June 22 - we lay out the patio in the grassy area on the east side of the house.
June 22 - John and Mara test the layout of the patio.
June 22 - we rented a Bobcat skidsteer loader to do the rough work of digging and moving gravel.
June 22- John and Mara show off the bobcat.
June 22 - David gets ready to break ground.
June 22 - David breaks ground with the bobcat.
June 22- David maneuvers carefully in the bobcat.
June 24 - we bought a new laser level to be better able to layout a flat and properly sloped patio.
June 24 we have the site clear of sod and are starting to realize that we need more dirt to lay it out the right place. We eventually bring in two dumptrucks plus two large wagonloads of topsoil.
June 24 - John shows off his hammer technique.
June 24 - it's hot, well over 95 degrees in the sun, and John and Daddy are working hard.
June 25, our first delivery of nearly 10 tons of hardpack gravel.
June 25 - the walkway is finally laid out with landscape cloth and ready for gravel.
June 25 - the hardpack gravel is dumped by bobcat into the walkway.
June 27 - we have finished compacting the first layer of hardpack gravel.
July 30, after vacation we get back to work. First, another truckload of hardpack gravel.
August 6th; we bring in a truckload of "manufactured sand" to go on top of the gravel.
August 6th: Pam lays out the plastic edging along the walkway.
August 6th: we lay more landscape cloth on the gravel, then dump sand on that.
August 6th, after cloth, gravel, cloth, and sand, we finally get to lay out some pavers.
August 6, John and Mara help Mommy to lay pavers on the walkway.
August 6, Andy carries another paver to the walkway.
August 8, the state of the walkway.
August 8, the whole of the main patio!
August 8, John demonstrates how the patio works!
August 13, we got a saw so we could cut pavers, then were able to turn the corner on the walkway.
August 17, John wants me to show off the patio. At this point we had spread fine sand ("play sand") on top and compacted it several times to settle all the pavers into place.