Making it Rain

I like to make things. Whether I get it from my parents (who have been crafting and woodworking my entire life) or whether I'm just tapped into the current Maker movement, I just like to create. It's why I like LEGOs, origami and cooking so much, I think. (It's not coincidence that all of those things usually involve a set of detailed instructions. I said I like to create. I didn't say I was creative. I leave that to Hollie.)

Now hold that thought.

When it got super hot last week, Hollie and I were initially satisfied to break out LG's little kiddie pool to help her (and us) cool off a bit. LG, like most kids, loves playing with water. That said, the pool has a finite capacity for creative play. In short, Hollie and I got bored with it faster than LG did. So, in an effort to expand the kinds of play available to us, Hollie got some water balloons.

These were a big hit! Though they mostly hit the ground right in front of her.

Seriously, she does enjoy water balloons, but playing mostly involves throwing them straight down while yelling.

While this was an improvement on basic pool play, Hollie and I both thought we could do more. And then the Maker bug hit.

I don't remember when Hollie passed me a link about making a water wall, but it stuck in my head. So on Independence Day during LG's nap, I dug through the shed and the recycling bin, and found everything I'd need.

The best thing about being the sort of person who likes to make stuff is that you almost always have things on hand to make that stuff. My father, for instance, literally has been collecting wood for decades, and if he wants to build something, he has several tons (This is not an exaggeration; you can measure his collection in tons.) of wood lying around ready to go. Likewise, my mother's stash of paints, paper, stencils, stickers, beads and baubles is apparently limitless (and impeccably organized).

Start with a couple of pieces of scrap wood, some plastic bottles, and a handful of screws. Add a small cordless drill and about 40 minutes, and voila!

Not as complicated as the one I linked earlier, but if you look closely, you'll see that it's modular, which means I can add to it or change it around later.

The temperature kept rising last week. We got the pool out around 85 degrees, water balloons at 89, water wall as the mercury cruised into the mid-90s on July 4. But the forecast for Saturday was 103. And as the temperature rose, so did my enthusiasm for doing something crazy. Heat will do that to you.

Earlier in the summer, we pulled out the oscillating sprinkler, which fascinated LG. She kept shouting "Raindrops on my head!" Having already introduced her to BJ Thomas' classic take on Burt Bacharach, this pleased me.

And once Hollie showed me what you see to your right, I knew what I had to do.

After a quick sketch with dimensions and a family trip to Lowes for some PVC and a handful of other supplies, I was well on my way. I was confident I could have something built in less than an hour.

But as a wiser man than I once said, no battle plan survives contact with the enemy.

Or in my case, no rough sketch will take you all the way to implementation if you don't accurately count how many PVC joints are necessary to finish the darn thing. In short, I needed two additional trips to Lowes.

But at least I had help putting it together.

In the meantime, though, Hollie had her own set of creative things for LG to do in the water.

No, she is not baiting tiny pool sharks with chum.

Hollie had been thinking about dye-play for a while, and the extended time necessary for me to finish my project meant that she could experiment with dye packs she created using food coloring, water and small condiment containers. The only real problem was LG's apparent inability to walk to the opposite side of the pool.

Back to my boondoggle, er, creative endeavor, when it was all said and done, it probably took me about two-and-a-half hours to finish my one hour project. This is normal. You can't rush creativity! (Or PVC cement.)

But when it was complete? We had a good time.

The massive puddles in the yard were unexpected, but I prefer to think of this as a feature, not a bug.

She was reluctant to go through at first, but she got over it.

It should be noted that by this time, the water was quite cold.

And if she needed a little encouragement, well... that's what Daddy is for.