finishing our stone patio

Let me just say it: My husband is awesome. He spent his whole weekend working on our stone patio and he knocked it out. It looks fantastic!

So, back story. We bought this house just over a year ago and re-did a lot of the inside but left the outside mostly the same. This spring we started working on this back stone patio and just now got it finished - it's Fall now.

Here is a picture of how we had used the area, unfinished. This was at the end of June. See the stones against the house? They are there to cover up the dirt that doesn't have any plants in it like it's supposed to, b/c you see, I'm not a gardener. Yet.

See all the dirt? This is Saturday when Terry up and decided he was going to work on this project. We had a nice time helping and playing outside all day. Noah was especially helpful.

The dirt is ready for some gravel to go over it. We were told sand would be best but this is what we had access to and it served it's purpose.

Even Samuel had a good time.

We got some free gravel from a friend. Daddy used the wheel barrow to haul it over and Noah raked it out flat.

This is how much he got done on Saturday. He used that board to ensure the stones were all level. I made him stop at 6 (he didn't want to) so we could have a pizza family movie night - Peter Pan. He raised the stones next to the house to ensure that no water finds its way into the dungeon, like it has in the past.

After lunch on Sunday he and Jon, a youth grouper, finished it up. They laid out all the stones...

...Then poured sand mix cement over the stones and brushed it into the cracks.

...Then Terry sprayed water over it and a couple more times before we went to bed, and again this morning. Now it'll harden up and we can walk on it!

I swept and washed off all the mess and now it looks even better.

Niiiiice.