New Playset!

We've been wanting to get the kids a playset for quite some time now, but with patience being the virtue that it is, we decided it was best to wait until they were old (big) enough to really enjoy it.  And waiting patiently also allowed us time to save a little here and a little there to be able to purchase a really nice one!  The patience paid off the past couple weeks as we decided the kids were ready for their first (and hopefully last!) playset!  We went to Menards as a family and picked one out during their 11% rebate sale (which allowed us to get an even nicer one than we intended) and then worked together here and there to put it together.  It took quite a bit longer than we thought it was going to, but it has so totally been worth it in the end!

Day 3 of the job: first thing, back up the truck to the building site and find the instructions.  Josh had two very eager helpers ready and rearing to go!  If you're wondering about Days 1 and 2....  Day 1 was the evening Josh took off early to go with us to Menards to pick out a set and Day 2 was the evening we all piled in the truck and went to pick up the set to bring it home.

Josh had left to get a few tools and the kids, frustrated that things weren't going fast enough, decided to figure it out on their own.  You can see in the bed of the truck that the set came in two boxes.... two very heavy, very full boxes full of pre-measured and pre-cut lumber and other parts.

Seeing as how we didn't really want to put the whole thing together by hand, the next step was to find an electricity source.  Josh unhooked the woodshed light and rigged up a line out to our work area.  Awfully handy to have a semi-electrician as a hubby!

This is the "before".   Pieces upon pieces of lumber.  We took it out of the box and sorted it by size and laid it on our picnic table.

Sarah Rose soon got bored with helping and decided the tire swing was more her speed.  I love this picture, with Sarah Rose full of joy just a swingin' away and the boys in the background working!

The first order of business was to build the frame of what was to become the clubhouse.  Caleb was all about helping at this point.  But there is only so much measuring and drilling that a little guy can take.  He soon got bored and, like Sarah Rose, moved on to bigger, funner things to do.

Josh and I, however, got the frame built and up in just a short amount of time.  And it was almost square.... but since Josh had to move on to chopping hay, we absolute squared it the next day.



Just look at those monkeys... spent the couple of hours goofing off and then show up looking like they did all the work!

Between the last picture and the next one, fourteen hours of work came and went.  Josh and I worked on it Memorial Day ALL day, then he and I worked on it separately a little bit here and a little bit there until we finally got all the pieces on.  Wednesday afternoon, I worked as fast as I could to add all the fun things (rock wall rocks, swings, ladder rungs, a little seat) before church.  But since the thing wasn't anchored down, the kids couldn't play on it.  And then, all day Thursday it rained (Hallelujah!!!), so the kids watched Josh anchor it down from the toy room window knowing that now that could play on it but had to wait since it was raining.  Poor kids... pure torment!  Finally, Friday they were able to play despite the still wet and chilly air.  And what a grand time they had!

First climb on the ladder... sure hope Mama got those bolts tight!

First landing down the slide!  I thing Sarah Rose approves.

They couldn't resist taking Mama Moose down the slide either... gotta share the fun, right?!

What a great big brother!
 (They haven't always gotten along quite this well with the swings since, but I'll take the love to each other they'll give when they'll give it!)

The very last thing to go on was the picnic table and bench.  The kids hadn't missed it, in fact they didn't even know it was suppose to exist.  But Josh had it on in no time and now its one of their favorite parts!  They have their snack times out there and they also have this elaborate game of ice cream store they play where one of them orders a certain type of ice cream and the other goes to get it.  Its quite entertaining to watch... and play!  Just today, I changed it up a bit and ordered a hamburger...  I had to send it back three times before Sarah got it right but she always has service with a smile!

There he goes again... showing up when the work is done!  Lookin' good there, kid!

What a cutie!  The kids got a kick out of the drill and when they were around we would let them help us drill the pilot holes for the screws.



Best friends!

There was one more thing to do before we called the swing set complete.  I'm not sure if it was  Josh's or Loren's idea, but one day at coffeetime they came up with a plan to brand (yes, brand) the set....

We used the old electric brander (VZ) that uses heat to brand.  It turned out to be the perfect way to burn into the wood.  Josh was good and ready by the time the brander got searing hot and, with his evil witchy laugh....

... branded the playset!

Here's the "after" picture.  It was pretty easy, though it took quite a bit longer to put together than we had expected.  Its already provided hours and hours of fun and I'm impressed with the imaginative games Caleb and Sarah Rose have come up with.  I'm so thankful that Josh and I could gift this to our kids!  What a blessing!  I know our children know that we love them and we don't need to shower them with things to prove it, but it sure does make my heart happy to watch Sarah swing with that huge smile on her beautiful face and watch Caleb show off his bravery by showing us tricks he can do while climbing over and under everything that's not supposed to be climbed over and under.  Pure pleasure!