ok - i'm giddy about a backhoe.  seriously, they started digging today...big ol backhoe showed up on a flatbed at 7am and i'm not sure who was more excited, me or my 3 yr old.  Aiden was literally glued to the window and his eyes were as wide as possible - you would have thought it was xmas morning x10.  he kept saying "oh my gosh mamah!  that backhoe is lifting that rock...wait...that rock is too big...he's pushing the rock mamah...oh my gosh!...can i ride in the backhoe?...look mamah, he's digging up dirt too!"  and, all of that was said in a span of 5 seconds...with him continuing the tirade for an hour straight prior to us leaving.  the only thing that separated Aiden and i was the fact that i was saying all of the same stuff inside my head...but, for the record, i will readily admit that "gosh" was never used in my head.

 

so, what's all the digging about?  it's our freak'n pool man!  we were supposed to start it last fall, but problems with the permit and the snow that showed up in Oct. postponed the process until now.  i've got some before pictures of the backyard and the side yard...see below...along with the new photos of today's progress.  clearly i'll be updating the photos frequently, as documentation of my tropical retreat needs to happen!

 

the immediate goal - to get my bowling ball belly into that heated pool prior to bust'n out the misses.  i don't think it'll be a problem, as the project should be completed by the middle of May.  the overall goal after the misses is born...spend the summer floating with umbrellas in my beverages.  besides, who needs to go on vacations when you can make your backyard into one...and, yes, that's the rationale i'm sticking to when validating how the pool is paying for itself.