Dearest Daughters,
I've wanted a sandbox for a looong time. For you, of course.
Not because I have memories of Great Grandma Gibbs' (well Lolopop's childhood) sandbox. Or because it seems like an awesome way to simultaneously stay in my pajamas AND go to the "playground"/"beach"/"camping".
I've looked for one of those used plastic-turtley-thingy-or-others off and on for the past couple years. But, I couldn't bring myself to buy (even used) a big hunk of plastic that would surely break and end up in a landfill with my fingerprints on it. Also, they just aren't big enough for two growing girls.
I wanted something quality and durable and nice to look at. You know, made of wood or something?
I could build a sandbox, I thought.
Well, I could. With Lolopop's help...
So, then, I'd hop on-line and think, I'll just buy a nice wood one and be done with it. Except, then I'd go back to thinking, I could make that for waaaaaay cheaper. But, then I never would.
Oh and Pinterest was ever the tease.
This weekend my dreams (for you) finally came to fruition. Because of three factors.
1) Having spent an entire week somewhat paralyzed by anxiety, I had a bit of I've-done-nothing-productive-cabin-fever. And, I decided it was fitting to play the part of a real crazy person, by taking on this task in one day.
2) Lolopop, who is a very handy guy and who holds the tools hostage, has had a lot of projects on his Honey-Do list and I got tired of waiting until he was ready to do a project that I could very well do My Own Self.
3) But, doing it My Own Self meant lacking those tools and his nuanced expertise. So, I hit up Pinterest and craigslist with a vengeance. And was inspired by some no-nail solutions, coupled with stumbling upon a nearby arbor company with a massive pile of free wood.
The inspiration:

And thus, our sandbox, um, sandcircle, was born:
Pile o' free wood, mostly fir. Just took a car-load of smallish and shortish rounds and hoped for the best.
Big thanks to my ever-supportive husband who indulges and muscles my whims.
Honey? I turned the kids into tree rounds. Also: yay for our new big car. I feel so empowered by my ability to transport large objects!
Plotting the course. Didn't do much concrete planning before (other than killing about nine feet of our crabgrass and therefore, having a general idea of size). So, just had to make sure we had enough rounds to go a-round (har har).
Found the center of our dead lawn and made a make-shift measuring tape compass to spray paint a nine-foot diameter circle. Then, got to digging up the dead sod.
Still digging. Whew! If I had to again, I would use Lolopop's roto-tiller first. Or rent a sod cutter? By the end, we had a system down, though. Tanned and toned to boot!
Ta-da! We could have just put the rounds straight on the ground like one of the Pinterest examples. But, digging down gave us a few more inches for sand-digging later on and a way to stabilize the stumps--sinking them a few inches below the dirt on one side and, of course, the sand on the other.
Dun-zo. Daddy-o.
While beadle napped, Unkinan and I laid two perpendicular layers of Weed block and pinned them down around the edges and center with landscape staples. We wanted to make extra-sure sand or your fingers wouldn't get this stuff up so we were enthusiastic with the staples; Unkinan had to make more out of wire coat-hangers. Shoulda done that from jump and saved a few bucks.
Don't underestimate the importance of placement! I let Unkinan handle this one! He was determined to make these rounds fit together like a puzzle, which is a good idea if you want to keep the sand in and the dirt out.

Rounds set on landscape cloth, all snuggled up to each other and the inner edge of our circle. We tucked any sneaky-peeky landscape cloth down and filled over it and into the exterior crevices with dirt.
We did some pi-r-squared math to determine the area of our circle. The hardware store had a handy chart to let you know how many bags you need based on your area and the depth of sand you want. We ended up with 30 bags, that's 1500 pounds of the good stuff: pre-washed (hopefully not too much silica) play sand. "You got a big sand box," the customer pick-up worker noted. Um, yes, sir, we do.
Various sand-pouring, dumping, stabbing and waterfalling strategies.
Yay! Done in a day! Now to figure out the rest of the landscaping!
And after a day away with Lola and Lolopop, the moment we were waiting for: the big reveal!
"Mommy, thanks for the sandbox, but will you build me a bunk bed now?"
Come on over! You know where to find us.

It was a long day, but worth the time and sweat. It was good to be out and about and not freaking out. And to do something productive, spending QT with your daddy too. But, most especially, it was worth it, knowing we've created a space for your childhood memory-making.
Also, there's this: GO OUTSIDE AND PLAY IN THE SANDBOX, uh, SANDCIRCLE!
Love,

P.S. Thank you, thank you, thank you to Lola and Lolopop who watched you girls all day, to Unkinan who lent his muscle, landscape staple-making sklls and stump-arrangin artistry. And to your daddy, who did a lot of the grunt work and is above and beyond supportive of me and my endeavors.
P.P.S. Forgot to break down the materials and costs, which were insignificant, compared to most scenarios of buying AND filling a sandbox.
1. Weed Block - 3 ft x 50 ft - $16


2. Landscape staples (pack of 10) - $3 plus another 10 homemade staples (free) - could've skipped buying these altogether!


3. Twenty Douglas Fir (because that what's they had) rounds, approx. 12-18" diameter each - FREE - holler!
4. Play Sand - I mentioned our calcuations above and we probably only used 26 of the 30 bags to obtain about 5-6" depth. We'll save the trouble of returning the extra bags and keep them for when we need refills in the coming years. I've read about play sand safety controversy and using alternatives like pebbles, but we just went with this stuff. It did have a small warning about containing material known to cause cancer, i.e. silicia, which from what I know is an element of all sand situations. This stuff was pre-washed and easy. And aren't we all going to die of cancer anyway? We might as well enjoy our lives as we live them in the BEST SANDBOX EVER? - $5/bag x 30 bags = $150 - 20% OSH discount = $120.
That is all. Grand total = $139 (plus tax, of course!)
P.P.P.S For now we're covering it with a tarp-bungee cord configuration, but am considering options for a more permanant solution. Any ideas?