Yard Redo - Before and After

Way back in February we started a project to completely redo our backyard.  We had a very large, seldom used swimming pool, taking up about two-thirds of our yard.  We had a small patch of grass to play in, which really wasn't even big enough to throw a ball in.

 

It's May.  My dear husband promised me a couple of months ago that we would have a grassy backyard by May.  And did he ever deliver!  See for yourself:

 

{before}

 

The grass patch:

 The swimming pool, sans water and pool fence:

 The destruction process begins:

 And then there was dirt:

 At this point, I think it appropriate to tell you that just having this much space, though it was just dirt (and a very powdery, dusty dirt it was) made us all very happy and my floors inside very dirty.  There was just no way to contain all the dirt that came in as a cloud as soon as any child opened the door.

Then, because we had the space and because we found an amazing deal we got a play-set.  Dan tore down the old sand-box and rebuilt it around the set:

 We were unsure if we wanted to lay down grass seed or sod, and in the end we decided on sod.  Of course first my dear husband had the task of installing a sprinkler system.  And the ground here is super hard to dig in, but with the help of a trencher and moral support and lemonade from his large pregnant wife, he got the job done. 

The dirt had gotten nice and packed down, so before we could lay the grass down, it needed to be tilled up.  Again, this was all my husband's doing.  I did use the hose to try to keep some of the dust down though.

And then came the day the grass was delivered.  Beautiful green grass!  The yard before grass:

 Here comes the grass!

 Unrolling the sod:

 Ladybug is working hard:

 So is Sunflower:

 Finally, finally!  We have grass!  Beautiful green grass that we can walk barefoot in

{after}

 Our favorite activity has become watching the sprinklers.  And though it is already triple digits here, we are now (myself included) outside WAY more than we were before.  And my awesome husband gets to enjoy the fruit of his labor.