There are many things I love about my husband. My favorite today, exactly one month after our 16 year anniversary that we totally forgot? How he plays with our kids. He plays.
Simply, he is a kid when he plays. Being enthusiastic, funny and a little bit fearless is his baseline. Kids – all kids – gravitate to Andy. I love this.
Anyway, in addition to youtubing videos for how to build a ski rope tow out of bike parts, he hatched a plan for a slip n’ slide on our hill. We ended up with one pretty epic feature in our backyard.
Materials (we had all this on-hand. obviously, one could substitute here.):
One roll 3 mil black plastic, folded in half lengthwise
One giant tarp
4×4, screws, stakes
One ancient kiddie pool, halved
Hose
Nozzle
Sense of Humor
Andy wrestles plastic, Margot and Ruby swing and shout ‘what are you DOING?’ every 17 seconds.
Details:
He twice wrapped the plastic around and screwed it to the 4 x 4 and then secured the 4×4 by driving some metal rods into the ground around the beam. We wanted more length so we added a tarp. The kiddie pool was the last addition and it really makes the ride. It’s amazingly fun to slam into the crisp blue plastic wall and be doused with water. Andy used a clamp to secure the nozzle to a picnic table so the shower of water was fixed in place. The whole thing is jerry rigged in the most perfect way. We spent a good bit of time de-rocking the area under the plastic. We fold the plastic and tarp up when we aren’t using it so as to not kill the grass but keep the 4×4 and nozzle in place for quick slipping and sliding fun.
Man is most nearly himself when he achieves the seriousness of a child at play. – Heraclitus
