Walk This Way (by Andy)

Following the completion of our paver patio in May of last year, we had quite a few extra bricks left over. We also had about a half of a yard of road base rock left over (the recipe for the pavers is road base, sand and then pavers on top). We wanted to use the bricks and not throw them away as there were almost 300 of them (varied amounts of all three sizes) and it would be too wasteful to throw them away.

You'll notice the bricks move from their initial location (above) to a new location next to the side yard (below). I needed to move them last September for Katie's birthday party. The picture below also serves as a great 'before' picture.

We landed on a plan to use these extra pavers along the west side yard of our house. You'll remember that this side was previously extended 12 feet and had a gate installed. This walkway would act as a transition from front yard to back and would provide an attractive use of our extra bricks. So the plan was in place. Last summer, when we decided on this plan, I sat down and devised a clever pattern for a section of walkway 4 x 6 feet. So last weekend, with the prospect of putting in our grass at the end of May and the need to actually get those spare bricks out of the way, I set out to complete our walkway. On day one, I excavated the dirt about 5 inches down and hauled it all away in 2 truck loads off to the dump. Afterwards, I shoveled in the left over road base that had been sitting in the driveway for almost exactly one year.
End of day one.

At the end of day one, I decided that it was time to get out my old plan for the walkway to review the pattern I had planned out. When I eventually scraped it up, I made a shocking discovery. I had remembered my plan incorrectly and as I had originally planned a 24 square foot area, I had just excavated and prepped a 54 square foot area. Oops. After catching my breath, I sat down with my brick inventory and a fresh sheet of graph paper to see if I could devise a new plan. I found that I could actually achieve the same pattern as our patio. Day two was a flurry of activity that involved setting brick retainers in place (black plastic borders that keep the bricks in place), pouring 10 bags of sand and placing paver bricks on top of the sand. So, at the end of the day, the project was finished. I even had enough time to "sand" the bricks. This involves spreading sand on the top of the bricks to help fill the small gaps between each brick to lock them all in place.
The sand and brick progress. The white lines are pipe that is laid down to ensure a 1 inch thickness of sand.


One of the challenges of this project is that the two smaller bricks (4"x4" and 4"x8") were actually in short supply. I was short 5 small bricks and almost 20 medium bricks. Luckily, there was an abundance of large bricks measuring 8"x8". I was able to make up for the lack of smaller bricks by cutting the larger bricks in halves and quarters.
The 'after' pictures.


Over all, the outcome was great and I'm very happy with how it looks. Now all that remains is to fill the gaps around the walkway that I had to dig to make room for the brick retainers I installed. In the end, of the nearly 300 bricks that were left over from the patio project, now only 8 remain.
The remaining bricks. All that remains of a once great stack. We will be putting a small garden in the space between this walkway and the back yard (seen in the picture immediately above) and will use these bricks to put stepping stones through that garden.

Birthday Party

A week ago we went to a birthday party for one of our favorite little friends: *F!

His mother Elizabeth and I were musing the day before his first birthday about where we were one year ago...a quick labor that culminated in an ambulance ride to the hospital for Elizabeth. *F sure was excited to be born that day. While Elizabeth and Baby *F recovered in the hospital, big sister *B was at our house having fun with Alton.
Fast forward to last weekend, and the big one-year-old guy has already taken his first steps. A happy crowd gathered in Elizabeth and Chris's backyard, where they recently had installed a fully-loaded play structure and set up *F's birthday present: a sandbox. Both items were extremely popular with the kids attending the party, including Mr Alton! Andy and I were hurriedly taking mental notes as he zig-zagged around their yard testing out all on offer.

We congratulated ourselves when we saw how in love he was with the sandbox--we had already purchased the exact same one in an early-season sale! It is in the garage waiting for grass to be installed in the backyard; I'm not sure that we could move that sandbox once it was full.
Much of the party was spent this way: kids surrounding the sandbox, with *F smack in the middle.

Alton had a great time digging.

*F's dump truck became Alton's new best friend for the day.


*P loved the swings...

and the slide!

*B shows you how to work the ship's wheel at the top of the fort.

Time for presents: *F is in love with a fabulous handmade wooden airplane.

Alton explores *B's "big sister" present: a play cookie-baking set!

Everywhere he goes, Alton manages to find a way to read; he thumbs through one of the birthday gifts.

Mmm, (cup)cake time!

Not much for sweets, Alton snags a cracker and polishes this off after halfheartedly nibbing at the cupcake.

*B wound up with a snappy chocolate goatee.

Alton loved the party favors: a plant-your-own flower and pot.

Let's take it home and give it lots and LOTS of water!

Happy 1st Birthday, *F!

Safety First

Only five days left in April and I can't keep up with my posts! Too many pictures to choose from; we have been doing so much. This past weekend was mostly sunny, so Andy was working hard on a project for one of the side yards of our house (post about that to come) and Alton and I kept him company outside sometimes. I already mentioned that we brought out Alton's water table, a favorite toy from last summer, and so often when we are outside most of his time is spent transferring water from one receptacle to another, or just plain dumping it all over the patio. We also have a few plants on the patio right now, just tender little sprouts in pots, so I have to make sure I'm paying attention to how much Alton is drowning, er, watering the plants!
Today while the water table fun was going on, Andy was using a very loud power saw a dozen or so feet away in the backyard. Andy is extremely vigilant when it comes to tool safety, and in addition to donning hearing and eye protection, he was not only turning the saw off when he finished each cut, but also unplugging its plug from the extension cord when he was not actively using it, even if he was alone in the backyard. But while Alton and I were nearby, we wanted to make sure that our eardrums remained safe from the high-decibel whine of the saw, so we rooted around until we found earplugs for Andy and me, and earmuffs for Alton.

Eye protection is important too!

Big 'muffs, little head.

Scooping up water with a cup he commandeered from Daddy.

Giving me a look as he skulks off to water the flowers...again.

The future engineer surveys the saw work; a good Cal Maritime Keelhauler knows to put safety first!

You know what Minerva was doing all day--do I even have to show you?

Double Your Fun

Last weekend Zach was out of town, and Karen and I had a children's clothing sale that we really wanted to hit...which means that (Uncle) Andy was the Saturday morning nanny-in-residence for both Alton and Cousin *P. Although these two kids play together often, Andy had never before been the sole adult responsible for their care. Luckily for him, they share nicely, explore voraciously, and snack heartily without needing a lot of parent intervention, so he was able to grab the camera now and then to snap a few pictures. (Ha, ha. We know with Andy that it's never just "a few" pictures.)
Alton shows *P how to pop a wheelie with the Tonka truck.

*P rings up groceries at the farmer's market.

Alton hops on his ride!

*P has a basketful of food for special delivery!

Alton wrestles the Tonka truck still while *P inspects the chassis.

Here they are at the play kitchen. Alton barbecues while *P checks out the contents of the oven.

Flipside! *P sits at the picnic bench while Alton...microwaves a hot dog bun?

Peeking through the window...

...peek-a-boo!

The silly trio clowning around.

They chatted on the phone (to each other).

Popped the lid off a bucket 'o cars.

More silliness from Alton.

And from *P.

The playroom at the worst of its multicolored plastic excesses.

The king and queen of the playroom survey their domain from a great height: the top of the slide.

Finally exhausted, their royal highnesses sit down to munch on some snacks.

And don't forget the sad little peasant at the castle drawbridge.