Day 219

Our youngest child and only son did not show anything at the fair. But that doesn't mean he didn't have fun. Besides helping out in the poultry tent and seeing all the different farm animals, he had a blast enjoying what was just outside the poultry tent: a supersized sandbox. At our old house, I built a sandbox. Whenever we make our way to a beach, lots of fun is had in the sand. My wife and I may not like the inevitable cleanup that seems to come with every experience in the sand. We also despise  finding sand everywhere possible as we try to avoid our van and house becoming a beach. But when all is said and done there's no doubt about it, our kids love playing in the sand. Seeing my son and the joy the sandbox brought to him at the fair reminded me that I needed to build one for him at the farm. And that project was a priority.

I already had an area I envisioned for the sandbox. In the nature play area I had woodchipped, we already had a climbing dome and a play set. However, there was still plenty of open space left and I felt one of the shady spots underneath a tree would be ideal for a sandbox. My initial plan was to cut and bury branches vertically to serve as the outside boundary of a more natural looking sandbox. However, with limited time and a long and uncomfortable stretch of hit and humid days, I decided to go with a more traditional sandbox building strategy.

To the best of my ability, I cleared andI leveled the ten foot by sixteen foot rectangle space I had designated for the sandbox. I had some logs already prepared for the sandbox, but not enough to complete the task. So, in order to get the project done, I decided to purchase some lumber to create the box, knowing I could always go back and make it look more natural and rustic later.

A trip to the hardware store, a few screws, and a little manual labor and I had a box.

Now I just needed the sand.