Backyard Progress

Jason has made a ton of progress on our backyard retaining wall!

Here is a picture from the same angle before he started.

Big difference, right?

This is the garden area.  Jason still has a bit more work to do.  He needs to cut some of the top caps so that they are more snug against each other, and he needs to put some gravel around the interior edges before he puts down sod.  The toughest part is that I hurt my back helping to move the first set of blocks, and I have had a hard time recovering.  I injured it more deeply this weekend and I couldn't get out of bed at all on Saturday.  I'm up walking around now, but I certainly can't help lift or anything.  Jason got sick this weekend too, and had to move this delivery of caps with a fever!  It is always something.

Both Grace and Clara love helping.

Clara is good at checking the level.

The peonies are blooming in the yard.

This is how Grace likes to pose for a picture.  She is pure goof ball.

Forever Duet

The girls sing "For the First Time in Forever" from you guessed it, Frozen!

Party at the Zoo

The girls got to attend a birthday party at the zoo for neighbor Ada!

When Clara saw the guest animal, I had to hold her back from running up to it.

They were able to meet a Blue Tongued Skink.  Clara was fascinated!

Long after the other kids had lost interest, Clara was still there trying to touch it and give it kisses.

Grace looked beautiful in her party dress.

Taking group pictures with toddlers is hard.  Clara wouldn't stop staring at the skink.

Clara also LOVED the ice cream and cake.  It took her almost the entire party to eat the entire thing but she was determined and triumphed in the end!

The other kids were busy touching animal skins, getting temporary tattoos, and playing games like "duck, duck, goose!"

After the party, we went through the Aquarium before heading back home.

My goofy girls.

Hugging turtles!

Grace reminds me of Ariel in the Little Mermaid in this one!

Let It Go

Clara is obsessed with Frozen.  Two nights ago she went to sleep yelling "I like Frozen!"  She also loves to sing.  Unfortunately, whenever I take out my phone or camera, she stops what she is doing and says she wants to see it.  I was able to catch a little in the car today.

The Secret Garden Wall

We started another home project!

We have a garden, a retaining wall and a patio but it is all falling apart.

Here is the patio.  The boards keep flipping up under the girls' feet when they run on it.

First we had to move the delivered rocks and stones from the neighbor's driveway to our backyard.  I could do one at a time, Jason could do 2.

Grace enjoyed climbing all over the resulting dirt pile.

The dirt pile was also a good vantage point to watch the progress.

Worms!

This is how Daddys build a retaining wall.

Everyone helps!  More progress updates to come.