Made some progress here (and yes, a year has gone by with nothing but dirty in the back yard). Rather than getting a pool, we’ve decided to put in the back sprinkler system, put some slabs of concrete down, put grass down in the immediate backyard, and put either wood chips or rocks on the sides of the house.

A gardener gave us a rough estimate yesterday and is willing to do the work step by step….so I decided to take him up on his offer. It minimizes my risk (by paying him over time), and gets us a functional backyard in the span of a couple of months. We’ll get some outdoor furniture, and be ready for the Spring BBQ season!

My wife and a were scoping out “backyard sails” for some cool shading, but I think a couple of large umbrellas will be sufficient for this season.