Super Swingset Saturday

Well, we almost bought it. We checked out Lowes and HD and looked at the swingset kits. The Swingset places are just too expensive, and our budget only allows for their dinkiest model, so we settled on building ourselves. I feel we are more than capable, we are quite the handy couple! The directions on the box said 4-6 hours for two people. Add in two kids, a dog, the neighbor's kids (they go back and forth between the two yards, mine kids included) and a few potty breaks, and I figure this is a two-day weekend job for us. Even if we do read the directions! Which I will encourage Darling to do.

Just when we settled on what we THOUGHT we would get, a friend reminded me about the one at BJ's she bought last year. About $100 more than the one we were going to get, but it is REALLY nice. And it includes everything, it is all precut. Hmmm...We will go see it tonight and decide. Either way, we will end up with a decent playset, the one at Lowes is mostly precut, there are just 10 pieces of 2X4X8 wood that we need to get to go with it, but they require no cutting.

In the meantime, we FINALLY cleared the area behind the garage,which is where the new swingset-o-rama will be located. We went back and forth about where to put it, he wanted to stick it near the trees, I wanted it where the old pool was located, but the grass grew in a little too nicely since Forrest-Gump-the-grass-obsessed-Darling fertilized the heck out of it last year. It needs to be cut TWICE a week right now. No kidding! SO, since the only place we don't have grass is in the junk pile behind the garage, we measured it and it is perfect. But this is what we had to do to clear it:

• clear wood and logs and stack
• clear up all sticks and leaves pile up
• pick up broken pieces of cinderblock and discard
• Move broken air conditioner (we really need to get rid of this)
• rake as much gravel and we could and dump it elsewhere
• Cut the grass and weeds growing there
• dig up the pile of dirt and spread it flat
• spread all of the sand (not and easy task) to make it flat
• Put all of the tools and wheel barrel back.

Doesn't sound too difficult. It took us roughly two hours, give or take, and that is with the kids running around. Not too shabby. So, the ground is flat and ready! Once we build it, I will call and order playmulch and VOILA!!!!

I can't wait! I think I am more excited than the kids!