A promise and the playset

First, a promise...I have fallen so behind in documenting and so behind in posting that guilt has really taken hold. There are unfinished posts sitting here, along with gobs of pictures and post-it notes scribbled with quotes and stories that I want to record. While we've been busy and overly occupied with things far more important than maintaining this blog, the fact is that this really is Owen's only baby book and is the primary way I keep track of his growing and changing (not to mention keeping everyone else in the loop). So, I'm making a promise--not so much to you, but to myself-- that I will post as often as I can until I feel "caught up". It may be old news, they may be old photos, but it will all be (mostly) new to you. AND, it is all an important part of Owen's growing up. So, with that...some fairly old news...

As you already know from photos of Owen's party, he got a playset late this summer and has been enjoying it to the fullest ever since. While the set itself is pretty basic when all is said and done, you'd have thought we were bringing in an entire theme park with all the work it took to prepare for it. A huge thanks goes out to Daddy & Papa Stone for toiling away in the summer heat to make way for the little fort o' fun. I failed to get photos of the part where we had several 40-foot trees removed, but I did snap a few other shots along the way.

Here is a "before" shot taken earlier this year. Look to the top right corner of the yard. Lovely, beautiful, tall, green trees.


















First thing on the list was the tree removal process and heavy clearing (again, didn't get the photos of that). Just after the downing of the trees, Rob and Papa Stone got to work on the final clearing and leveling of the yard.














One bent mattock and one case of poison ivy later (poor Rob), and the land was clear and ready for the stump grinder. Considering his current obsession with "earth movers", imagine Owen's delight when he woke from a nap one afternoon to see a big one in his very own backyard!



















Next came the playset. Wisely, we made the investment for a playset that would be delivered and fully assembled on the property. Read: no more work for the Stone family (at least not at this stage of the game). The set was up and ready for play within a single morning.


















Following the playset assembly, came the 90+ bags of mulch to be laid down. When plans fell through for a bulk dump of mulch directly into the backyard, the process became a bit more entertaining. A pallet of mulch was delivered to the front of our house and Rob, armed with a wheelbarrow fighting a little hill in the backyard, hauled every last bag of mulch up and onto the playarea. After covering the space with landscape fabric, he polished off the mulch process on his own. Once again, I failed to get pictures of this fun step. It was, however, around this time that Rob slammed his finger in the door just after working for several hours in the yard and being rushed out the door by his wife to go look at picket fence materials. I think he had ALMOST recovered from the poison ivy. His fingernail is STILL kinda black as I type this (3 months later).









You'd think we were done at this point, but no. There was still a fence to be constructed. Our backyard is bi-level and it just so happens that the play area is at the top of the highest elevation. Worried about kids taking a tumble down the hill, we decided on a little section of fence as a safety measure. Papa Stone returned for this step and he and Rob worked long and hard hours one Saturday putting together a terrific fence. It is exactly what I wanted!


















FINALLY, we had some steps installed just to make acess a little easier.



















While we are quite pleased with the end result and Owen LOVES his "paygound", I must say we questioned the process at several points along the way. I mean, whatever happened to those metal, A-frame swingsets we all grew up on? Put 'em together, anchor 'em on the grass and you're done! Ah, times have changed.