Sit back and get comfy. This is going to be a big one. And also get ready for lots of picture of rocks. 
So you may have heard that we decided to replace our flagstone path with something that was better set and wasn't over flowing with mud. First step was to get the existing stone up, carve out the actual path and remove all tree roots. That all happened last weekend when Grandma and Grandpa Taller were here. Grandpa helped us to move a lot of soil and tree roots. He also helped us choose the right materials. The stone was delivered on Wednesday, but we had a few days of rain, so no work could be done. Friday, it finally started to clear up so I started moving the crushed stone into the pathway. I had to leave a space for Jim to make an adjustment to the the drainage.
Yes, Grandpa, we decided to route the drainage under the path.
Then we had to take the trusty "pick up truck" to pick up a compactor from our favorite heavy machinery rental place. There hasn't been much that doesn't fit in the back of the Volvo.
So we fired it up and started compacting all the stone. Man, that thing was a beast. It more pulled me along than me controling it. It was fun though!
After all the stone was nice and dense, we brought in the sand.
I just wanted to take a quick shot of all the stuff that was delivered to our house. There was actually a third bag that had crushed stone in it also.
Then, Jim decided to compact the sand down into the stone. I have to say, that we made a lot of mistakes and maybe could have shaved 4 or 5 hours off this project if we knew what we were doing. This was a step we could have skipped.
So where are all the children, you ask? We sent them next door for lunch and constant playing. These kids were only inside to sleep this weekend. What a great start to summer vacation.
Back at the jobsite, I started laying the flagstone into the sand.
We were assisted by our good friends in the neighborhood, Karen and Jeremy. Thank goodness they were here to help us get this edging in and lay some stone before a big thunderstorm hit.
End of day one and we made it to the gate! Woo hoo!
Day 2, race day. Ladies and Gentlemen, start your suncreen!
Here I am rounding turn two onto the back straighaway.
Of course, we had the radio set to listen to all the prerace pagentry. I thought I may have heard the jets start to circle and I looked up to see a stealth bomber!
It flew over about 7 or 8 times before flying over the track at the end of the National Anthem. Also, this year, they had a fly over at the end too! We were at the pool when the 4 F18's were circling.
Once all the stone was set in sand, we wet it down to see what it would look like and help any loose sand settle. Then we called it a day and hit the pool and spent the rest of the day relaxing and avoiding all TV and radio so as to not know who won the race. As a matter of fact, it's been at least 28 hours since the end of the race and I am only just up to watching lap 40. Don't tell me how it ends! We even threw out the newspaper so we wouldn't know!
That night, we roasted some marshmallows. Take this from us, those giant marshmallows are cool, but really hard to roast and eat. I would skip buying them for your next roast.
There's other stuff in our yard right now too. The garden is growing really well. It's going to love this heat this week.
This is our experiment this year. Our hops plant. With the heat this weekend, it grew about 2 inches. In the heat of summer, it can grow up to 12 inches in a day!
And finally, on Memorial day, we swept the P gravel into the cracks and called it complete!!! We celebrated with a trip to the pool.
We are really pleased with how it turned out. Now we can sit back and enjoy the rest of the summer.
So you may have heard that we decided to replace our flagstone path with something that was better set and wasn't over flowing with mud. First step was to get the existing stone up, carve out the actual path and remove all tree roots. That all happened last weekend when Grandma and Grandpa Taller were here. Grandpa helped us to move a lot of soil and tree roots. He also helped us choose the right materials. The stone was delivered on Wednesday, but we had a few days of rain, so no work could be done. Friday, it finally started to clear up so I started moving the crushed stone into the pathway. I had to leave a space for Jim to make an adjustment to the the drainage. 
Yes, Grandpa, we decided to route the drainage under the path.
Then we had to take the trusty "pick up truck" to pick up a compactor from our favorite heavy machinery rental place. There hasn't been much that doesn't fit in the back of the Volvo.
So we fired it up and started compacting all the stone. Man, that thing was a beast. It more pulled me along than me controling it. It was fun though!
After all the stone was nice and dense, we brought in the sand.
I just wanted to take a quick shot of all the stuff that was delivered to our house. There was actually a third bag that had crushed stone in it also.
Then, Jim decided to compact the sand down into the stone. I have to say, that we made a lot of mistakes and maybe could have shaved 4 or 5 hours off this project if we knew what we were doing. This was a step we could have skipped.
So where are all the children, you ask? We sent them next door for lunch and constant playing. These kids were only inside to sleep this weekend. What a great start to summer vacation.
Back at the jobsite, I started laying the flagstone into the sand.
We were assisted by our good friends in the neighborhood, Karen and Jeremy. Thank goodness they were here to help us get this edging in and lay some stone before a big thunderstorm hit.
End of day one and we made it to the gate! Woo hoo!
Day 2, race day. Ladies and Gentlemen, start your suncreen!
Here I am rounding turn two onto the back straighaway.
Of course, we had the radio set to listen to all the prerace pagentry. I thought I may have heard the jets start to circle and I looked up to see a stealth bomber!
It flew over about 7 or 8 times before flying over the track at the end of the National Anthem. Also, this year, they had a fly over at the end too! We were at the pool when the 4 F18's were circling.
Once all the stone was set in sand, we wet it down to see what it would look like and help any loose sand settle. Then we called it a day and hit the pool and spent the rest of the day relaxing and avoiding all TV and radio so as to not know who won the race. As a matter of fact, it's been at least 28 hours since the end of the race and I am only just up to watching lap 40. Don't tell me how it ends! We even threw out the newspaper so we wouldn't know!
That night, we roasted some marshmallows. Take this from us, those giant marshmallows are cool, but really hard to roast and eat. I would skip buying them for your next roast.
There's other stuff in our yard right now too. The garden is growing really well. It's going to love this heat this week.
This is our experiment this year. Our hops plant. With the heat this weekend, it grew about 2 inches. In the heat of summer, it can grow up to 12 inches in a day!
And finally, on Memorial day, we swept the P gravel into the cracks and called it complete!!! We celebrated with a trip to the pool.
We are really pleased with how it turned out. Now we can sit back and enjoy the rest of the summer.
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