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slip, slide
July 15, 2013

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

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15 Comments


rebecca
July 15, 2013 at 11:19 PM

,,,looks like sooooo much fun! i’ll be right over for some slip-sliddin’ away,,,,



Allison
July 16, 2013 at 12:10 AM

all under the guise of “doin it for the kids”….yeah right!!…looks like fab fun. I remember doing this as a kid on a tiny tarp for hours and hours…till the sun set and the skin was scraped off our thighs. it would stay out there for days until dad would get mad cause we had killed a patch of grass (grass was very important to my dad!)….thanks for the flashback! Al x



mir
July 16, 2013 at 12:27 AM

It looks soooo funny! I think I will propose it to my husband…



nicolette
July 16, 2013 at 6:36 AM

good times!



Trbholt
July 16, 2013 at 7:40 AM

What a great slide! I look forward to cooling off on it soon!

xoxo

ps…That HANDY ANDY!!!!! xo him!



Rachel @ 6512 and growing
July 16, 2013 at 7:57 AM

hells yeah!
ps: you owe me an e-mail, nudge nudge.



Jen D.
July 16, 2013 at 8:18 AM

I think our men would be fast friends, Dig! My fiance built a very similar slip’n’slide for a party we had several years ago…no kids, just a bunch of mid-to-late 20-somethings having a great time! He is totally a kid at heart too and children adore him and his sense of fun. Enjoy your new toy! I miss ours.



stephany
July 16, 2013 at 10:15 AM

Fabulous!



Rhett
July 16, 2013 at 11:32 AM

Fantastic!



Jean Albus
July 16, 2013 at 11:50 AM

Hilarious and smart and fun!



Angelika
July 17, 2013 at 12:36 PM

Only one word…EPIC!



Adriana Boatwright (@AdrianaIris)
July 18, 2013 at 11:24 PM

This looks amazing.



Jacki
July 19, 2013 at 8:20 AM

Oh, this looks like SO much fun! We’ve been enjoying a friend’s kid-sized store-bought slip-and-slide recently. I think the kids would go bananas for a bigger homemade version!



MinnesotaGal
July 19, 2013 at 6:47 PM

I knew I was going to marry and have children with my husband when I saw him play with our friends kids (ok, I knew before that but it just sealed the deal). When I play, it’s often artsy intellectual play. When my husband gets home the shrieks (of glee) begin and there’s lots of bodies being tossed about and limbs flying akimbo.

I tried to makeshift a slip and slide in our yard but it wasn’t very slippy and then the plastic tore and then were covered in grass and ants – but it was still fun.



Catherine Forest
July 22, 2013 at 5:39 PM

So awesome! I was just thinking of a way to do this in our yard! I remember loving mine when I was my girls’ age! Andy rocks!



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    I’m Nici (pronounced like Nikki) and I live in western Montana where I raise kids, vegetables and the roof.

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