Play Set Woes and Wonders

In the spring we decided we should add a play set to the backyard for the kids. We went to Costco and bought the play set they had there. Kayden and Josh were so excited! It was a good week before we could actually start setting it up. But a time was set and Grandma and Grandpa White volunteered to come help us. We spent many hours putting it all together and we were just about done. We retired for the night and as we were sleeping there was a terrible wind storm. We woke up to this:

The play set had tipped over and some of the pieces had broken on the cement curbing.  It was frustrating.

The roof had come off (the last piece that we had put on the night before).  We decided that we would make do and so we tipped the play set upright and continued working on it.  We would figure out what to do with the broken pieces later.  The next weekend we finished the play set by adding on the swing bar and swings.  All that was left was the slide.  We figured with the swing arm attached to the play set it would be much more stable.  We went to bed that night and were once again met with a huge wind storm.  When we woke up the play set had completely tipped over and had been destroyed.  Thick metal brackets were twisted and torqued and thick wooden beams were split and ruined.  The play set was unrepairable.  It was a sad day.  All those hours we had spent putting it together!  The kids were so sad.  Thankfully we were able to take it back to Costco.  (I LOVE their return policy!)

We learned of another play set for sell from Grandma and Grandpa White.  A bigger and better (and more expensive) one.  We went and picked it up one Saturday and had it all put together in one afternoon (the joys of buying used and preassembled).  However, before I would allow us to go to bed we cemented the play set into the ground so no wind could tip it over.  A couple of months later we added a fence to that side of the yard to better protect us from the wind.  The play set has stayed upright and the kids have enjoyed it very much.  The only thing it lacked was a swing bar.  I find my husband to be quite amazing.  He designed, researched and purchased all the parts necessary to add a swing arm to the play set.  Josh was beside himself.  He wrote about adding on to the play set in his journal at school as well as wrote several notes to his teacher about it.  It took a couple of days but Jeremy got it done and it is awesome!

The boys and their friends were anxiously waiting for the time when Jeremy would tell them it was all done and they could play.

The new addition to the play set has two swings, a trapeze bar, monkey bars, a rope ladder and sliding pole (cemented in for stability).  We also added a steering wheel, a dinner bell, and some binoculars.  It has been the hit of the neighborhood since it's completion and we hope it gets many years of use!