Brian, I don't know where you got your lawn care information but just about all of it is back asswards. I don't think you have lurked here that much. You must be lurking somewhere else, because none of what you are suggesting is what we talk about here. In 10 years I can't remember that much incorrect information being talked about. The good news is it looks like your mowing height is fine (high).

Always, always, always, always, ALWAYS, always, always do your seeding in the fall. Never, never, never seed in the spring (unless you are completely out of affordable options).

Never water every day or every other day unless you are trying to germinate grass or weed seeds. The only way to germinate seeds is to apply continual moisture. That's what you are doing when you water every day. Weed seeds LOVE getting water every day or so.

ALWAYS, mulch mow unless you are afraid of a rampant fungal disease or you let your weeds go to seed. I have not owned a bag since 1975.

You really never need to aerate anymore. If you suspect your soil is too hard (test with a screwdriver), then you can spray it with shampoo at a rate of at least 3 ounces per 1,000 square feet. Do that twice two weeks apart and you'll be fine.

Waiting for the first frost is far too late in the season to do anything. As soon as your evening high temps cool off from the summer heat, then you can go into action. There are weed killers that target crabgrass. Find one and use it - or you can wait for the crabgrass to die naturally. The problem there is sometimes it takes until the first frost. The beauty of killing the crabgrass now is all the seed in the lawn will not germinate because it is fall.

The watering schedule goes like this. For brand new seed, water 3x per day for about 10 minutes just to moisten the seed. Do that for 2 weeks or at least until you have about 80% germination on your seed. Then start to back off. In the winter you should water once a month for about an hour unless you have rain or snow. In the summer you should water once a week for about an hour unless you have rain. When it rains, all you need to do is supplement whatever is needed to get up to an inch per week. This approach allows the soil to completely dry out at the surface. That will also stop thatch growth. Use tuna or cat food cans to time how long it takes YOUR sprinklers to fill the cans. That is 1 inch of water. That's your target time. Mine takes 8 hours. My neighbor's takes 20 minutes.

Fertilize when the summer heat breaks unless you are seeding. Then you can use starter fertilizer or organic. Fertilize again around Thanksgiving with a high N winterizer. Don't fertilize in the spring until after the spring flush of fast growth has stopped. An easy day to remember is Memorial Day. If you want to use a preemergent weed control, wait until the soil temps are into the 50s, and apply that the day after you get a soaking spring rain.

If you hire a lawn service they will mow much too short. The height you have it now is good. I'd just take the next few weeks to practice proper watering, mowing, and fertilizing. In the spring start with monthly watering and transition as you need to to weekly watering. Mulch mow tall every week and fertilize in the late spring. That's easy.

Thank you so much for the advice. I obviously have no clue what to do with this lawn and it is showing.

So your recommendation is to get the grabgrass killer on there now and then thatch it out once it dies? Then overseed.

Any idea what this grabgrass is?