A few evenings later, Levi and I padded our way across the beach to the wreckage of our castle. Even from a distance, I could see that the towers and once-packed sand had crumbled in little chunks at the base. His face fell as we got closer.

“We can’t even be sure that’s ours,” said Levi, sounding hopeful.

“Oh, it’s ours all right,” I said dryly. “I remember because it still looks lopsided.”

We stared at it, both a bit dejected, before I slapped my palms against the tops of my thighs. “Okay. Time to practice.”

He wore a look of determination as he sank into the sand.

I slid my sunglasses from my hair to my nose. “I know we built a sandcastle just for fun a few days ago, but I’m about to take you into the big leagues. You ready, Keller?”

“It can’t be too different than sculpting, right?” There was a hopeful lilt at the end of his sentence.

I grinned. “So … you haven’t made a real sandcastle before, I’m guessing.”

He winced. “Nope. Sorry.”

“Okay, no worries.” I pursed my lips. “I can walk you through the basics.”

I’d selected a spot close enough to the water so we didn’t have to keep refilling our five-gallon bucket. Tools lay scattered in front of me, and I lifted each one up to explain its purpose. The spade was for scooping and packing, and the smaller buckets and yogurt containers were for towers. An old funnel made for a pretty good roof, a trick I’d picked up from Chad, and a few other kitchen and home improvement tools would finesse our creation into a professional sandcastle.

We used the spades to scoop a big mound of sand in front of us, building it higher and higher into a bowl shape. The sand was already a little wet, but I tilted the big bucket and poured more water on it. “Now we tamp it down with our feet so we get an even foundation to build on,” I said. While I bounded over our workspace, Levi was more self-conscious, patting the sand gingerly with his bare feet.

“Not like that,” I said, fighting back a grin. Taking his hands in mine, I drummed my feet into the sand, flattening it even further. “Come on, put your heart into it.” It took a few tries, but he finally got it, stomping with abandon. Once that was done, we had a four-by-four plot of sand that was ready to build on.

“Here, take this.” I pressed a bucket into his hands. “Fill it almost to the top with sand, pour water in, and pack it down.” I watched as he followed my directions, packing the sand as tight as he could.

“Now what?”

“Flip it.”

Immediately, Levi began to pull the bucket off.

“Wait!” I exclaimed.