I am not a very handy person myself, so I'm always impressed by those who can build incredible things with their own two hands.
My dad was like that, having constructed a swing-set for me in our backyard growing up. And here at LittleThings we've seen dads build some wild things, from a wheelchair-accessible tree house to a backyard roller coaster.
Recently, imgur user itsjoeco posted photos of his backyard construction project. He spent every weekend for nearly four months, in the backyard working with his kids and neighbors to clear out the overgrown shrubbery to clear way for an amazing playset for his family. The photos went viral and climbed to the front page of Reddit within 24 hours of his posting the photos.
It's not just the finished product that readers love. This dad clearly chose to dedicate all of his free time to a family he loves very much, and in the process they unearthed some from secrets from the past…
Please SHARE if you also appreciate dads like this man who take time for their kids!
The back corner of this dad's lawn was overgrown with a thicket of bamboo. There was prime real estate there in his yard, but it wasn't being used.
The first thing he did was to get that mess cleared out of the yard. They also had a specialist remove the two tree trunks in the middle.
The wood stumps were salvaged so that they could be used in other ways.
For a list of ways to repurpose old tree trunks, read our article here!
Turns out the tree trunks were just the right size for his kids.
And on days that were especially hot, this dad relaxed by using them as ice chests.
Even with the trees and bamboo gone, there was a large amount of brush that needed to be cleared away.
As the dad wrote on his post, "I’m blessed with some great helpers!"
While preparing the yard, they began to unearth remnants of the past. Their house was built on what used to be a pond. In 1929, this pond was drained and filled with the remains of a decrepit train station.
As they dug, they unearthed many artifacts from this old train station. As he writes, "It’s great for my kids, because who doesn’t want a train station buried in their backyard?"
They even found this old Boy Scouts belt buckle — possibly from that same time period!
With the backyard cleared fully, they could begin the fun part.
He assembled the swings and fort, and used some of his spare logs to turn into a mulch garden. He further repurposed the logs by building a small wall around the mulch.
His neighbor George, "an awesome dude in his late sixties," came to help with this step.
Teamwork doesn't only the "work" go faster, it obviously makes it more fun.
The finished product is the perfect gift to his two young children.
And he's also built a memory for himself and his family that will last for many decades beyond his children using the playset itself.
Please SHARE if you are as impressed by this dad as we are!
These stories are based on posts found on Reddit. Reddit is a user-generated social news aggregation, web content rating, and discussion website where registered members submit content to the site and can up- or down-vote the content. The accuracy and authenticity of each story cannot be confirmed by our staff.
