The Sandbox
My sister and I have always wanted a sandbox. We had been petitioning Mom and Dad for it for what seems to be three or four years. Whenever we go to Chase and Jacob’s house, we throw the army guys in and we have a grand time. One Saturday morning this past summer, we were in for a surprise.
Our Dad went shopping and returned with a rather large and robust, red shovel. He immediately went to the backyard and started laying out a design on the ground.
He started laying out the design using four stakes to form a rectangle. Then Dad used a measuring tape to measure the dimensions of the sandbox which turned out to be 5′ by 4′ and 16″ deep. After he excavated the dirt from the area and made sure the remaining ground was level, Dad stopped for the day.
The next day, Dad and I went to Home Depot. Dad parked our car, and I was so excited that I even remembered we parked on the left side of the store. Dad and I went all the way to where it said “Lumber” in big white letters on an orange sign. The variety of wood was held in several orange racks, so dad had several sizes to choose from. For the sizes, some cost $14, $9…you get the point. Dad chose plywood because this wood did not splinter easily. He also brought stakes and “flimsy” plastic to cover the ground and top of the sandbox.
When Dad and I got home, he started building. First, he put the “flimsy” plastic in. Next, he tried putting in the boards. Dad tried them many different ways until he determined the right way to put them in. Dad had to fill in spaces with dirt, too. A lot of spaces. Second, Dad put in the stakes. He had to shift them too. Finally, Dad poured in the sand!! Then we played for ONE HOUR. After all that work, you would probably think that we played in it weeks on end, hours a day. But the cold weather comes and goes as God pleases, and soon it was late fall. Then Dad bought a plywood top, spray-painted it green to blend in with the grass, and put it on the sandbox to prepare for winter.
Pretty soon, we had to bundle up to go outside, so we said goodbye to the sandbox till next year. We look forward to playing in it again next spring and beyond, opening it up to share with neighbors and friends.
About my sister. Her name is Meaghan. She is now five years old and is getting to be more and more fun to play with.
by Trevor Alexander Wallace, May, 2008
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