FENCE ME IN!

We’ve got a runner on our hands!

We have an old rusted out chain link fence with no gate across the driveway. So when we’re playing in the backyard, it’s very easy for Ellie to escape to the front yard. She’s usually very good at staying within the boundaries of the backyard, but sometimes all it takes is for us to look away for a few seconds for her to make her Great Escape.

We had our friends Kelly and Evelyn over for a pool party when she made her great escape. The girls were running up and down the backyard giggling and playing with the water. Both of us parents were watching them run back and forth, back and forth. And then, well, Evelyn came back but not Ellie. Ellie? ELLIE!?

Not more than 3 seconds went by when I ran to the front yard to see Ellie already three houses down the block happily shouting “Daddy! Daddy! Look at me!”

AHHHH!!!

It was time to finally replace that old rusted out fence and definitely build a gate. Not that a gate let’s me be a lazy parent and not keep an eye on her, but hopefully it’ll make a Great Escape less likely for Ellie.

Plus, my dad and I were due for a little “father son project” again. Actually, building a fence together was my Father’s Day gift to him. “To you Dad, my gift is the gift of father son bonding time. And what better way to bond than by building a boundary to celebrate a relationship that has no boundaries!” We celebrated my brother’s birthday on the same day, and well, he got the same thing too.

So with my team in place, it was time to tear down the old fence and build a new wood one. But my team wouldn’t be complete without a supervisor. None other than the boss of all bosses, Ellie!

Ellie could be seen around the work site keeping us on task by asking questions like, “Gramps, what YOU doin?” or “Daddy, what YOU doin?”

Or making sure we didn’t mix up our tools by saying, “No daddy! That’s my shovel!” And then once she had the correct shovel, she just wanted to demonstrate how to use it. She would take one or two shovels full of dirt and then give it back and say, “Ok, you do it.”

We cut, we dug, we trimmed, we nailed, we screwed, and soon to be stained. We have gates that swing, latch, and lock now. It took a few long weekends, but we managed. Of course, only because of our highly skilled supervisor. We really lucked out with the weather too, because by the time we actually got around to building this thing, the worst of the hot summer weather was past us.

And with this cozy new look for the backyard, I’m not so sure Ellie is going to even want to escape anymore.