It’s been a few days now, but I must say, we really had an amazing holiday weekend.
The not-so-fun (but sort of necessary) part involved a LOT of yard work. To start, Jay wound up taking a few days off from work and had some fun on the rented skid steer so he could regrade part of our yard that had settled to the point where we had standing water against the foundation (not good).
Well, then that also turned into a big ordeal with killing/burning/digging up patches of our grass that were apparently “bad” and choking out the good grass. For anyone who knows my husband well, they know that he takes great pride in his yard. It’s something he’s been super passionate about and has been incredible diligent at the upkeep since we moved in almost 4 (!) years ago now.
So when he started talking about this “bad grass” (side note: I’ve learned more than I ever cared to know about grass these past few months, and can tell you it’s not just “bad grass,” but rather, is actually called either poa annua or poa trivialis, and there’s really no way to kill it and it will just keep spreading until it takes over your whole yard…whew. Seriously, the man could write a blog about this stuff!) and said he wanted to try to kill it and dig it up I said, okay, whatever. It’s your thing babe, go for it.
And then, suddenly, our yard looked like it was filled with polka dots. Literally.
So one of his “projects” over the weekend was to work on digging up ALL of the burned up patches of grass so he could reseed it.
Of course, this was on top of the regrading on the side of the yard, which also involved two broken hoses for our sprinkler system, which Jay accidentally dug up with the skid steer. Again, thank goodness this man is handy and was able to fix them up within a few hours.
But honestly, the craziest part of this whole ordeal was seeing (once again) just how incredible our neighbors are. Three days in a row, we’d wind up with two, three, four, at one point five different neighbors offering to come over with their shovels to help him dig. They worked, and myself and some of the other moms would take turns supervising the kiddos.
Some came with their kiddos (in tow, see below!), and some were even total strangers who drove by, saw them working, then came back with their shovels.
Seriously, just incredible. I am forever grateful for where we’ve landed, and am so fortunate so have such awesome people around us!
And it wasn’t only the dads getting to work…I helped out a bit, and the kids got put to work, too.
Okay, not really. That was more of “daddy we want to help!” even though their help was a little less than…helpful. But you know how that goes and ya just can’t say no. ; )
Alright, enough about yard work!!! How about this absolutely gorgeous day we spent at Saratoga Lake??
A day spent at the lake with our favorite cousins is never, ever a bad day.
The kids got in the lake (gahhh, so cold!), ran around, and the adults chatted (while also chasing around said kiddos).
Oh, and we can’t forget the food!! All sorts of delicious BBQ staples, like BBQ chicken, sliders, pasta salad, and more.
And while we’re on the subject of food, I also can’t NOT mention these delicious Grilled Chicken BLT salads we made over the weekend. We had a little impromptu dinner with a couple of neighbors, and while Jay grilled the chicken, I loaded up the salads with tons of bacon, tomatoes, corn, feta, and avocado. YUMM!
Last, is it really a holiday weekend with a burger from the grill and some watermelon??
On Monday, we got together with the whole neighborhood crew for a fun afternoon BBQ. I love any chance I get to spend with these fabulous ladies!
It was potluck style, and since I’ve sort of become the “desserts” person, my contribution was a festive, red(ish) white and blue Dirt Cake. SO GOOD.
And speaking of good, can we talk about this freakin’ delicious drink for a second??
My neighbor, Ashley, found these Owl’s Brew Radler Wicked Watermelon beer + tea drinks at Walmart, and they were the perfect, warm-weather drink to sip on. So much so that I totally went to Walmart earlier this week and picked up a six-pack for myself. They’re a little sweet, but not too sweet, and a fun mix between (exactly what it says), both beer + tea, with a hint of watermelon. If you see, them, try ’em out and let me know what you think!
All in all, our Memorial Day BBQ with the neighbors was the perfect way to wind down from a great weekend. These kids, man, they are just my favorite.
I hope you all have been having a great week! I’ll hopefully be back again tomorrow with some fun facts! <3
Shashaqueefa says
You have such awesome neighbors! Mine once threw a rock at my window – I think it’s cause they wanted to hear the Cardi B song better! And the food you had looks sooo delicious! I had a burger with all the fixings, but no bread burger or cheese. Just mayo catchups and mustard! Bone Apple tease!
Courtney says
Shashaqueefa, you’re back! :)
Shashaqueefa says
Hi boo boo! Hope all is well! :)
Melissa says
What a huge project!! We are in the same boat with a water issue and we just got quoted an astronomical amount of money for a french drain and grading of our yard. Would you say the project is manageable or did you guys feel like it was a crazy amount of work?? Side note: we have a 13 month old to also keep busy so it will probably be my husband doing most of the heavy lifting…
Courtney says
It’s definitely a large project, for sure. Jay is suuuuuper handy so having him do it definitely cut down on costs a TON, but it was/is labor intensive. Manageable, yes, but definitely plan for a couple of weeks of work (especially if you/he works full time on top of trying to squeeze house projects in, along with having little ones lol…I totally know how that goes!)
Janet says
This lost made me cry happy tears (not normal but whatever!). We need more of this, more of everyone helping each other out!
Courtney says
Right?!?! We do need more helping and more positivity around! <3