It may not look like much ...

It may not look like much, but we have made some serious progress in the backyard.

You may remember this awesome pool and deck:

Minus the pool:

Minus the deck:

It took about 12 to 14 hours from me, Steve, and Yoinkie to break this monster down and load it into the dumpster we rented. It also took many hours of Nana entertaining the girls while we worked.

I'm not sure it's the "vacation" they bargained for, but we never could have done all of this without Nana and Yoinkie's help.

Nana and Yoinkie have also allowed us to get a lot of other yardwork done in the backyard. These raised beds just beyond the patio were surrounded by a rotting picket fence (which was half wood and half plastic nonsense) and we were able to get the fence out of the ground and dismantle one of the raised beds that was too damaged.

We have also done a ton of raking and garden maintenance that looks as though it hasn't been done in years.

Don't mind the fence that is missing more rails than it actually contains.

I suppose it would be more impressive if I had done before and after pics, but I was not put together enough for that. We still have plenty of work left to do, but it's slowly but surely coming together. Next weekend we are filling the pit that was left behind by the pool.

A HUGE thank you to Nana and Yoinkie for coming here to basically be manual laborers who get paid with chicken nuggets, two insane children, and a lumpy futon to sleep on. To say that we couldn't have done it without you would be a crazy understatement.