Patio!

Ever since we had to decide what size deck we wanted on the house, Ben and I knew we wanted a patio to stretch beyond the deck. We purposefully designed our deck so it would tie into a patio...someday.

 Eventually, we decided to go with a patio of stamped concrete because we wanted the look of stone and a solid, even surface. In less that 7 hours, the crew from E & J Concrete from Wichita took our space from uneven dirt to a poured and stamped patio. It was amazing to watch them work (and it made us feel super-lazy)!

 They arrived around 7:30 and by 10:30 or so they were ready to pour. They used a motorized wheelbarrow (that purplish thing in the photo above) to haul the concrete from the truck to the patio.

Then they let it set up for a little bit, dusted it with a release powder and then pounded the rubber mats into it making a stone pattern.

 At the end of the day, our patio was covered with the powder and had to dry for a day or two before they could power wash it off.

 When the boys left for school that morning, they didn't know anything was going to happen at our house. When they came home we had a patio. :-)

 A few days later, Juan - one of the owners - brought his boys along to wash, dry and seal the patio.

 And this is how it looks!

 Now we've got a bunch of dirt work to do and (fingers crossed) we'll get some grass to come up yet, too!