The Story of our Walkout

When we decided that it was time to finish our basement, we felt like we were supposed to create a walk-out, so we did.  (Writing this in hindsight, it was a bumpy road - but we are so glad that we did it).  This was such an exciting time in the construction process!  It was also COLD.  On digging day #1 it was sunny and we bundled up and played on the swingset while watching the bobcat.  The rest of the time, watching the construction perched on top of the washing machine provided the best view while staying warm and out of the way.

 Of course our laundry room window is frosted, which means it had to be open in order to see.  Having kids small enough to slip through that opening meant that I stayed with them to keep them inside.

 Emmie didn't like being left out.

 There's a cement pad down there!

New scenery in the backyard.  After the digging days this bobcat remained in the backyard for a few days.  Hannah commented, "I bet he [the concrete guy] pulled a Mike Mulligan."  Sure enough, a couple days later he showed up and was trying to figure how to get the bobcat out of the yard.  "He dug so fast and he dug so well..."  He was very thankful that we OKed taking down some of the barbed wire fence behind us so that he could drive it out the back.  Incidentally, our great concrete guy's name really is Mike and I would recommend him.

Enjoying the last of the basement pre-construction:

In the foreground you can see a tinker-toy sword.  Cracks me up that Emmie was provided a sword as well (in her right hand).

 Current dollhouse state:

 Notice the back wall is solid cement.  

Same shot up close...except we have a HOLE now!!!  Super excited and lovin' it!

Crazy story:  When we had just the cement pad and footings there was a lot of rebar sticking up.  One night the girls were tending and they let Daisy out but she never came back to the door.  It was about 9pm and pitch dark, so they got a flashlight and went searching for her.  Wouldn't you know that she fell into our hole, about 9 feet deep!  The amazing thing is that she was unhurt and missed all that rebar.  Our contractor had left a ladder so Callie held the flashlight for light and Hannah climbed down in the hole and then carried Daisy up the ladder.  We were so impressed with their brave rescue!  

Time for some retaining walls (which means more time on top of the washing machine)...

 This is so you can get an idea of how tall this mound of dirt (okay, mostly rocks) is.  It took us about 4 months of working on and off to get it cleared.  Fun fact:  the broken fence in the background.  Our cement guy's pants snagged on a lever on the bobcat and it went the wrong way.  Don't worry - he fixed it and you can't tell that anything ever happened.  I did not take a picture of our fence posts that ended up having to be re-cemented in due to the ground caving in under them.  Ah, construction...

 Getting ready for stairs:

Here is the other end of our dirt/rock (mostly rock) pile.  Made for great entertainment this spring!  This is dirt left over after they backfilled.

 Walkout entrance

 Finished stairs and door

And it will be many months until it is finished (I'm writing this 1/2/14 and we still need to refinish the stucco but at least we have a railing and a lamp!).