Transformation

While I was in North Carolina, my backyard went from this:

to this:

Isn't that beautiful? (See me, in your mind's eye, smiling broadly?)

Dear Man and the rest of The Ones I Love worked hard to roto-til the backyard just before I left home, and then, while I was away they laid sod, put in pea gravel under the spider web, layered stone dust over the field stones that had been placed before I left, re-sanded the sand box, AND poured a new concrete floor in the garage. The concrete now extends several feet forward onto the driveway, the rest of which is gravel, so the children have a fantastic surface for ball bouncing, skipping, chalk, and more!

Here are a couple of the photos My Girl took of the process:

And one parting shot of the yard, just to leave you with a glowing impression of how wonderful my family is: