Family visit & trenching
What a quick weekend (said everyone, after every weekend, ever)! We were on the go from the moment my parents and maternal grandmother arrived Friday night.
We started with dinner at El Famous (a must!!!),
Everyone loves El Famous!
then did the indoor portion of the house tour for Grandma when we came back.
Dad checking out our Smith Machine
We had divided activities planned for Saturday, which is pretty common for my parents’ visits. Steven usually has a project planned for himself and my dad to work on, and my mom and I do our own thing (sometimes something productive, sometimes not, ha!).
This weekend’s featured project was burying the sump pump and gutter drain pipe. Awhile ago, Steven connected them and installed a corrugated pipe to get the water away from the house and toward the pond.
Connected pipes
Headed toward the pond
The plan for this weekend was to install a new pipe and bury it. We upgraded to a rigid, smoother pipe so it’ll be easier to snake it if something gets stuck in there.
Steven and Dad started their day early – they left to rent a trencher and pick up a few more parts for the project. While they were doing that, I gave Grandma the outdoor part of the house tour. Then Grandma, Mom, and I headed out to check out some garage sales and passed Steven and Dad on their way back to the house.
When we came back for lunch, they’d gotten so much done!
They had a lot of the trench dug, and the catch basin installed (not pictured). They took a break to eat with us, then got back to work. And we continued our adventures – on to the Jelly Belly Warehouse Tour, and to check out Lake Michigan.
Then we stopped home again, to change for church. Steven and Dad were starting to wrap things up at this point, and had to go get a few last pieces and return the trencher.
When we returned from church they were basically done for the day – they’d covered most of the pipe up, and built a little wall at the end to hold back the earth around the end of the pipe. We still have to cover that part, and take care of some extra dirt in the yard. But it’s nice to have that pipe buried and out of the way! It was a bit of an annoyance, and definitely an eyesore.
Everyone was tired Saturday night, especially Steven and Dad! It was a hard day for them, and hot out (in the 90s). We ate dinner, played a couple of rounds of cards and called it a night.
Dad and I went on a bike ride Sunday morning (yay!). When I came back, I made pancakes for everyone, and we hung out and played a few more rounds of cards before it was time for them to take off!
It felt like such a quick visit. I think packed days do that to me! Hopefully we can have a bit more downtime the next time they visit. And I definitely need to make sure I take a nap anytime I have guests arriving on a Friday (I wake up at 3:45 am on Fridays and staying up past 10:00 pm without a nap just ruins me for Saturday).
It was nice to have my Grandma see our house for the first time. Even though I was joking around about “Grandma Level Cleaning” I really do enjoy cleaning our home and have a great amount of pride about it. Steven and I both do. We love our little cottage in the woods, and we love having visitors!
Themocracy
We have a sump pump in our backyard to help ward off the flooding that comes with Texas gullywashers, and that thing is awesome. Very nice job with getting that water to fill the pond! We call what you guys rented a ditch digger, and we’ve rented them over the years, for sprinkler installs and such – they are worth every penny. Plus, they’re kind of fun – you can go a little crazy if you don’t restrain yourself (or is that just us, LOL).
I totally want to visit the Jelly Belly warehouse! What a fun visit – did Grandma get to see the ducks?
It’s interesting to me to hear which parts of the US use sump pumps and which don’t! They are very necessary here in Lake county! It totally seemed worth it to rent that! I can’t imagine doing it by hand. I CAN imagine getting a little out of control with it. Ha! Steven was telling me how it grinds the dirt up all nice and fine too, which is much better than using a shovel and ending up with big clumps (they still had a bit of that).
It’s a funny tour – the warehouse is mostly empty (of product, I guess it’s their internet orders or something), so there is not a lot to see there, but the drive you around on a little cart and you watch some videos and get a bag of jelly bellies at the end. And the whole thing is free!
She did see the ducks! They even put on a special show one day (racing across the pond and flapping their wings). She loved it 🙂
I wondered what the trench was for! That’s a pretty impressive project, especially in such a short period of time (and in that weather – UGH)! I remember my dad digging a trench in our backyard one summer when I was a kid to get electricity out to our unattached garage. He did it with a shovel and I swear it took him the entire summer LOL
I love how much you guys love having visitors 🙂 I remember staying at your old townhouse once while I still lived in Chicago and noting what good hosts you were – so attentive to the little details! Needless to say I’m looking forward to my upcoming stay 😉
I was impressed they got it all done in a day, too! I can see it taking MUCH longer if you’re using a shovel… maybe not the whole summer though, ha ha! JK 🙂
Aww, thank you! We are very much looking forward to seeing you! Monday night class is too!
LOL and my parents’ yard is not even half the size of yours (they have a small city lot) so it definitely shouldn’t take THAT long.
Yay, I’m really excited to see you guys and Monday class too! 🙂
Different strokes for different folks, I suppose, but I DEFINITELY think your Saturday sounds way more fun than your dad and Steven’s Saturday! Haha. You would think, given my appreciation for sweets and how many times I’ve been to Kenosha, that I would’ve been to the Jelly Belly factory before, but I’ve never made it! One of these days I’m going to have to go. I’m glad Steven and your dad got so much work done, though! It’s got to be nice to have that all underground and have your yard back.
Ha ha ha. I know! Steven just loves to do projects like that though! And he’s so good at them 🙂
Oooo! I hope you get a chance to do the tour of the warehouse (I wish it was of the factory – that would probably be a bit more interesting. During this tour they said they still have a factory in North Chicago, but I didn’t see anything online about touring that!). It’s a fun goofy thing to do 🙂
So the house passed grandma inspection for cleanliness? High five! You’re so good at being a host too! I loved going to El Famous with you two. Now I want to go back!
It did! Yay! Although I was so embarrassed when I was eating an apple with her during the tour and a piece went on my clean windows! AHHHH!!! She didn’t say anything, phew.
YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS. I would love to go to El Famous with your right meow!!!