Now that the ground was open I could begin creating a proper field.  In this endeavour I had wonderful help.  While I raked and piled the dirt into mounds, my children followed and threw the stones off to the sides.  As I’ve noticed happens with kids, what began as a chore slowly morphed had more rules and challenges added to it so that in the end it became a game.  As long as they were happy (and careful as they whipped little rocks afield!) I wasn’t going to hinder them.