Backyard Fun!

Ever since we moved into our house, we have been talking about getting a playset for the backyard. We thought about doing it last year, but since we moved into our house when Elijah was 10 weeks old, I was still nursing seven times a day and not sleeping enough, and well, nothing really got done but the essentials. We are blessed to live so close to the school with an awesome playground, so we made use of that a lot. But this year, we planned on that being Ben's birthday present. We had a busy spring with landscaping and yard stuff, but other than a few casual searches, we never spent time researching playsets and figuring out what we wanted. Finally, in August, we decided it was going to happen this fall for sure. We had pretty much decided on a set, partly because it looked nice, and partly because you could have them install it. We are not really DIYers when it comes to that stuff, so in our minds, professional installation was a given. But, as is my usual way, I have a hard time spending big money before I make sure it's really the right thing, so I was still researching. We are not good with maintenance and I just could not see us being diligent to stain/seal a wooden playset every couple of years. I had come across a line of metal playsets a few months before, but they were well over our budget, so I didn't think they were an option. So when I was looking at Costco's website and came across that same brand, only for much less, I started getting excited. We went back and forth quite a bit because installation was not included and we were freaked out that we would start in on it and not be able to get it together. But in the end, we decided to go for it. Our yard is anything but flat. Not only that, but it's solid clay, so putting it together was a beast! Matt's parents came to help out and Matt and his dad worked on it for about 22 hours total. Much of that time was spent digging out under the poles to get the playset level. And the first day of that was done in off and on, but mostly on, pouring rain. But it's together and the kids love it.

 The boys enjoyed getting to play in the rain!

 The playset was delivered in this crate and Ben had a great time trying to tear it apart!

 This is how you keep a six year old occupied during the long hours of patiently waiting for a new playset. Masking tape and a very patient grandma. :-)

 Two happy boys!