We're enjoying our yard

We try to find time to relax in the hammock. Aiden really likes going for a swing in that thing. He absolutely refuses to sit on my lap though. Independent stinker.

The tomato plants are thriving in our garden. We planted them too close together to use those metal cones for them to grow into. Instead, we stuck some dowel rods in the ground and tied the plants to it. Seems to be working well. We have some green tomatoes growing. They're only the size of large marbles, so we've got a ways to go.

The onions and peppers are not doing very well. It seems like all the plants against the garage are doing better. We thought it might be because they get more shade, so Travis built this partial sun cover for the garden. The white trellis sticking up in the front are for the cucumbers. My favorriiittteee...

We tucked Aiden's new sandbox into the corner of the house in the front yard. After the wall goes up it will have more privacy. We are hoping to eventually put up a swing set next to it as well.

My dad, Travis and I had a teleconference last night to discuss more options for the wall. We were originally planning on doing a stucco wall. That is definitely still in the running, but we are worried about the grill smoke staining the wall. We are trying to come up with solutions for that. At this point, we are thinking about putting tile in the grill nook. That would be easier to clean than stucco. We are also contemplating a prefab vinyl wall, with some sort of metal surround for the grill nook. The vinyl would melt, so that would not be an option around the heat (hence the pressed metal).

My dad is in the process of finalizing some stuff at work. If that all goes well, then he should have some time off to come help with the wall. He is also working on getting quotes for the different wall types to see what we're working with. The prefab wall would be soooooo much easier, but I think the stucco wall would be more unique and personalized.

Here's a mock up my dad made of the new wall from the patio side.

Looks like a smiley face, right? I have a hard time seeing past that. The eyes are lights, the nose is a window to the front yard and the mouth is the only grill option his computer program has. We'd really like to do the pergola as well, but it will of course depend on cost. I was thinking about building benches to place on either side of the grill nook on which to place potted plants. That's something we can worry about down the line. I'm already trying to accessorize this new yard and we don't even have it yet!