Not quite awake, Zoey rolls around in her bed, rubs her eyes with her hands, and peers out from under the covers into the new day. Then the doorbell rings again! Man! This early in the morning – who could it be? It’s still too early to get up. Rufus barks.
Very slowly she puts her left leg on the floor. Her right leg follows more quickly. Zoey walks over to the window and sees a delivery man standing outside the door – with two huge packages.
“Tom, look,” she calls in the direction of her big brother. “Those are presents!”
Tom mumbles something and rolls over. Zoey stands by his bed, shaking his arm.
“Wake up already. The packages are probably for us.”
She isn’t happy about the fact that the lazy bones doesn’t want to wake up, but there are more important things to worry about. She walks clumsily into the hallway, which smells of coffee and freshly baked rolls. She then sees her mother close the door and go outside through the patio door.
“Tom, Tom, come on, come on.” Zoey is back at her tired brother’s bedside.
“There’s two giant packages out front.”
“Are they for us?”
He sits up and stretches. Zoey keeps pressing him to get up, and shortly after they’re standing together in the backyard where their father has just set down the boxes. When he picks one up again, the children are right next to him.
“What is it, dad? What is it?” they both scream.
“Surprise!” mom calls from the kitchen. “Come in quickly and we’ll tell you what we’re doing today.”
The children have never finished their breakfast so quickly. This is because they just found out what’s inside the boxes: a whole house – with a slide. Now it just needs to be put together.
“Oh yeah,” Zoey exclaims, even though she doesn’t really know how a whole house could actually fit in that box and wants to go back out into the backyard to figure it out. But dad calls them to the PC first: “Look here, this is the QUADRO model database. Here we can see what the house will look like in the end. And if you click here, you can even rotate it in every direction.”
Tom is now also involved and points to another structure.
“And what about this?”
“What about it?” asks dad.
But Zoey understands. “Oh, that’s even cooler. Let’s build that!”
They quickly decide that they are going to build a real castle. And they can also combine it with the slide.
Dad dumps the huge cardboard box out onto the lawn – hundreds of pieces scatter across the yard. Zoey grabs a connector and runs off laughing while Tom starts counting. Concentrating, he counts the colored tubes and proudly tells his father the result. He approaches the matter strategically – first he gets a rough overview and then he proceeds step by step. But by then Zoey has already put two tubes together with a connector. Then another connector and another tube. Inspired by his little sister, Tom picks up a QUADRO panel and inserts it into the structure Zoey has built.
Dad takes over again and explains who is responsible for what. His wife takes a seat on the little bench under the sunshade, watching the action and grinning at the fact that her husband is completely overwhelmed. When Rufus wanders into the middle of the parts and starts sniffing the roof fabric, she thinks it’s the right moment to intervene and provide some clear instructions: the dog needs to be put on a leash. Dad starts putting the pieces together. Mom shows Tom how to use the QUADRO wrench. Meanwhile, Zoey and her father are busy screwing together the first parts. No more trace of the mess – everyone is focused on building the castle. Even the dog watches what’s going on with ears erect.
“Time to take a little break!” mom calls from the house and walks out into the yard with freshly cut melon and cold apple juice. “We’ve all earned it.” Everyone nods contentedly and digs into the snack before getting back to work.
Tom watches his father as the structure continues to take shape. Zoey picks up the screws that Rufus has scattered around the yard.
Around noon, the big moment has come – the structure is assembled. Tom is proud as a peacock. The only things missing are the panels and a screw or two. Everyone pauses and admires their work. Then it’s full speed ahead into the final stretch – with a clear goal in mind.
Tom tests the lower part of the structure to see if it’s stable. Zoey shows her dad where another screw is missing, and mom sets the table. She has a second surprise up her sleeve – a barbecue to mark the occasion. Her gut tells her that a little nourishment will be just the right thing soon.
Only a few more touches here and there – and done! What time is it anyway? Oh, who cares.
Mom applauds when they attach the slide to the structure. Zoey can’t wait any longer and already slides down even though the pieces aren’t screwed together yet. No problem for QUADRO. Nevertheless, dad finishes the job professionally and makes sure that everything is tight and in the right place.
Without anyone noticing, he inserts the final screw. The structure is now completely finished. While dad is still looking for the remaining screws and mom wants to have a couple of panels moved around for the sake of safety, Zoey and Tom are already climbing and sliding in full gear.
They did it together!
Fortunately, they had a sandwich as a snack, because by the time mom gets the grill going, she realizes that it’s already three o’clock. The kids don’t care. They’re busy presenting their castle to Max and Lara who live next door. Zoey excitedly recounts how they built the structure. Tom fibs a bit when he says that dad was just following their instructions. Everyone is in a good mood and mom calls Max and Lara’s parents to come over, too. They bring a salad and drinks. The two families sit together at the table after dinner and watch their children play.
What an amazing day.
And in the evening, they don’t even have a discussion when bedtime rolls around. Zoey and Tom sink into a deep sleep, content and relaxed.
Only dad isn’t off duty just yet. The dog hasn’t been outside since this morning – and no one noticed! In all the excitement they forgot about the poor guy! Dad takes Rufus for a stroll around the park and then sits down on a bench for a minute to enjoy the beautiful sunset. He pulls out his smartphone and discovers on the QUADRO website that you can also create your own designs with QUADRO – using the free QUADRO computer program.
After returning home, he tells his wife about it. The two immediately agree that they definitely have to repeat today’s activities – but with their own ideas.
... and after some time, when fall rolls around, mom once again issues clear instructions: it’s time to bring the QUADRO jungle gym inside. It’s going to go in the children’s room – with the panels and everything else correctly in place again, of course. And maybe there are a few left over sausages on the grill...
And the Moral of the Story?
QUADRO doesn’t just mean playing and climbing. It also means building a structure together as a family. If everyone joins in – not just the parents, but maybe grandma and grandpa too, and especially the little ones – setting up the jungle gym becomes a memorable event that everyone enjoys.
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