Backyard Makeover

When we moved into our home almost a year and a half ago, we loved the fact that our backyard was large and backed up to the woods. We had visions of a manicured backyard and clearing out the woods area for a play area for our kids. This summer, we are making that happen. Well, we are working on the manicured part, but that will come in due time, we hope. After much researching, talking about money, thinking about our kids' young ages, & considering how much we entertain at our house, we decided on a simple Rainbow system for our playset. It's a tad pricey, but we really wanted our backyard and woods area to be inviting, nice, and fun. So the work has begun to get the playset area ready for the installation of the playset.

Before:

I was a big help in the initial clearing out. As it turns out, I am a mean one with the big rake, & I even swung the ax a time or two to chop out some underbrush. I was pumped about the bonus cardio and ab workout I received that day! :) Anyway after the intial clearing out, it was all up to Eric to saw down some larger trees, and luckily we have a wonderful neighbor with a chainsaw, a four wheeler, and a wench who helped us cut the trees down so they landed in just the right spot (ie not on our house nor our neighbors' houses) and pull out a ridiculously large cedar tree stump. The backyard slopes down into the wooded area, so Eric has the the master plan of creating a step down complete with a retaining wall and a "Daddy-made sandbox" with landscape timbers.

Once it's all set up and done, my job is then to watch the sun all summer long, so my mom and I can figure out what types of bushes and such to plant in the surrounding beds NEXT summer based on the sun's intensity over the course of the day. Yes, we really did mean "manicured", but it's fun stuff to plan, work hard, and see the end result.

We want a fun, safe playspace for our kids and their friends while still maintaining a yard that looks like adults live here too. I think we're off to a great start, and I'll be posting progress pictures as they come!