Summer Lovin'

    
    
     I know, I know, I don't call, I don't write, I don't blog...enough.  I have been so busy lately that I can barely keep up with life, but I am living it to the fullest and just trying to keep up to my best ability. Now that that's out of the way, let's jump right into today's post.


     Growing up I remember we spent the whole summer outside, with the neighborhood kids we would spend the summer playing tag, riding bikes, catching frogs and swimming in our above ground pool, yeah we were fancy!  We spent our summers growing up together and I knew I wanted that same kind of experience for our kids.  When we decided it was time to move I was looking for a neighborhood that our kids could grow up with too!
     As we were wading through the sea of houses trying to find just the right fit for our family, it was no suprise that a big back patio and backyard were some of the major selling points for us. Our former home had a nice screened in back patio but a microscopic backyard. After viewing Preston Drive I could envision the kids playing in the sprinklers and on the swing set in the backyard.  The neighborhood was also full of kids and built around an elementary school, making my hopes of neighbor friends a reality.
     There is still a lot of work that I would like to do on the back patio, but for now it suits our family just fine!

     The table was made from plans on the deliriously awesome Ana-White, if you have not checked her collection of furniture building plans then you are missing out!  The building was super simple and all together maybe took me a day to build.  I love how big the table is; it takes up less than half of our large back patio, and fits a ton of people around it.  When I had my sister's bridal shower at the house, there were easily 16 women sitting around it enjoying their lunch.

     The armoire behind the table serves so many purposes, for our backyard.  When we have parties or company over, the top serves as an outside food and beverage area, I even installed a beer bottle opener for Mr. Preston Drive and his buds. When the kids are playing outside it is a chalk and bubble center where they can fill up their own bubbles and change out their chalk.  The bottom of the armoire holds our charcoal, wood chips and various grilling items. 

     Currently we have no chairs around the table, but my hopes are to build a bench for one side and find five amazing chairs to put around the other side and two ends of the table.  I hope you enjoyed today’s mini tour of our back yard and patio on Preston Drive.