Now that the wall is up Rachel was antsy to get the shrubs all planted. So she spent Saturday afternoon and Sunday planting and spreading mulch.

Once we finished mulching and planting I started building the stairs. Only about 4 left!! After this we'll build another flower garden to the right of the stairs and have 50 day lillies planted in there along with a couple of burning bush trees.

The wall is up!

We started digging early Sat. morning and six hours later, finally set the first block. I knew this was going to take a lot of time and hard work-but I didn't think it would take that long. After a couple of hours the first row was set. After that it was easy. (I couldn't lift the blocks so Chad had to do the rest). It started to rain, so we tarped the hill and prayed. The next day, no damage was done and Chad finished this part of the wall. Chad's been busy backfilling and will put in the black dirt so I can start planting the shrubs. Then he'll start on the stairs that will come down and curve around the right side of the wall. Then a smaller retaining wall on the right side of the stairs.



We may be able to start planting grass down here pretty soon!

Weekend not a total washout

Doug and Maureen took the girls up to the cabin for the weekend and Rachel and I thought that we would get a good jump on building the retaining wall. Well, needlessto say we woke up Saturday morning to thunderstorms and dirt washing away on our hill. So in between rain storms I went to Menards to pick up deck materials hoping I can get something done this weekend.

These pictures show the back hill and the wash we had. I had it close to level and ready to start setting block but those plans changed.

It ended up not being a total wash, Jeremy called Sunday and came out and did some work on the garage doors and I was able to talk him into staying and helping me get the decking on and the stairs up on this little landing.

So while I'm waiting for the hill to dry out I can keep busy on this part.

Landscaping: The Continous Journey

We really thought that this summer would be a lot more relaxing. It's better than the last two summers, but once we moved in we remembered how much work the yard needed. Maybe next year! We carried every brick down from the driveway using us and this little garden cart that you might remember from a previous posting. Lydia even helped out a few times. Chad did most of the hauling and digging.

Roger seemed to enjoy working on the patio. He came over almost every day and placed almost every brick! As a flooring installer, he really has a good eye for the pattern and detail. He also has a lot of very handy tools. Here he is cutting the pavers to fit in the little places. He taught Chad how to do this later.

Here's a view of the patio in the beginning.

Here's a view of the "completed" patio.

Here's a view from the other side. I see a perfect spot for a hot tub.

Now the the patio is "done", Chad poured the footings for the smaller deck/landing so we can get the stairs done for the deck. Before this occurs we will start on the retaining wall to help hold the hill in place. The block was delivered yesterday and Abrahamson's Nursery will bring out all the plants and other stuff we ordered. They're also going to stage the block so we don't have to haul those blocks down the hill. The gutter guys also came out last week to install the gutters around the house. This should help with our washout issues.

Ava the Brave

At Children's Hospital in St. Paul, they have a class you can sign up for before surgery to get the kids and parents ready for scheduled surgeries. It was really cool and as you can see in the following pic, the girls really got into it. If you ever have to schedule a surgery there, I highly recommend this class. We were all a lot more relaxed the day of surgery.

When we got to the hospital, Ava got to put on her hospital issued jammies and the no-slip socks. She really thought those socks were cool and kept making sure she could bring those home. Ava thought it was fun to ride in the cars in one of the waiting rooms.
Here's Ava in her jammies. She was beyond brave this day! She never complained about being hungry or thirsty. She just went along with the day. I can safely say she was stronger than her parents were!
The new Ava without her tonsils and adnoids. She looks great! The first few hours after surgery she was hungry and doing pretty well. I think once the serious drugs wore off that evening is when she really realized how much she hurt.
Lydia came to the hospital to visit and bring her sister a gift. Ava's teeth were always colored for the first week because of the popsicles and other various cold treats.
It's now been two weeks since her surgery and she is feeling much better. They kept telling us it takes about two weeks to recover and it has taken the full two weeks. She has lost a lot of weight and gets tired quicker that normal, but I'm sure this a temporary deal. She doesn't snore at all anymore and sleeps really well now. She still thinks her hospital socks are pretty cool.

Lydia's 8th Birthday

I am not sure where the time went, but Lydia is already eight years old. People always say how fast time goes, but I don't think I really understood that until Lydia announced she halfway to driving. The older she gets, the more parties we have. For a brief second, I thought we could throw her friend and family party together, but I am so glad we didn't and will never do that. Lydia really wanted to make a cake for her friend party. The girls really had fun making and decorating the cake. I decided that ice cream sandwiches would be perfect for this event-less work and clean up. We ordered pizzas from Dominoes, went through almost 40 juice boxes, and realized that we will never have this many girls at our house again. You live and learn.




If you ever meet this crew on the streets of Scandia-run! I think my ears are still ringing from the noise these girls made. The party was supposed to be a swimming party, but the temp never rose to 70 degrees that day. Eight years ago that day it was over 100 degrees and my hospital room was hot!

The next day was the family party. Here's Lydia with her DQ cake. No more princess cakes...she really liked the tie dye look. She also informed me that purple is no longer cool and she loves blue and green. This pic also caught Ava in action.
Lydia and Ava with their cousin Ellie and Great-Grandpa Jim and Great-Grandma Emilie.

Another sign that she's getting older is that people start giving gift cards and money for birthdays. She was in heaven. I knew she could count money-but she's good! Lydia couldn't wait to start shopping. She also got a lot of books that she enjoys reading. I'm glad she still enjoys reading about fairies. She also can't wait to shop at the Limited Too for school clothes - another tall tale sign of growing up...she'll always be my baby.