The Trampoline

Santa gave the kids a trampoline for Christmas.  I guess Santa didn't realize how much work that might lead to.  Mom and Dad both agreed that for extra safety and for visual appeal in the yard and to prevent the trampoline from flying away during a thunderstorm we wanted to put the trampoline in the ground.  We started on December 27th by making the circle and digging out the sod.  It became evident (mostly to me) that I would not be digging out the 29 inch depth with just a shovel.  A 15 foot diameter circle 29 inches deep is A LOT of dirt.

 December 27th...day one...just starting out

We called a guy in our ward who happens to own a Kubota...halleluja!  We had to wait a couple of weeks before he could bring it over - totally worth the wait.  Brandon began digging out the bulk of the hole.

I dont have pictures of the other steps...but here is what we did:

We had the Kubota for just over a week and we were able to get the majority of the dirt out of the hole and then dumped over the back fence and leveled out.  It took another several weeks of digging 12 holes inside the hole a foot deeper and the cementing 4x4's in place to hold up a retaining wall to keep dirt from caving into the hole.  We had some rain in that time too that left us with a swimming pool that we then had to wait to dry up.  Once the posts were in place we put up some supporting boards and then attached metal sheeting to create the wall.  Once the wall was up the hole was then back filled with leftover dirt and compacted down as best we could.  Brandon made a step around the edge by the trampoline entrance to help the kids get in and out without exposing their feet to any metal.  We are in the process of getting some additional sod to lay around the edge of the trampoline to help the grass fill in all the way to the edge of the trampoline.  The kids have loved playing on the trampoline and are getting more and more creative with how they play.  We have the net up all the time, except when we know a storm is coming we run out and drop the net from the top (it is lashed to the bottom) and it lays flat so there isn't wind resistance.

It was A LOT of work...mostly done by Brandon with help from (and special thanks too...) my Dad, my Uncle Allen and my mom for coming and hanging out with me while the boys worked.  We are very happy with how it turned out and hope that the kids play with it for years to come!

Once we get the sod the rest of the way in I will get a picture of the final product!