oh, hail.

This morning, at about 4 am, we got one heck of a storm.

Lightening so close it was blinding and thunder so loud the windows rattled. I seriously wondered if our house would get struck by lightening. Lucky for us, that did not happen.

Then wham. Our house was under attach from another source. HAIL.

Somehow (and I have no idea how) Kya slept through the whole ordeal. I think it was about 30 minutes of boom, bang, crash!


After the storm died down and I was still wired with adrenaline, I ventured out to gather hail. I stored the hail in the freezer so I could document it in daylight.

Yup, that is real three-inch hail. Golf ball size.
Our rain gauge shows only 0.6 inches of rain. It sure seemed like we got more rain than that. Perhaps a hail stone was blocking the gauge?


This morning it looks as if we woke up on the moon.


So far, we can't find any house damage (thankfully, the cars were in the garage). Just to be sure, we called our insurance rep to come out and check the roof and shingles.

Here's to a less eventful Saturday night.

Let's take a walk

More landscaping progress to report:
- back yard sprinkler system was installed on Monday
- we're planning to have the lawn hydro seeded in about 10-15 days, once the stormy hot weather settles down
- the front yard path is complete (as of Monday)
- mulch spreading has started (tonight)


Here are my two favorite landscapers, spreading mulch in the front yard

Did you know that Mandan offers free "you haul it" mulch? They make it from the city tree trimmings. What a great service!
I called the Mandan city office for details and the location. If you're in need of mulch, check your hometown to see if they offer this service.


Tada!
Dry creek bed drainage, walking path, mulch and Corey. Love.
The dirt on the left will be seeded with prairie grass.


Would you like to accompany me on a nature walk?
(north side of house. dirt to left will be seeded with prairie grass)

Strange thing we've notice while landscaping: we have a large population of little toads around the yard. Anyone have an answer about this mystery toad colony?

Rocks, rocks and more rocks.

Our yard is looking better every week day thanks to all Corey's backbreaking work.

By his best estimates, he and a few helpers have moved over 110,000 pounds of rock (gravel, crushed rock, and landscaping rock). No wonder his arms are looking so buff. {swoon} We might have to landscape again next year. Or not.


The area under our deck is now usable. As you can see, we have been enjoying the area and the pool that is currently housed there. It is a perfect spot for lunch and Kya activities because it is shady and sheltered from the wind.


Last weekend the heat index was over 110°F and I was wishing the pool was a bit bigger and deeper.


The guys (Corey and Andrew) used the pool to wash and cool their feet after a long day of moving rocks. Money well spent!


... on to work ...


East side of the house: rock is spread


South side: pea gravel spread under deck and crushed rock in landscape area. picnic table painted and usable


West side: rock is spread within landscape borders (dirt area showing will all be lawn)


North side/front: dry creek beds made (for gutters and run off areas)


Shed: future basketball hoop area is complete with gravel. Prairie grasses are starting to grow


North/Front: dry creek bed works!


Driveway: culvert ditched have rock and gravel installed to stop washouts


West side/back yard/retaining wall: larger rocks placed for border with future mulch area


Front yard: "island" made ... needs work but we're excited to have it started.


Front yard: walking/nature path started with border of rocks. The path will be pea gravel. The dirt area to the right of the path will be mulch and perennials.

Whew. Well this is this week's yard update.

Now for fun photos. All the following photos are from two weeks ago. Corey's dad and sister visited for the weekend to help with yard work. They were a HUGE help!


Kya was very excited with this surprise from Grandpa Gary and Maria.


I think she kind of likes it. Haha.


She has already spent hours playing with her tricycle. She likes to put rocks in the trunk. Then take them out. And repeat over and over.


This is Kya and Corey's dad, cooling off in Harmon Lake after a long, hot day of yard work.


Maria is a life guard and is very good with Kya in the water. They could have played all afternoon. No wait, they did.

is it already mid-July?

I have so, so, so much to blog about.

We had a magical Independence day in Mandan, ND ... in my opinion, one of the best (if not THE BEST) place to spend Independence Day. Over the long weekend, we had lots of visitors: my parents from Alaska and my sister from California, and my Grandma Katy from Montana. Also that weekend, I co-hosted Caitlyn's bridal shower. Serious fun. I will write a really long photo-heavy catch-up blog about all of that later. Remind me.

Oh AND one more thing from that weekend – Corey, Kya, and I, and Corey's mom booked flights to Boston for October to see the newest baby Hager who is due to arrive in early September. See? Such wonderful excitement 'round these parts.

Alright. So what have we been up to that has so seriously delayed my blog?
one word: landscaping

So back track about a year or so. We bought the land and built the house and when someone asked how big our rural "lot" is, we'd answer with "17 acres." They would almost always say "so are you going to landscape it all?" We'd say "no way, just the 'small' area right around the house." And then I'd giggle thinking about how long it would take to mow 17 acres.

Fast forward to now. We are in the process of landscaping that "small area right around the house." I need to draw a rough sketch of our plan but basically it is landscaping around the perimeter of the house and lawn in the back yard, rock garden-like landscaping and a path in the front yard. Natural prairie grasses all around yard, between the yard and the field. Clear as mud? Oh and then there is the area around the shed which will get natural grass and rock. Although that seems simple when I write it out, it is actually a few acres in itself and, well, it is a lot of work.
Especially with a cute distracting curious 15-month old under foot.


See what I mean?
When I think back to someone asking if we were planning to landscape all 17 acres ... I don't giggle. I laugh. Hard.

Sound the trumpets! I am happy to report that we have progress! And we're having fun!

We started with this:

a yard of dirt. lots of dirt.
lots of dirt = lots of foot washing (and laundry)


The "dirt guy" was here last week to grade the yard and spread black dirt in areas that will eventually be lawn.


The Dirt Guy also smoothed this area next to the shed and buried some humongus pieced of cement that were left by the builder. The hill you see has been seeded with natural grasses. The flat part (hard to see in this photo) will be gravel for Corey's future basketball court.


The front yard (left side) will be landscaped with rock and perennials and a few dry creek beds to assist with runoff. We also planted a good amount of grass seed here (shown roughly as the darker, wet soil) to better manage this landscaping of this large area.


Anther view of the front yard (extends further to the left). I will also mention that our driveway is recycled asphalt. I love it. It doesn't get muddy and it packs really well.


Corey found time between projects to sand and paint my grandparent's old picnic table. This will stay where it is now, under the deck. We spread pea gravel in this area and it's already a great place to hang out that is always shady.


One busy day we were greeted with this very cool double rainbow.

I need to give big thank you shout outs to Corey's dad, sister Maria, and brother Andrew, who all spent the last weekend helping us with seed the natural grass. It was a huge help! Now it is our job to get it to grow. No grass-growing news to report yet.

Yesterday the "Edging Guy" installed plastic edging around the back yard where the lawn, landscaping, and house will join. Tonight we made some more major yard progress but I'll leave the suspense for the next blog.


Kya is growing up more everyday and lucky for us, she still loves to be outside "helping" us.
Here she is last week (or was that the week before?) with her first pigtails.


Just another day. This was this week. This is one of her favorite lunches: turkey, cheese, raisins, peanut butter toast and water. I also gave her mixed grilled veggie leftovers, but that was before this good stuff.

Happy almost Friday!