That Time We Took A Wrecking Ball to Our Own Backyard (Plus, A Giveaway!)

Thank you to Abrams Books for sponsoring this post.

 

When my daughter recently picked up Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Wrecking Ball, the latest book in the super popular Wimpy Kid series, I was reminded of our most recent home renovation project. As you may remember, last summer, we totally redid our backyard. And as part of that renovation, we built the treehouse you see here for our kids! (Well, we didn't build it--we have no talent in that area--a carpenter did!) All in all, we learned a ton during that backyard home improvement project, namely that...we hate home improvement projects!

I can't help it. Though we love the end result, the whole process definitely had its downsides. First, it started months after the proposed target start date--and then took months to complete. For that reason, my kids couldn't use our backyard (old version or new) at all for literally the entire summer. Then, there was the constant arguing with the contractors (when they randomly wouldn't show up or when they'd say things like "Oh? You didn't want to leave the tree house with just bare, unpainted plywood? Ok, then that's going to cost a lot extra.") And the money! Oh em gee, after our actual house, the entire backyard project was probably the most money we've ever spent at one time--and costs seemed to increase daily with every big and little decision we made. It was a rough time.  

But with all of that said, the expense and the constant headaches were ultimately worth it. We love our backyard! My kids have an awesome tree house--one that I would have killed for when I was a kid--and we have a great place to entertain. (And let me tell you: At every party we have, the adults always want to climb up and check out the treehouse, too!)

And now that my kids have seen a glimpse of what's possible, let's just say, they've got some big renovation dreams of their own these days. My daughter recently told me that she'd like to add a rock wall to her bedroom and a roller coaster to our backyard. (Lol.) Oh, and she wants to redo all of our floors so that they are "the same floors as roller rinks." Yeah, #notgoingtohappen. 

This new installment of Jeff Kinney's Wimpy Kid series (book #14!) tells the story of Greg Heffley and his family's attempts to do some renovations on their own home. They encounter even bigger issues than we did like mold and unwanted critters (!), but it's still a definite reminder that home improvement is never as easy as the TV shows may make it seem. 

My nine- year-old daughter--already a huge fan of the series--loved the book. She just finished her second reading of it and said it is "so funny!" And my six-year-old, early-reader son actually started it himself just the other day! He's going to be thrilled when I let him know that there are actually 13 other books in the series that he can now go back and read. :)

Now, as any mom knows, any book that holds both of my kids' interests, that they can't put down, and that they actually want to read more than once is a bit of a unicorn. For that reason, I really wanted to share the love, and I will be choosing one winner to win a copy of Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Wrecking Ball courtesy of Abrams Books. To enter, please click here and follow the instructions in my Instagram post. 

Thank you, good luck, and happy reading (or renovating)!