A Sprinkler Masterpiece

I read about this activity in a magazine last year, and then on another mom’s blog, and knew that it would be a great summer project for everyone, but especially for Ya Ya.  A great deal of the credit needs to go to Dr. Peds, because when I explained about what I needed to make it work, he got right to business with a few trips to Menards and Home Depot, and purchased all the supplies (I really don’t like going to Menards and Home Depot, and PVC pipe and how it works is pretty fuzzy in my head, quite frankly).  He cut the pipe, drilled holes in surprising places, sanded everything down and found all the right connecting pieces to make the project fun.  He even purchased a plastic box to store everything in.

The idea is to use PVC pipe to create your own special sprinkler that you can rebuild however you want.  Mr. SP and The Banana took a late nap, so when I got up from my rest and the weather was actually sunny, I pulled out the box and let Ya Ya have a go at it.  We really didn’t know quite what to expect or how to go about it, so we decided to work together to build a contraption and hook it up to the hose.  It looked like this:

I sat back in my hammock and Ya Ya connected the contraption to the hose and turned on the water.  We weren’t expecting the water pressure to be quite so strong!  Several parts of the contraption sort of exploded apart.  Ya Ya went to work making changes and thinking things through.  It was really hilarious and terrific at the same time to watch her process what was happening with the pipes and water.  It really required a lot of thinking (and less water pressure) to get the sprinkler to work the way she wanted it too.  Every once in awhile she’d add something and water would come gushing out of where she didn’t expect it to at all.  I had a lot of laughs.  So did our neighbors, who once led peaceful, quiet lives in their backyards until we moved in next door.  We’re always up to something strange and noisy.

You will notice a progression in clothing choices in the next few pictures. Ya Ya started out wearing regular clothes, and then ended up changing swimsuits a few times to find the perfect attire for building sprinklers in.  No wonder I do so much laundry.

Ya Ya loved the project, and is excited to work on a new one tomorrow.  I think it will be a wonderful summer activity for warm days.  I can just see Ya Ya the mastermind in charge of the architectural plans, dictating all the “dangerous” work to Mr. SP and The Banana.  It will be entertaining to see what they come up with.