Dirt Cheap? Yeah Right!

So, Scott and I have been worried about the child-death trap pond in our back yard since before we bought the house. This large, algae-filled monstrosity was irresistible to the boys and terrifying to their parents as a site of potential drowning. Nobody in their right mind would keep a deep pond in a yard populated by two crazy boys under the age of three. The problem, of course, was how to get the damn thing out of the ground. It was probably six feet long and a couple feet deep. Plus, as mentioned, it was full of nasty, brackish, buggy, HEAVY water.

Well, into this story now step our heroes affectionately known as Papa and Nana. This past Saturday they arrived with their sump pump in hand and we proceeded to drain the offending pond. One sump pump surrendered its life to the cause and a second volunteer was procured from Home Depot. After the pond was largely drained, Scott and Papa managed to wrestle the plastic liner out of the ground -- a difficult and dirty job.

Speaking of dirt, after removing the pond we were left with a giant hole in the ground. You might say to yourself (as we did), No big deal! Just pick up a couple bags of dirt at Home Depot. 40 bags and A LOT of money later, the deed was done. Dirt cheap? Yeah right! It turns out that the price of dirt is just shy of the price of gold dust. But then again, the safety of our boys is priceless (sounds like a Mastercard commercial). Thanks to all of our volunteers for your help with this project!