Home Improvement

Work seems to be getting the best of us these days! Haha. This past week my parents came down for a few days to help us out with some projects that we've been wanting to complete around the house. Two things in particular, a gate for our side yard and assembling our new dog run.  Unfortunately, the time they spent with us was also some of the hottest temperatures that we've experienced all summer long! Heat wave for sure... We made sure to keep ourselves hydrated as well as take breaks during the peak hours to avoid heat stroke and other ailments from sun overdose.

The gate that my dad and I put together was no easy task. I'm almost positive on this one, I think our backyard dirt is composted of clay and cement. I have never dug into dirt so hard in my entire life! (I had actually started digging the holes about one month ago, a couple inches every day...) At one point I even considered renting a jack hammer! Haha. My dad, mom, and I made a trip to Lowes and got all our supplies - I'm sure the people at Lowes know my parents on a first name basis by now. My mom says that Lowes is where all the young suburbia families shop and Home Depot is... Well, it just is. The fence went up with little to no problems. I still have to add the trimmings (lock, handle, etc...) but for the most part it's all done! I'm just waiting for the stain to dry - it's still a little tacky to touch.  The top portion of the gate is going to be filled in with trellis to give it a more quaint feel for when our backyard is fully completed... Some day!

The other project that we wanted to get up was a dog run that Alicia and I had purchased a while back. The box alone weighed in at 200 lbs so it was definitely a two person job. The dog run took a little longer to put up than I thought - mainly because I had never worked with chain-link fence before.  It was funny, as soon as we got it all set up Rocco and Bently went in and started wrestling - MMA style.

We're so thankful that my parents were able to spend a few days with us!