Staining!

After the boys left for camp, Michael got to work staining the deck. He had planned to do it that day and he wasn't going to let a little lice infestation stop him. :) Plus I was the one dealing with all the laundry. 

A few days before we stained the deck we had to move everything off so I could wash the deck off. With me burning all the wood and us walking all over it it had become quite dingy. 

With nothing on it the deck looks huge!!! 

So gorgeous! 

These pictures aren't the best with the glare from the sun! 

Still so pretty! 

Michael didn't want to paint the deck like we did last time, but he did want a little color. We ended up going with the natural cedar tone. It has a little bit of orange in it and since we used the Fired Brick color as an accent on the house and it has a bit of orange in it I think it goes quite well together. 

Michael started with the stairs. 

He worked and worked for hours. He didn't finish until almost 8pm! 

Here it is fleshly finished! 

The next day with the sun shining on it....oh la la!!!

On Monday, August 5th Michael helped me organize the garage a bit so we could spread out tarps so I could stain the furniture I built. I knew I wanted a rich brown color so I chose Russett from Behr. I wasn't going to stain them until the next day, but then I just started and got the first coat on everything. 

It was exactly the color I wanted. 

On Tuesday, August 6th I finished the second coat and it looks glorious! I can't wait for it to cure so we can finally set up the deck! 

I also started staining the kids play structure. It has needed to be done badly for a couple years. I was only able to get so far and then I ran out of stain. That night we took Papa's truck back to him and then stopped at Home Depot to get another gallon of stain. 

On Wednesday, August 8th I was able to finish staining the play structure and the kids picnic table. It's all coming together and I'm so looking forward to the last finishing touches.