Monday, June 27, 2016

Our New Backyard and Trampoline

I love our home yet I've always struggled with our backyard. I grew up on an acreage with a Christmas tree farm, forest, chickens and goats, and dirt bikes–so much room to play and explore. When Gary and I bought our house ten years ago we were just thankful to get a brand new home!  We didn't think far down the line about what kind of yard our kids would have (I'm not sure why not?!) and were happy about the many parks nearby.  I'm so glad we bought when we did because there is no way we could afford our home now on a single income.

Instead of moving we always try to make our home work for our family.  About a month ago, the boys and I went to a Springfree Trampoline party and I was sold.  I was ready for an upgrade from our Little Tykes 7' round trampoline and I wanted something safe and durable.  My boys can be rough and we are also foster parents which means I want the safest trampoline out there.
Gary is usually quite receptive to my ideas which I appreciate.  The yard that we have was not very usable; it was sloped and layered.  I knew we would have to extend the cement portion to make the new trampoline fit.  I had ordered an 8X11' medium oval one to get the biggest size for our yard.  So here is the before...


...and the middle where Gary built a retaining wall.


Finally, we filled it with five yards of gravel.  We thought we would just need three yards and had it delivered (dudes, gravel is pricey!)  We had to use a wheelbarrow to transfer all of that gravel from the front yard to the back.  Then, we realized we needed two more yards.  So, we put the kiddie pool in the back of the mini van and Gary made three trips to pick up more gravel.  The kids all had an assembly line bringing gravel from the van to the wall – it was about as fun as it sounds. 


We finished on Sunday and then bright and early on Monday morning a team came to deliver and set up our trampoline.  They had it complete in half an hour while the kids excitedly waited for it to be done.  It does take up a huge portion of our yard but our hope is that it will provide a whole lot of entertainment for our kids. 


I had the basketball net added for the boys as they love shooting hoops.


This trampoline is a huge investment (in my opinion) as it is quite pricey. But, I'm willing to pay for safety and durability. 


As we'll be home for a lot of the summer now I'm hoping it is well used.  


If we can get a good 7-10 years out of it then it's definitely worth it to me.  We don't plan on moving so we continue to try to adapt our home to make it work.  Here's hoping this was as good decision!  Three cheers for Gary...and now to figure out what to do with the rest of the yard.  

Love,
Louise

6 comments:

  1. Way to go Chapmans! What a lot of hard work and now to enjoy many years of fun! I admire how you not only have ideas, but you act on them and see them through to completion quickly. I seem to spend too much time 'thinking' and not enough time 'doing'!

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    1. Thank you, Carol! I think a lot too but I'm also impulsive so I always bounce ideas off Gary first :)

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    2. Any pun intended with 'bouncing' the idea off of Gary about the 'trampoline'?

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    3. Ha!! Nope :) I love puns!

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  2. Retaining wall looks good! Great job in getting everything done on time!

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