There is a hole in our backyard that is about 14 feet wide and 3 feet deep. It’s the perfect size and shape for an in-ground trampoline. Coincidentally, this is exactly what used to be in it until we bought the house. Naturally Everett was curious about it, and after we moved in he started climbing into it and looking around. Soon after that he started excavating rocks out of the walls by digging the surrounding dirt away using sticks and shovels. Chris’ first instinct when he saw Everett doing this was to say “Stop! You are ruining this hole!” Chris’ second instinct was to listen to his inner voice which was saying “Wait…what?!? How exactly is this hole being ruined, and what do you plan on using it for? Also, keep in mind that Everett is spending hours outside while digging in this hole with his friends.” Fortunately Chris was able to listen to the latter when deciding how to deal with the situation. To be fair, Melissa and Chris have been talking about plans for the hole that included a pond (not a great idea given the age of the babies), a shark tank (Melissa has wanted a backyard shark tank since she was young) and a giant igloo (though we have never built one this big, and even if we did the hole isn’t required, and in any case we are currently in the middle of the non-winter of 2014-2015 which hasn’t provided sufficient snow for an igloo). So none of these ideas are terribly realistic. Anyway, this is what the hole looks like after Everett and his friends have been digging in it for a few months. Can you see how it’s been ruined? We can’t either.