Side yard

We have been working on our yard since we moved in! We started by taking out some rotten decks four years ago. I don't know how many square feet the side deck was, but it was HUGE! It had layers of rotten plywood as a surface, and though the boys loved to skateboard and bike on it, it was a safety hazard (and an eyesore) and needed to go. As you can see in the last picture, it left us with a very large hole. It was maybe 4ft deep in some places. We started filling that hole with a concrete sidewalk (from another project), with clippings, etc. Last summer we found a contact who owns a dump truck and has lots of dirt. He dropped a whole load in our front yard which Greg and I wheel-barrowed to the back. It wasn't quite enough. We really wanted to level the yard back there and raise it a bit between the back deck and the pond so there wasn't so much of a drop. On Tuesday we got our second dump truck load of dirt. Greg and I have been working away at it. He mostly shovels and I'm mostly spreading and rolling and picking out rocks. I think this second dump load might just do it. Then we still will need top soil and grass...possibly some landscape ties and rocks, but I can almost see the end in sight! Don't underestimate the amount of time it takes to do landscaping! We did a tiny little job in Calgary on our postcard stamp yard, but it was worth every hour of sweat as we had a beautiful green lawn in the end. I will make sure to take some pictures of the middle stage we're in here, with the hole filled. Pre-grass. Then you all will be able to ooooh and awwww with me when I reveal the final pics. Time to warm up my rice bag! Greg and I are sore!