The Evans family keeps busy

I’ve been slacking a little on the updates lately, I know. It’s been busy around here these last few weeks.

So what have the Evans family been up to? Well, the adults have decided to redo the backyard, which is taking up a lot of time but will be a great space when it’s done. (This family picture was taken in my parent's backyard, not ours!) For those who haven’t seen the backyard – picture a space that had been neglected for 10 years where trees and hedges are wildly overgrown and starting to consume the yard and an abundance of weeds are a normal site – some of which can grow to six feet in height.

For many a weekends, this has been the project. And now, the wildly overgrown hedges are gone, the tree has been cut back, the weeds have been tackled and pulled and a new patio has been laid. Next comes the removal of the old patio and new grass and voilà, we will have a backyard!

Ryan takes the credit for much of this, as my official job description has been to keep Austin out of the way. (Although, I have managed to get good and dirty when he sleeps for a couple of hours in the afternoons.)

Austin is a happy kid these days and has now completely mastered the art of walking, using it as his only mode of transportation. Well, except when he’s trying to run!
The park is a favourite destination on weekends, where he’ll spend hours climbing up the stairs and sliding down the slide. And as you can see by the picture, we experimented with sidewalk chalk one weekend! Since then, we’ve stuck with crayons, which are a little less messy, but apparently taste good – leaving one of us to constantly repeat ‘we don’t eat crayons Austin.’

Now that the backyard is semi-done, it’s nice to know there’s a safe place to take him outside to play. He loves being outside, and always wants to walk out the front door – with a backyard, he’ll be able to and I don’t have to worry about him running onto the street before I can catch him.

We have lots of plans lined up for this summer already – a long-weekend camping trip in July and a week at a cottage on a lake in August. So there’ll be lots more updates and photos to come this summer. But I think we'll have to wait awhile until Austin's able to drive us there!