Homemade Canopy for the Deck

Our deck canopy, which can go up or down in about five minutes

Greg and I recently had one of those stereotypical sitcom husband/wife moments where I cornered him, smiled really hopefully, and pointed emphatically to a picture in a magazine of something I wanted him to make for me in our backyard.

http://www.marthastewart.com/971903/drop-cloth-decor#970829
(Oh, Martha... ruining men's weekends everywhere.)

"It looks easy, honey!  I know you could do this.  Wouldn't it be perfect to have more shade on the deck?!"

Meanwhile, poor Greg is probably thinking, "Here we go.  She'll never even use this.  The magazine staff had a perfect location for theirs that didn't involve putting any holes into the side of THEIR house. There goes my afternoon.  Every Sunday for a month."

Luckily for me, I was right in thinking that my engineer of a husband could most definitely figure out a way to put up a canopy on our deck so our boys would have a large shady area to play.

Luckily for Greg, he's an engineer so while his concerns about us not having the best place to attach the canopy were valid, he solved them with some ingenuity, extra poles, and zip ties.

Yay, summer!  Yay, Greg :)

The boys enjoying their shaded deck on a 90 degree day recently.
The shade keeps their feet from getting too hot on the deck as well as reducing their sun exposure.

I got my husband to drill a hole in the side of our beautiful house.
This was not easy.  He's wonderful.

Still need to paint the other half of the pole!
He attached it with zip ties so the poles can be easily removed for a gathering or at the end of the summer season. 

Andrew knew Dad needed some help.

Luckily he was on hand to give assistance.