing and not let it go for a second, he would kick his legs to tell us he wanted to swing! :) He cried when we took him out of the swing. It's so nice to have it out there because we don't have a park with baby swings very nearby, and now all we have to do is step out the back door! We hope that when the babies are walking, we can get a swingset with a slide on Craigslist or something.

While Seth and I tackled the swing project, the Winder's were off to Home Depot to hunt down some beams to keep the mulch contained. They were very successful, and Bob staked the beams into the ground to finish it off.
The weather was absolutely phenomenal the whole project! It was gorgeous, and we were grateful. After some showers, and a little rest, we all had an awesome dinner out in the yard on our picnic table, and swung the babies. Wagner's and Winder's make a good team! It looks great! That area stays shady all the time, so it's a great place to hang out when it's hot and sunny. We are so excited to be able to use the back half of our yard every day now!

(Backyard Overhaul Part 2 Hopefully coming soon. We'll have to fix up those dirt clods we dug out of the trenches into garden beds and plant something nice!)