Patio

Okay, I made all of you listen to me whine and whine and whine about this patio project and how badly it had started out.  Then I didn't bother to show you the finished project that I made you listen to me complain about!  Sorry for the whining and complaining; thank you for listening.  Really unnecessary whining in the end is what I must show you....I may be known as the project-doer-that-cried-wolf from now on.  

I told you it was REALLY YELLOW after the first stain color.  

I had a vision for this backyard; I just didn't know how to get there.  Luckily Chuck Evens landscape-architect-extraordinaire knew how to get us there!  We can never thank him enough! 

Chuck loaded a Uhaul with plants and brought them to us and we planted them where he directed us to plant.  

Seriously, he gave up his entire Memorial weekend to help us....

Here's the corner that we didn't know what to do with after the structure got a little bigger than we expected.  Chuck had the perfect idea.

Coffee on the morning of the second day of working.  

The second day of working ended in some rain and some shots from the neighbor Jerry.  Jerry and Chuck, along with Beth K and Sue E and Greg L, kept us from tearing down the entire thing this fall when we didn't know how we were going to get from park shelter to what we have now.  Thanks for the encouragement all!

Enjoying the rainy rest.  

Chuck came with Andrew and Norah; Sue had to work.  The kids were pretty much unsupervised most of the 3 days.  Particularly the last day when I had the flu.  Some of the things they did:

Norah and Luke threw some kind of food all over the kitchen (they at least told me right away they did it.)  So, as punishment I had them clean it up; 

Which led to more giggling than throwing the food all over the place!  Good attitudes I guess!?!

The swing is a fave among the kiddos.  

They even did their own hair!  And ate freezies all day because they'd ask us and we'd just say "sure, whatever."  Those freezies disappeared after that weekend after I picked up snips of plastic and wiped up drips of juice everywhere after coming out of my flu-ness.  

If you build it, they will come...

Ahhhhh....

dinner alfresco in the shade.  That's what I was hoping for!

Perfect spot for cuddle-fun!

Finished project:

We hope to put in a bar with a fridge at some point where the old, outdoor table is next to the garbage can. 

We didn't let Chuck do any work while he was at our house for the 4th of July!!!

If you give a mouse a cookie....

I saw a take on "If you give a mouse a cookie" today that made me laugh and laugh. I thought about it in my afternoon adventures. If you didn't know I was crazy, you're about to....but I think many of you can relate? "If you take the seats out of a mom's mini-van, she's going to want to clean it. When she starts cleaning, she'll decide that every floor mat should be removed and sprayed down. Since she's hosing down floor mats, might as well get after those recycling containers. The seats are out of the van, so it's easy to haul in the recycling. Since the vacuum is out, she'll decide to clean the garage. While cleaning the garage, she notices how bad the dog beds stink. Those get taken apart and washed also. The seats were out of the van because she got a new table for the patio. She'll ask you to help her move it in, and help move the old one out. The old one would make a perfect planting station for the plants she can easily go get (because the seats are out of the van.) Raspberry bushes, strawberry plants, flowers, herbs....she'll be a gardener for the first time ever. As she finishes and all is back in place, she glances at the new table on the patio. Boy, those old chairs look horrible. Time to shop for new ones. If she finds new chairs she likes, chances are the seats will need to come out of the van...."

Erika

Let it go Luke and Marie

How can this kid frustrate me as much as he makes me laugh?

Goodbye mini-van and Eva turns 11

We said goodbye to the mini-van we had for 9 years.  Thought I'd take a little mini-van stroll down memory lane.  Here is my college car I had before trading it ?up? for the van. 

Eva and Travis loved playing in the van.  

One of their favorite things to do was to play in the van with dogs.  Charity and Toni are happy to partake in a pretend trip.    

Tired kids falling asleep in vehicles is funny.  I did let Luke and Marie play in the van... once...they scribbled with pen everywhere, turned on every button they could find, and shredded tissues everywhere.  

That van reminded us of some very scary/sad times also.  Eva's skull fracture, Travis' surgeries....

I know no one seems to believe this, but I was driving down the interstate and my bumper fell off.  I got out and walked down the ditch and picked it up.  My brothers made me a bumper to use when we were home.... and didn't bother to tell me until I noticed people laughing and pointing at it after I had driven around all day.  

"Goodbye stinkiest van ever. You brought 3 of these babies home from the hospital, met the ambulance with one who cracked her head, followed the ambulance when one of them nearly caused me to bleed out after birth, drove me to the ENT when Iwas convinced baby #2 would be deaf, drove me to a bazillion OBGYN appts including some as I lie down on bed rest, helped me collect gallons of breast milk....you were there for pancakes and sausage at 8am, Big Mac, FF, and root beer at 10:30 and a shake at 2:00 each day through my pregnancies. You brought home our four legged dog, and our three legged dog. We crashed into two of Chris' vehicles and a bank pole. We were together nearly everyday for 9 years. I won't miss your smell, but I will miss you."

Chris and I got pretty one night and went to Justin Timberlake.  Nice photo bomb behind us.  

Eva turned 11 and is clearly much more talented at the "selfie" than myself.  

Waterpark at Mall of America....for people who didn't go anywhere tropical for spring break.  Kids loved it.  It wasn't horrible.  

We also went to the science museum with the Evens and stayed with them for a few days.  

And they came and visited us this winter too! Fun times!

More mini-van moments below.  And some Evens/Hansons "Frozen" singing.    

MVI 1554

MVI 1553

do you want to build a snowman 2