Rubber chips are in

Finally, the beloved day arrived when the weed barrier ground cover wasn’t the only thing under the play set in the back yard. Yesterday I got a call mid-day that the pallets of rubber chips had arrived from California. They told me the forklift driver was there for another hour and that he could lift the entire pallet (50 bags) onto my truck if I got there in time.

I hurried to my friend’s real estate office and borrowed their moving truck (thanks Max and Jenni!), drove to Russell and I-15 to the local Rainbow Play Systems warehouse, had them load the pallet of rubber chips, then drove home.

Vickey arrived home with the kids after Eliana’s day at kindergarten shortly after I arrived. We turned it into a family affair and hauled all 50 of the 40 pound bags of rubber chips to the back yard. Ellie pushed the full wagon. Dominic was strapped to his stroller in the back yard to watch us come and go (and get upset each time he was left in the back with Tank). Tank was strapped to the picnic table in back to prevent him from roaming on the street (because he’s a bad dog and doesn’t listen when we tell him to stay in the back).

After unloading and eating lunch I returned the moving truck. I only had to add two-and-a-half gallons of gas to refill it. Not bad.

It was late last night, after dark even, before I was able to spread the rubber chips out. Vickey was at enrichment at the church so the kids and I took care of it. Eliana was a great helper and took the empty bags to the garbage can and even took her turn leveling out the chips with the rock rake. Dominic crawled everywhere and played in the new chips.

Here’s the final product. There are a few areas we’ll need to touch-up as it was difficult to see while we were spreading the chips last night. We’re so happy the playground area is finally done.


But don’t fret, there’s still plenty to do: replacing dead bushes, fixing some drip line irrigation and outdoor lighting, and installing outdoor speakers. We’re saving that for my family’s Thanksgiving visit (just kidding...kind of). There’s always something, isn’t there?

At any rate, the kids can now play to their heart’s content and if they fall from the five foot high play house floor they’ll just bounce off the rubber chips (and hopefully not break any bones).


Now the other issue is Tank. For some reason he thinks the green chips are food. Last night he kept grabbing a mouthful of chips, running to the other side of the yard, chewing for a few minutes, then coming back for more.

Since I couldn’t find any chewed up chips over there, I can only guess he’s actually eating the rubber chips. Ugh! Either he’ll get sick and learn his lesson (which is doubtful) or he’ll just keep eating the rubber chips. Are there Darwin Awards for dogs?