Patio Completed

Patio was completed today. They came out and pressure washed our patio and then seal coated it. It really brought out the color of the concrete. We bought four small shepherd hooks, plants and our fire pit. Dwight really wanted something that he could grill. Picked up some wood this weekend and hoping to use it next weekend.

Everyday Photos

 Digging a hole for the honeysuckle.

Two jars of strawberries!

 Coloring!

 Dinner time laughs as Allie was doing this deep scary voice!

Homemade Lipstick

MK has now decided to venture in making homemade lipstick and lip gloss made out of crayons.

Funny that it actually works and lasts longer than regular lipstick!

Experimenting with honey.

Finished Product

MKs Butterfly Garden

Our Minnesota Grandma found out our plans for the previous owners sandbox was to turn it in to a butterfly garden. She had previously brought over a few plants for us and then took Makayla and I to a garden center that had all native plants to Minnesota. We both ended up getting a few plants, a few of them attracting butterflies. I also picked up honeysuckle that I planted on the side of the deck, it will climb those metal grates, which are now attached to the deck. Can't wait to see some hummingbirds and it to be filled in for a little bit more privacy.

She also brought Makayla milkweed seeds to plant, which attracts Makayla's favorite butterfly ... the Monarch. She started them in these pods, she put 3-4 in them and they have already started to sprout.

She also planted a mixture of flowers that attracts butterflies, compliments of our Minnesota Grandma again. In the middle is where the milkweeds will be planted.

Patio Before and After

Previous owners put sand in this area to house their above ground pool. This will be the home of our future patio, fire pit area!

Schumm Concrete, located in Lakeville came out early Monday morning and prepped the area. Both Makayla and Allie gave me a play-by-play from Allie's bedroom window, such an exciting day.

Early Tuesday morning they came back to pour cement. It took them 2 wheel barrows and all 5 guys. They also fixed our deck stairs as the previous owners didn't have them level and it was a bit of a bigger step on the last step. They were able to pour the concrete right  up to the last step to make it a "normal" step down.

Wednesday one guy came out in the morning to pressure wash the patio. They will be out tomorrow morning to pressure wash again and then seal the patio.

Almost finished patio!  After the sealing of the concrete I will be planting flowers around the edge. Not sure at this point if they will be directly in the ground or in planters around the edge.

 Already enjoyed a few nights out on the patio, having a beer and watching the little leaguers play baseball (as you can see them playing behind the girls). Towards fall we will be purchasing a fire pit through Patio Town.

Another project, as you can see the fence behind the girls. There were three dead bushes with beautiful irises planted in between. We took out the bushes, will be rehoming the irises and next spring will be planting that whole space with rhubarb. 

Dehydrator

We've had the food dehydrator for a couple years now and since we moved into the house we haven't done much of it. Now that the farmer's market is here and we've had access to many fresh fruits and vegetables we started it back up again. Our goal is to build up our stash of healthy snack options for the family. Makayla and I would also like to do some canning this year. Only a couple things to start off with and maybe next year do a little more. Eight trays of bananas made two jars, which we did last Saturday. There is only a half of jar left!

Playing Around

Big Smiles

Officially A 5th Grader