Our Dam Adventures

W. at the initial phases of making dams. I didn't know what would take place in the hour that followed this photo. The apron seemed like a good idea initially, but soon became just one more thing to be covered in mud.

Everything began when I decided to put in an educational video about dams for my three oldest boys to watch. The movie was a hit. The boys were excited about the subject at hand and interested in testing their new found knowledge. I allowed them to go into the front yard and try to build a dam. Over an hour later and several attempts at using different materials, they succeeded in making a dam.


It was during this time that I heard water running in the back yard. I assumed that someone had forgotten to turn off the water back there. When I went to investigate, I found a stream entering our backyard from under the fence. Perfect. What luck! This was the perfect day to have a flood in the backyard. Yesterday we would have been defenseless, but not today. Today we had three experienced dam builders/engineers. So I called in the troops. They were giddy with excitement about the prospect of making a useful dam. Within minutes, they made a great dam. Unfortunately, it channeled the water toward our shed. This was not the desired effect. So I, as the officer in command, ordered the dam to be dismantled. The troops were less enthusiastic, but obeyed. A few phone calls later, the neighbors fixed the problem and the fountain of water stopped flowing into our yard.

This started the next adventure (adventure is another word for mess) for our boys. Mud. Anyone with boys can predict the end of this story. Boys happily playing. Boys getting a little too careless when tossing the mud. Boys getting in a mud fight. One boy crying with mud in his eye. Other boys hiding. Mud everywhere outside. Mud everywhere inside. More work for mom, but a good adventure had by all.


This is after the flood. Luckily the canoe was on high ground and stayed dry. :)