Grass-tastic!

Today, Andy picked up the grass and brought it home. We had some sprinkles that were a light but steady fixture for the rest of the afternoon and evening, so today's accomplishment was simply to retrieve our order, bring it home, wrestle it into the backyard, sit down and breathe deeply, unroll it, spend an hour tugging it into place as precisely as we can, make a few cuts around some of the obstructions in the yard, and then leave it all nice and rolled out while this mass of clouds passes.
The roll of grass, ready to go.

First, Andy unrolled it and let it drape where it might.

A proud Andy.

Next he took some time to carefully measure and make cuts around our A/C unit. Remember when he made that awesome cage to go around it?


The cut out piece, discarded.

A little bit more tugging into place (I helped!), and Andy was done for the day.

Andy left the house to return his brother's truck, which he had borrowed for some of the heavier hauling he had to do, and later on Alton woke up from his nap. He was eager to explore the new grass and did not mind the sprinkling rain, but his first edict when we stepped outside was to inform me that he needed a hat!

His head covered, he proceeded to run and skip across the lawn like the opening credits to Little House on the Prairie.


He paused briefly next to our shrub-to-be (now so tiny!), lifting his arms above his head and cheerfully telling me: "Tree!"

And one final shot to give you a good peek at the grass, sort of in place.

It has some lines across it, inadvertently giving it a "freshly mown" look, which will settle out as more people walk across it (or gallop across, as it were). The next step is to carefully center it in the space of the yard, trim all of the edges (you can see where the grass overlaps the patio in that shaded line across the bottom of the last picture), and begin to stake it down all around with 6-inch deck screws. Alton is ecstatic to have this springy green expanse in place, though he could not be persuaded to turn somersaults across it like Daddy, and Minerva is doing her part to remove any packing creases from the grass fibers by scampering around it like a demon. Andy will wait for the worst of the weather to pass us, then commence with the heavy hammering, and will be joined on Thursday by his father when Grammy and Grandpa fly into town (Happy Birthday today, Jennifer!). After this grass is done, they will still have the same project to complete, on a smaller scale, in Minerva's dog run along the side of the house. Then Andy finally gets to start on his new pride and joy: a play structure for Alton! Stay tuned.