Necessity is the mother of all invention.

We had a really fun (and tiring) day at Wild Rivers with the Di Dodo's and Kendall's. The park is closing for the season end of September so we wanted to get the most use out of our season passes as possible. Realistically, I don't know how much more I can handle it. Even with Truong helping today I was pretty beat. I can't imagine going at it alone like I did earlier in the season.

Anyway, Malia took a nap, while Kael played quietly as Truong and I tried to recover from a day in the sun. When Malia woke up, he got her to play a game of basketball. She of course had no clue what he wanted her to do and ended up just chasing him around the house. This suited him just fine since he kept yelling out "Come on Malia -- try to get the ball away from me!" Poor Malia. I can just read the big "SUCKER" sign on her forehead.

Kael kept asking me to set up a basketball net for them with his bug net. I was trying to get dinner ready so I couldn't help him. Dad was BBQ'ing ribs outside so he couldn't help him. Finally I told Kael: "Honey, just stick it anywhere! You have to figure it out or play a different game. I'm trying to get dinner on the table."

After a few minutes I heard a "YEAH! I did it! This is cool! I made a basketball net!" And the kids continued to play. It never occurred to me to check it out. Until I started cleaning up the house as Truong took the kids for a walk.


There's his bug net, stuck in a pool noodle.


The weight of the ball must have caused the pool noodle to sag so he took the couch pillows to prop it up. I tested it out and "dunked" a basket -- it stood up!


Here's a close-up of the basket, secured inside the pool noodle.

What a smart kid I have! I would have not thought of this set-up. I would have just stuck the net in between a toy basket and the cabinet, or something equally as lazy just to get the job done. This is pretty ingenious.