Driveway demo

A couple of weeks ago we took on our biggest home improvement project yet, or more accurately, yard improvement project. Our driveway to the unattached garage in the back is narrow along the side of the house and then it widens into a two-car garage. When we bought the house, the cement coming out of the garage wasn't quite wide enough for two cars, and it had a weird angle so that it was hard to back a car out of the right side. We decided that if we were going to park two cars in it for the winter, we needed to have the cement redone in a more practical shape. It was a busy couple of days around our house, but the end result is beautiful (if you can say that about a cement driveway!). It is wide and flat and perfect for cars, but more importantly, it is also perfect for riding bikes and playing basketball. A basketball hoop will be part of next spring's projects. Here are some before and after shots:

Although I didn't get a true "before" picture, most of the area where the dirt is on the right side was an overgrown herb garden and lots of weeds.

Now the driveway is wide and flat coming out of the garage.

The first two pictures are of the corner of the garage, where you can see the cement didn't even span the full width of the right side of the garage before. You can also see the area of rock and weeds where the side garage door is.

Not only did we widen the driveway, but we had them pour cement along the side of the garage as well (thanks for the idea, Grandpa Steve), so now we have a place to park garbage and recycling bins. Because the new cement was higher than the existing yard, so we had to fill in with dirt. Then Jeff spent all of last weekend laying sod to even it out.

Before our demo, the "walkway" from the driveway to the back door was a bunch of broken bricks that were half-buried in the ground. It was an awful tripping hazard for everyone and would have been a nightmare once ice and snow came.

Not so anymore.

The south side of the patio was also overgrown, weedy, and full of old mulch. It is a high traffic area to the backyard, so we didn't want to lay sod but Jeff re-mulched and evened it out, and it looks so much better.

The left side of the driveway and the left side of the garage were also overgrown with weeds, trees, and plants. We tore all of them out and replaced them with rock to clean up the look and eliminate the need to maintain it in the future. I don't really have a good "before" picture of the left side of the drive, but you can see in the last two pictures how clean it looks with the rock there now.

I should clarify that every time I said "we" above, I really meant Jeff. He did so much work to get ready for this project and also to put the finishing touches on afterward. He takes impeccable care of our yard, and the kids and I are so grateful. We also owe a huge thank you to both sets of parents who helped with the manual labor and with childcare while Jeff was tied up outside. I'm not sure we could have pulled off a project like this in Denver. Thank you!!

Season ticket holders (and some Lydia updates)

Nine years later, we are season ticket holders for Hawkeye football once again! (Actually, it's only been eight years because we bought them our first year in Colorado, but it's been nine since we were season ticket holders and Iowa City residents.) This time of year has been yet another reminder of how excited we are to be back in Iowa City. We took Jack to his first game when the Hawkeyes played Ball State for the second game of the season. It was not looking like a very good first game, but thankfully the Hawkeyes won with a big comeback. We got to Kinnick pretty early and watched both teams walk into the stadium. Then we caught the drumline doing its pregame performance, and Jack asked if he could meet one of the drummers. He was in awe! We then watched the full band do its pregame rehearsal in the rec building and finished our pregame tour with a stop in the pressbox to visit Grandpa Steve!

And just because most of our posts seem to focus on Jack, here are a couple pictures of Lydia. She is starting to say more words lately. She clearly says Dada, Mama, and Jack, and has quite a few others that we're able to interpret. She knows most of her animal sounds and lots of signs and movements to songs. She loves to sing songs and read books! It seems like she enjoys books more than Jack did at this age, in that she'll sit for a long time by herself just going through her books. I don't remember Jack ever doing that, so it's fun to see that difference. I took her to storytime at the library this week, and she was in heaven! Now that she's getting older, we're having fun doing special things that are centered around her too. We know too well how quickly her brother has grown up, and we're trying to soak her up as much we can before she grows up too!

End-of-summer catch-up

The rest of the summer flew by, as all of the seasons do in our house. We made it to the State Fair in Des Moines, leaving Lydia with Grandma Janet and Grandpa Steve and spending the day with just Jack. It gave us the chance to spend some quality time doing what only Jack wanted to do, instead of being at the mercy of Lydia's schedule. Jack loved the rides, but he loved the animals the best. I'm pretty sure we looked at every single pig in the pig barn!

Bumper cars to start the day

Taking a snooze after lunch

Meeting Clifford the Big Red Dog

Tractors!

We prepared for the Hawkeyes' football season by attending Kids' Day at Kinnick!

We celebrated Teagan's 10th birthday with cupcakes, presents, laughter, and funny faces!

And we finished the summer with a Lenoch family reunion! Over 60 grandmas, grandpas, aunts, uncles, cousins, second cousins, and lots of excellent food!

Fairs, Festivals, Golf, and Corn on the Cob!

Summer in Iowa--this is why we moved home! I'm not sure we could cram much more in this summer than all of the swim lessons, downtown Iowa City festivals, county fairs, and hanging out with family that we've been doing. It couldn't be more perfect. Not only are we having lots of fun, we are really making progress on our house. Little by little, it's starting to feel like home. We were lucky enough to buy a house that didn't need any major improvements. Instead, we have been doing lots of little projects--adding ceiling fans, buying curtains, new bedspreads, updating picture frames, and lots and lots of yardwork! The to-do list will never be done, but we've (mostly) tried to balance fun and work as the summer has gone on. Highlights below:

Coralville 4th of July parade at Nike's Uncle Joe's house

Golfing with Grandpa Steve and Jeff at Saddleback

Our view from the kitchen sink where we feed these kiddos every day

Our curly-haired cutie

Spending the night in Grandpa Steve's bed when the highway was flooded and couldn't get home

Lydia coloring--her favorite activity right now. This tub of crayons is permanently scattered on the playroom floor because we have gotten too lazy to pick them up several times a day.

Uncle Jimmy enjoying some corn on the cob while home from Los Angeles

Jack's souvenir from Jeff's trip to Washington, D.C.--an astronaut suit!

Enjoying the pool with Teagan

Johnson County fair

Flemings go to Washington, D.C.!

A few weeks ago, Jeff got the chance to go with his parents and his brother's family to Washington, D.C. for a long weekend. Jane won a scholarship to attend the National Ovarian Cancer Alliance national conference, and the rest of the family decided they should tag along! Neither of his parents had been to D.C., and they definitely made the most of it. While Jane was in meetings, Randy and Jeff hopped on bikes, tour buses, and the Metro to cram in as much as possible. Jeff saw some repeats of places he had seen before, but also got to see many things that he hadn't yet seen. Some highlights below:

The first restaurant they visited: an Irish pub, of course!

Randy at the U.S. Capitol

Washington Monument

Randy and Jeff at the White House

Jane and her friends wearing teal for ovarian cancer

Scott, Connor, and Jane having fun at dinner

Jeff, Randy, Connor, Jane, and Scott at the White House

Randy at Arlington Cemetery

Jane and Connor getting ready to ride to the top of the Washington Monument

Jane and her friends getting ready to meet congressional staffers as part of the ovarian cancer conference

Ready to take on Capitol Hill!

Norman Borlaug, Statuary Hall, U.S. Capitol

Jane's cousin's name on the Vietnam Memorial Wall

The backdrop doesn't get much better than this in Washington!