Building a fire pit

I'd love to say that the fire pit that Bob, my sister Thuthannah and soon-to-be brother-in-law Terry (woo-hoo!) built last weekend was for me at The Lake...  but, alas.  This Fire Pit of Epic Proportions is at my parents' house.   On the other hand, I'll have every excuse to sit by it when I'm out there swiping veggies this summer from my father's massive garden. 

The Husband has been digging up and carting boulders over to my mom's place for a couple of years, just because she loves big rocks and is always on the lookout for the perfect "sitting rock."   Then, last week, they went out to a local quarry and bought a ton of flat rocks.  No, really:  a ton.  The pile of rock in the foreground is a ton:

A ton sounds like it should be a bigger pile, eh?

The previous homeowners had an above-ground swimming pool, so there's a handy-dandy flat sandy spot in the yard which is just *perfect* for a Fire Pit of Epic Proportions.  Thuthie and B-I-L-T dug the pit and Bob created a metal ring on Saturday, (and on Sunday we had a 40th Annniversary dinner for my parents), and then on Monday they fetched Alice (Allis) the tractor and commenced the Big Boulder Move of 2011.   

While the boys maneuvered the giant sitting rocks into place at the perimeter and leveled them, etc., Aunt Thuthie and Baby M placed the fire brick around the lip of the fire pit:

Really, we made the 4 year old do all the work; my sister's just posing for the camera.  Get to work, baby!

Then, just as the full heat of the day arrived, they laid the first ring of flat stones.

And then they died:

The Fire Pit is of such Epic Proportions that.... it's not even done.  My mother says they placed some more stone for the walkway tonight, but now they have to go get another ton of the stuff to finish it off.  Wowza.

I'll revisit the issue when it's completed and we can all appreciate a good burn.