Sandbox

One of the big projects we wanted to accomplish once we moved into the McBarkman's was to deal with the sand. It was constantly all over the place. The kids kept dumping it all over the lawn and we needed something to remedy that. Enter the sandbox.

The before

We are not DIYers by any stretch of the imagination. We drew up some plans and went to the Home Depot. (oh, how I love them!) They cut up some wood for us and helped us tweak our plans. When we got home, we set up and went straight to work.

It didn't take long to realize that another trip to Home Depot was in order. Our dream of effortlessly screwing the pieces of wood together were dashed when I realized that the screws were not even remotely long enough (even though on paper it would work and Mr. Home Depot recommended the screws to us). Back to Home Depot for 6 inch nails that we (ahem...I) had to drive in by hand.

The boys tried to help. Dan was kicked off the job when he bent the first nail. (A blessing in disguise as we met our neighbours in an effort to borrow a crowbar). Plus, he had some hawthorn plants he wanted to dig out.

The littles didn't really have the brute strength to drive the nails into the wood. (It took A LOT of energy to complete).

But Joel loved handed me the screws so I could build the lid. Which involved a third trip to the hardware store.

By this time, my dream of building a sandbox in a couple hours was definitely over. I was tired of building this dang thing. (I drove in over 12, six inch long nails) all while trying to keep the littles at bay.

My weapon of choice! Screwdriver for making the lid. By far, the quickest part of my build.

That is until, I broke the drill bit.

But I built my first big project that actually worked out well. (We no longer talk about my wobbly side table that I built in high school.)

Completed project. A sandbox for the boys, complete with a bottom and a lid with handles for easy removal!
The boys LOVE their sandbox. Almost every day they are in there playing together, baptizing one another with sand, and dumping sand all over the yard. So much for the point of the box! Oh well, they love it in there. And one day, we'll have them trained to keep the sand within the four walls of the box.