Yet another project

Because there's nothing like being less than two months away from having your second baby to put you in full fleged house fixing mode, right?!  But this project isn't one we tackled on our own. 

We've been considering leveling out a portion of our back yard for about a year and finally decided now was the time to do it.  Our yard is (well, was!) one giant, somewhat gradual, hill down to the bottom of the backyard and pretty much unusable other than for sleding!  With Colin getting more and more active and wanting to be outside every chance he can get and with our new little one coming real soon we decided an area to play in that isn't our front yard so close to the street would be put to good use.  So we subcontracted the landscaping company that we use at Habitat and last Tuesday afternoon in came the giant flat bed with landscaping equipment and four guys and three days later we had a retaining wall across the backyard, 10 (or so) dump truck loads of dirt, and a nice, flat area that, once the grass grows in, will be a great play place for the kids!

Colin spent most of the three days like this:

The view from our bedroom window was perfect for him to take in all the action.  He would watch for long periods of time from here and from various places outside, that is when the equipment wasn't scaring the daylights out of him.  The owner of the company let Mike and Colin climb into the backhoe but Colin was a little nervous about it.  Mike said he was kind of wimpering and shaking a little.  And man, when the dump truck dumped the dirt into the road Colin jumped about three inches off the ground.  He was not a fan of that part, but everything else he loved.

The gravel pile in the driveway was a popular play spot for a few days.

And here we are on day 2...loving all the activity and, of course, exclaiming "WOW!" about every other minute!

We loved looking at Colin watching out the window.  He'd put his little chubby hands together and rest his arms on the window sill...too cute!

Here's a view of the finished product from our room:

And here are a few from the back yard:

You'll just have to come and visit us sometime to get the full effect...I don't think these pictures do the amazing work any justice.  The retaining wall is beautiful and we love the way the steps are cut back into the wall.  It's very professional looking and, as our friend Brian says, looks like something you'd see at a National Park!