What I did on my Vacation...

I decided to take the week of Memorial Day off and get some stuff done around my house. We had finished up the patio but still needed to put sod down around it to really finish it. I also wanted to do some cleaning and organizing and then have a yard sale that Saturday. I am happy to say I was able to get it all finished, thanks to the help of my parents. The week went like this... Monday was the holiday and also my Uncle's birthday. So Jake and I ,along with my parents and grandparents, went to my Aunt and Uncle's house for a BBQ. Then Tuesday, my parents came over and helped me go pick up the sod from the sod farm (my dad has a pick-up truck) and then they helped me lay the sod. I also wanted to add a light outside that would shine on our updated playground. So my dad helped me do that as well. He's very handy and can pretty much do anything when it comes to home remodeling. Here are a few pictures...

The sod all layed around the patio.

The sod all layed around the patio!

I also layed some bricks to make a separate little patio for our trash-cans. I still need to get a couple more pieces of sod to add to this project.

This is the light my dad added to the outside of the garage so that the playground will have some light.

Then on Wed. I thought it would be nice to go do something fun and take a break from working at home. So my Mom, Sister and I took my nephew to see the Dinoquest Exhibit at the Missouri Botanical Garden. It was so much fun!! I hadn't been to the garden in several years. My nephew is really into dinosaurs right now, so we thought he would really like the exhibit. Here are a few pictures. I took a ton, but these are just some of my favorites.

My nephew Landon, looking up at the T-Rex in the Dinoquest Exhibit.

Landon, posing for a picture for us.

Some of the dinosaurs in the exhibit.

Landon looking down at an aquarium, from a bridge made from bamboo.

Gardenia... it smelled sooo good!!

Landon in the children's garden.

Landon in the children's Garden.

Landon playing in one of the many water fountains at the MO Botanical Garden.

Landon smelling the Hydrangeas.

A mama duck and her babies in a pond in the Japanese Garden.

A bridge in the Japanese Garden where you can feed Ducks and huge Koi Fish.

A zig-zag bridge in the Japanese Garden surrounded by Iris flowers.

A close-up of one of the Iris flowers. So beautiful.

Landon holding his hand under a fountain in the Japanese Garden.

This is probably my favorite part of the Botanical Garden. Its a drum bridge in the Japanese Garden!

Water lillies in the Japanese Garden.

A black petunia. I had never seen one of these before... very cool.

Lillies. One of my favorite flowers.

An Orchid. Orchids are my favorite flower!!

Beautiful pink roses in the rose garden.

Thursday, I cleaned and organized the storage side of our basement. I'm so glad to have that finished. Then Friday we got ready for our yard sale and Saturday we had the sale. My mom, sister and I all had stuff to sell. It turned out great and I made about $70. Then Sunday we went to the zoo, but I forgot to put my battery back in my camera, so I didn't get any pictures. :-(

So all in all, I had a GREAT week off and got a lot of stuff done, so I just thought I'd share! :-)