The Year Long Project

Several months ago I mentioned that we got a fountain for the boys. And we were going to put it up when I quit being so lazy. And we were going to place their temporary headstones out there with it. I am proud to say- almost one whole year later- that the fountain is up! But I am still lazy- we can't win 'em all.

Here is the before photo:

The total project took about 3-4 hours to complete. We marked off the area, cleared the grass and stubborn weeds. Measured out weed-blocking fabric, put it in place and anchored it with landscape edging. Then we spread out play sand underneath pavers to level off the area where the fountain would be placed. Once that was done, we put the fountain in place, checked to make sure that the pump worked (which it did) and filled it with water. Pea gravel was spread around to anchor the fountain and the stones that adorned it.

During the grass/weed removal step, we found Legos buried in the soil. Almost as if it was a sacred Lego burial ground. Little boy artifacts. Wanna know what's weird about this? We are the 3rd owners of this house and neither of the couples before us had children. The first couple was in their late 30's to early 40's. He died unexpectedly while playing basketball with some friends from a heart attack. Tragic, I know. The second couple didn't live here long as he was transferred to Colorado for business. They had children but they are grown and I highly doubt they played with Legos in the dirt. Is it a sign?

We planned to get the fountain in place by Sam's birthday, but there were bunnies living in that corner the weekend we planned this project. So we waited til they moved out and did it over Labor Day weekend. In the 100+ degree weather in the sun without shade. It was sweltering. So we set up a canopy and plugged in THE FAN. Needless to say it helped.

Here is final outcome!

A close-up of the fountain.

And a side view for good measure.

A bunny and stones from Ronald McDonald House. One for Sam, Jack and my sister, Adrianne (they mispelled her name).

Hope you guys love it as much as we do. I think it turned out great and I love going outside to look at it. It brings me peace.

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ETA: On the box the fountain came in, was the name of the fountain in 3 different languages: English, Spanish and French. The name of the fountain is 'Playful Cherubs'. In spanish it is 'Angelitos Juguetones'. I was going to make this the title of this post, but just to be sure of the translation, I looked up the definition of angelito (little angel) and this is what they say it means- "dead child". WTF?