We love our house. We love the neighborhood, the yard, the large kitchen with lots of counter space, the cozy wood floors, the layout and a thousand other intangibles that make it home. Like any house, there are lots of things that we would like to change and are, slowly, working our way through the list. On that list was to extend our back deck. We have a beautifully landscaped backyard and had a small deck that we used for parties and playing. Between the deck and the yard was a 12-foot wide… pit. It went about 12 feet down and was an ugly, unusable space between the house and the backyard. Sure, we used our backyard but we always wanted to extend the deck to cover up the pit and use the entire back yard. (These pictures are from Clare’s second birthday party – the only ones we have that kind of show the pit between the yard and the deck.)
Well, this is the year we decided to tackle the deck. Or rather, J decided to tackle it. My dad designed the plans, J ordered the materials and hired a contractor. He worked along side the contractor to purchase the materials and build it. My request was that it was done in the month of June, I didn’t want it to drag on all summer. On the evening of June 28 J called me out – “it’s done.”
Coincidentally, I ordered a play structure for the kids to be delivered and installed on June 28. So it was a big day in our back yard, where by the end of the day there was a large deck (over double the size of the previous one!) and a new play structure. I managed to keep the play structure a surprise from the kids (it helped that they were used to men working with wood in the back yard) so at about 4:00 I took them out. Clare’s face made it all worth it – “Mom and Dad! There’s a park in our backyard!”
We haven’t had a lot of time to enjoy the back yard, but we are taking every moment we can out there. We’re planning parties and BBQs and have hosted a few dinners but mostly we’ve been doing this – adults relaxing and children playing. Ahhhhh, summer!
Big, huge, tremendous thanks to J and my Dad for their work on this massive undertaking. J is, understandably, quite proud of his handiwork!
