Welcome to Camp Lee

After seeing a few pictures of our back yard, my friend, Allie, commented that it looks like Camp Lee. And she's right! We have spent a good part of the spring and summer transforming our formerly empty back yard into a fun place to be. A few people have been asking for pictures, so here is a little blog tour of "Camp Lee."

First off, we now have a wonderful deck off the kitchen. An unbelievable blessing! (It also doubles as a gigantic drying rack for all of the wet towels daily.)

Here is the view from our sliding door in the kitchen. It is beyond wonderful to be able to step straight onto the deck and not have to jump a couple feet down. It is also Jason and my favorite place to sit and hang out after the kids go to bed.

The kids are still having tons of fun in the pool every day. We usually go out after rest time, around 3:30p every day and stay out until it is time to cook dinner. Then, the kids and Jason typically swim after dinner every night. (I'll get in if it is 90 degrees out or more . . . which it has been!)

The hammock doesn't get much action these days, but it is still nice to have - especially since it fits perfectly between these two trees.

This corner used to be home to 3 foot tall weeds and trees, but with the help of my mom and her husband, it is now a growing garden. 

With generous Christmas gift money from last year, we bought this playset for the kids. It took Jason and several friends two weekends to put it together. We opted for a pretty big one so that the girls could enjoy it, too.

The tower is more like a playhouse (3-4 adults can stand in it!). Zoe was asking and asking for a play kitchen a while back. I looked on Craigslist and at garage sales and was not going to buy one unless it was dirt cheap. The kids and I were walking home from Jill's house one day and I spotted this kitchen on the side of the road with a bunch of other junk being thrown away. I snagged it and carried it two blocks home. :) It ended up perfectly fitting in the tower/play house.

Even after cutting down two trees in this space, the southwest corner of the yard still feels like a little wooded area. There are several trees right on the other side of our fence that contribute to our "woods." It is SO FUN and definitely adds to the Camp Lee feel!

We moved the fire pit back to the corner. We roast hot dogs and smores every Sunday night for dinner.

After our first night of roasting hot dogs a few weeks ago, I realized it would be great to have a space to put the food we were grilling and using. So, while my dad and brother were here building our deck, I caught them before they were on their way to the lumber yard on day and had them buy what we needed to make a little counter along the fence. Super simple, but wonderfully helpful!!

The boys tried out the counter for climbing last week!

And last but not least, my favorite spot. I had no idea when we were having the deck built that I would be able to sit ON the deck IN the sun and still SEE the kids in the pool. And, have a ledge to sit my book, phone and beverage on! Many things about life are just plain hard right now (don't let all the fun pictures of the back yard fool you!!). Our backyard is a constant reminder of God's extravagant goodness to us.

And this little spot . . .and the ability to sit in the sun and read a book while my kids are playing (for the most part...some days there is more parenting to do than sitting) . . . it is a HUGE BLESSING that I never saw coming.