The HOLE!

So when we were told that a soil test was necessary, I started freaking out a little bit. I budgeted $2,000 for the septic system. This includes the tank + all necessary parts and piping, the permit, and the bobcat rental for digging. I started worrying about how much this would add on to our budget. We are looking at $365 for the permit and $1200 for the tank, so after that we had approx $400 left in the budget for the extra piping and the bobcat rental. I called and got a quote of $150 for the soil test. That is absolutely ridiculous. The guy is going to drive 10 miles to get to our property, fill the 8 ft hole that Riley dug with water and then time it to see how long it takes the soil to absorb the water. A freaking monkey could do this... and it wouldn't even require a Ape or a particularly smart monkey... Whatever monkey has the absolute lowest IQ, THEY could accomplish this job. $150 freaking dollars, a rip off. Thanks OBAMA (or just the local government that decided to make this completely unnecessary test a requirement.)

Wednesday we packed the kids in the car around 9 am and headed down to the property. We didn't make it down till nearly 11 after all the stops to get the equipment needed, and potty breaks, and food breaks. It was SO hot down there.

I sprayed everyone with sunscreen and laid out the picnic blanket for Mae to relax on while we dug a hole. We quickly realized that this would become Riley actually digging the hole while I tried (and failed) to keep two toddlers happy AND away from the hole that was becoming deeper by the minute. After a few hours of scorching 90 degree heat we packed up and headed home so that we could shower it time for me to head to work at 2pm. My sister watched the kids so that Riley could drive back down and make some progress on the hole when the heat was not as intense.

Last night we watched Holes... naturally. There have been quite a few "Holes" references made during this dumb hole dig.

We didn't get a chance to go back down until today (Sunday). I set my alarm for 5:45, after being up with Riley helping him finish homework by midnight. I got the kids clothes, drinks for everyone in the car, packed diapers and activities. Loaded up the car completely, then snuck back upstairs, woke Riley up and carried the sleeping kiddos down to the van to load them up.

Miles slept nearly the whole drive to the property, while Maizey is the kid that as soon as she opens her eyes she is up for the day.

I set up our little sunshade tent

 and got the kiddos dressed while Riley got out his tools and started on the hole right away. He started today around 5 ft deep. He is already exhausted from a long week of overdoing it and late nights of homework... Seriously guys, he is a champ! We should have just rented a backhoe for this ridiculously deep hole. He didn't complain about me not digging ONCE! I offered like every 40 minutes, to which he would point out 100 problems with me getting into a 6ft deep hole and trying to muscled through 2 feet of clay. So I just wrangled the kiddos. I swear this hole was magnetic. They were drawn to this thing. If I quit paying attention for less than 10 seconds to hand Riley a tool or grab something from the cooler, I would turn around and their little toes are over the edge already. Then Miles kept throwing things in the hole, well maybe not kept, he did it like 4 times in a 6 hours span, so I should cut the kid a break. But seriously, he was trying to fill the hole back in with the pile of dirt Riley had created... I knew if this happened that Riley would probably have a nervous breakdown.. and NO ONE wants that :)

With the 1 hour break we took to drive into the nearby town for a measuring tape, supplies, and a potty break. We were actually AT the property for 5 hours. Riley hit his 8 ft mark with no swear words uttered and only mild  Moderate irritation towards the fact that he was shoveling for a straight hour and only gained 2 inches at one point in the day.

The hole is complete, and at least one small part of it hits the required 8ft mark.

Hopefully in a few days we will have our permit in our hands and we can really get going!



Now to determine the next item on the list. I have a feeling it is going to be an RV... We've been looking for a while but really need to hunker down the search. We need to get one on the property so that we can start the cleaning and renovating so that it is ready for us to move into when our lease is up in November. PLUS it would have been SO incredibly nice to have an air conditioned place to put two terribly cranky toddlers down for naps today. They kept trying to find somewhere to sleep but didn't want to actually lay down. When we get the RV we will be able to put them down for naps, have quiet toys, or even start a movie for them so that we could accomplish more with our time there.