This has nothing to do with atheism. Just bragging because we're building my kids a new sandbox.

They had a "sandboat" from Costco that my son got on his 3rd birthday from his aunt and uncle (my brother). Unfortunately, it has no lid, only a blue mesh sort of thing that doesn't even entirely cover the surface of the sand.

This year for Solstice we got two kittens. More unfortunate, the kittens have learned to use the dog door and have decided the sand box (even with mesh cover) is a litter box. So for the past two weeks my kids have been without sandbox to play it.

Well, yesterday we took apart the sandboat and set it out to get rid of (listing it free on craigslist), and shoveled all the nasty sand into the trash. I then went to the store and bought enough lumber and hardware to make a 4'W x 6'L x 12" deep box with a 3/4 plywood hinged lid. It's over twice as big as their old box and almost twice as deep. In warm weather they play in it daily, so they're going to LOVE this one. AND they got to "help" build it last night.

I go today after work to pick up a truckload of sand for it. We'll be priming and painting the exterior of it, and I plan to paint a pirate-y ocean scene on the inside of the lid so that when it's open (the lid leans against a fence when open) the sandbox will be a sandy island where my little pirates can bury their treasure, marroon each other, and in general do pirate-y things.

Anyway, I'll try to post some pics once it's all done, but I'm actually kind of excited for them about this thing. I would have loved something like this when I was a kid and now I get to provide it for my own, which is just as good if not better in some ways.