Labor Day laboring - LIGHTS!!!

 I'm now OBSESSED with the backyard.  I mean, I loved it before, but holy cow.  We'd been talking about putting lights up for awhile, but sometimes you just need your dad in town to be the extra set of hands (and provide the extra years of home improvement wisdom).  The end product literally looks like it was done by a professional.  Can't WAIT for the weather to cool down so we can start dining al fresco!

*Lights are from Target and we used 3 strands for about 75 feet of porch to cover.  It was tedious but to get them as straight and tight across as I wanted, they used a staple gun to staple between every other bulb.  That's SERIOUS dedication - my boys sure love me :)

And a tip I found by doing some research - the bulbs are super fragile, so it was recommended to take the bulbs off to actually hang the lights, then screw them back on once the strand is up.  Took a little bit of extra time, but it was well worth the peace of mind as we're not 100% sure about the replacement bulb situation. It's for this reason I'd also recommend picking up an extra box*

Of course, dad couldn't let the weekend pass without
getting us some plants.  The man LOVES his yard :)

And the full nighttime view :)