Backyard Makeover

When we moved from an apartment to our new home in November of last year, we were excited to have a backyard again. The problem, however, was that it was a total mess. What once was probably covered in rock was now rock with a lot of dirt mixed into it…or maybe dumped onto from the looks of things once we started digging. I really wanted to be able to use the yard, and, more importantly, I wanted the boys to have a nice place to play outside.
So in April, with the goal of finishing for Little Brother’s birthday at the end of May, we got to work.
First up? A sandbox.
But it couldn’t be any sandbox. No, I’ve been dreaming of a certain sandbox since I saw it on Pinterest several years ago.
Being the super fantastic husband that he is, Jeremy made my Pinterest dreams come true and built one of these with help from my dad. The best part is that the benches fold down and become the sandbox cover. It’s easy enough that Big Brother can open and close it himself, and it’s a great way to keep animals out when it’s not in use.
Next, we needed a little retaining wall. Once that was built, we moved most of the rocks into that area. It was a crazy, big pain to move them. Once the top layer of rocks was removed they were embedded in mud and dirt. We did our best, but if anyone ever digs up our grass, they’re going to find some rocks under there. Getting them all out just wasn’t happening!
The rock and wall turned out great, though, and is a great place for our storage bench.
Next came our little patio area. We used individual pavers to create it. The fun part here was getting them into the yard. The only way into our yard is through the house, so I carried a little over 100 of them one by one through the house. It was quite a workout for the day!
Finally, came the grass. We debated on putting grass in the yard at all since there’s not much room to store a mower in the yard, and we wouldn’t want to push one through the house and down the stairs to mow.
We really liked the idea of the boys having grass to play in, so at my sister’s suggestion we bought a push mower that would fit in our storage bench. It does the job and is pretty easy to use. I’ve even mowed a couple times!
Oh, and let’s not forget the flowers!
I’ve always wanted to have a flower bed overflowing with flowers, and this year, I got my wish.

It turned out great, and we’re enjoying it very much!

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