The New Swing Set
For the kids’ birthday this year, we decided to buy them a new swing set. The Hubs and I decided to shop around and finally decided on a wood one– we figured it would be relatively simple to put together and would last for years. (Excuse me, I’m laughing.) The one we picked out came complete with a two story clubhouse, wavy slide, chalkboard and a lunch counter area.
When it finally warmed up, Grandpa and the Hubs decided to tackle the swing set one Saturday afternoon. Nana and I took the kids to lunch and shopping for new shoes. We were gone 6 hours. We came home, expecting to see the swing set at least started…. um… the wood was out of the box. I decided to call in the big guns the following weekend. Yia-Yia to the rescue.
Yia-Yia whipped Grandpa and the Hubs into shape. She organized the wood into sensible piles and separated out the nuts and bolts by type. Even momma got in on the act and swung a hammer. And dropped a piece of wood on her head, but I digress…
Needless to say, this was not a weekend project for two people, as the box claimed. But, Grandpa, Yia-Yia, and the Hubs plugged away at it over the course of a year several weekends and managed to get it built.
But, after seeing the twins’s faces when they were playing… it was all worth the hard work, rebuilding, cussing, and blood.
The new swing set took a total of three weekends and 17 hours, but it was a lot of fun. Or mostly fun.
And, for the record…. it’s September and it is still standing. They done good.
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I knew we were in trouble when I opened up the first box and there was nothing but wooden piece after wooden. Glad you and Yia-Yia was there to help us out. We all did a great job and seeing how much the kids enjoy playing on it made it worth all the blood sweat and tears.
The finished product looks fabulous! We do not have a family of mechanically adept builders. This story is a good example of why I always ask if there is a pay for assembly option!