Phase I

The backyard remodel has officially begun. Well, it actually begun a month ago when Riley decided to tear out the back deck. We've been talking about ripping out the backyard and starting over ever since we bought our house, but I have to admit I was surprised when Riley suddenly mentioned to me in passing a few weeks ago that he'd be tearing out the deck the next weekend. Like it was no big deal, he just had the urge to demolish something and maybe I should make sure The Tyke wasn't outside that morning in case he lost a limb.



The deck was taken out pretty quickly. Maybe a little too quickly, because I remember having the distinct feeling of "Now what?" for the next week. Which turned into "Now what's taking so long?" the week after that when we had no deck, yet hadn't done anything else to get the project going. That's when we called in the big guns. In yard work terms, the 'big guns' means a rental tractor to tear out all the remaining grass and till the yard. I thought The Tyke would love riding on it. Turns out, he wasn't such a big fan, however, I was able to get him to sit in it when it wasn't moving so I could have an excuse to be up there and play with all the levers and buttons.

Once the grass came out, Riley and whoever he could bribe and/or blackmail into participating started working like crazy to get the rest of the yard tilled up and the concrete patio put down.




We even managed to get The Tyke to put his handprint in the cement. And yes, that is 'handprint' singular because when we put his left hand in, he grabbed a glob of cement in his fist. Because going along with what the parents want is apparently not as entertaining as giving Riley a heart attack after hours of laying and smoothing the cement. Needless to say, my plan to also put Dixie's paws in the cement was quickly rejected after The Tyke's little maneuver. It will be yet another item I will add to the list of Things to be Bitter About, right after 'The cancellation of Arrested Development' and 'Leggings'.



All in all, the yard is coming along, and I'm excited for it to be finished in the next week. After saying that, I should probably knock on wood so I don't jinx myself. Unfortunately, now that the deck is gone, I no longer have any.