It was swing set Sunday here at the Kramer house. What a crazy day…but a very happy, happy day for me!
You might remember a bit ago I bought a swing set that was in a pile. The swing set had been damaged in a storm when winds took it and flipped it. You can read about that HERE if you missed it.
Buck and Karl brought it home with a pick-up and trailer.
Sunday was the day for it to get put together.
This is what the set is supposed to look like.
I am missing the long slide on the left but other than that, mine is very similar to this…I paid $300 for the wind-damaged pieces. It lists at just below $4600 now.
One might think that it would be easy because part of it was assembled…Nope. It took 3-4 men a day’s work to get the job accomplished.
One of my childcare dad’s who is a friend of Buck’s too along with Craig, Buck, and Karl, put it together.
The set is HUGE. Keeping the kids away from the men took some doing!!
All of the kids were anxious to try it out.
In the weeks leading up to this day, I had put some work in trying to find the missing pieces we thought we needed, measuring and sorting out the lumber that was there, and figuring out what was needed.
In the picture above you can see the tic tac toe panel. That was broken and I had a hard time finding one. I did find one though. I was so frustrated. I looked and looked and looked through Amazon. I could not find one. I then started looking at images via a Google search. I found what I was looking for, followed the link and it ended up taking me HERE to Amazon. I had already looked there and didn’t find one. So frustrating. I took up two naptimes trying to find it! AH!!
If you look in the picture below…You can see Gannon looking through a periscope and Georgie looking through a box.
I bought a pack of accessories HERE on Amazon. Here is what was included.
The kids were loving these…
Carver kept asking, “How long Joey?”. I kept pointing him to a picture of the items by the garage and asked him if the roofs were on…he’d say no. I’d ask him if the slide was on. He’d say no…Then I told him that before he could ask again, he had to look to see what pieces were still by the garage.
They guys really did put a lot of time into this. None of them could imagine how long it would have taken had many of the pieces not been partially assembled.
Carver was so excited when the tube slide got put up. He gave it a test…
Here it is mostly together…
Karl was so happy to have it done…except for the clean-up.
Aren’t the little dormer windows on it so cute??
There is a little half picnic table at the bottom. As you can see some boards did need to be replaced. We opted to put in a new beam for the swingset. It only allowed for three swings.
My kids adored my old pumper swing…it’s the one on the right in the picture.
He ended up putting up a longer beam so four places are available for hookups.
I do need to, and will, stain and seal it. Buck says I should wait to do that until the end of summer or so to let the boards cure…so that’s the plan. Oh my, that will be a big job!
As we were cleaning up Buck said to me, Mom, put your old swing set on the for sale group. Just list it as “free”.
I told him no one would want it. He said, I bet it would be gone in 24 hours. Um..no. I thought that would be embarrassing to even give it away. It was in rough shape.
You can see it was rusting out…but I didn’t have a place to get rid of it to so I listed it and forgot about it. I was sure no one would want this!!
After the dust cleared and everyone went home, it was late…likely 9:00 or so. I sat down at the computer. I had completely forgotten that I even listed it. That’s how sure I was that no one would want it.
There were messages for me…and yes someone did want it. The person asked if it was still available. I said yes and they asked if they could come and get it now. They lived 20 minutes away but wanted to come now in the dark. I said sure…and they came.
I changed the wash, loaded the dishwasher, and went back to the computer.
I started looking at more of my mail. UGH. One of my childcare families had wanted it for their grandpa’s house. Darn. I would have given it to them but I had listed it, put my phone in the house, and forgot about it. AHH! I feel terrible but the guy was already here.
It turns out there were 5 other people who asked for it too. Oh, my word. I wish I had more sets to give!!
So this was my view at 10pm on Sunday night…New swing set up. Old swing set gone.
Just for fun…this is the old swing set when we first got it and put the sandbox tire in…
I guess you could say, I really got an upgrade!!
So the cost of the swing set for me is…
$300 for the pieces I originally bought
$39 for tic tac toe
$70 for accessories
$50 for glider brackets
$300 for wood/screw/Buck bought
Not bad…I’m really happy with it all. I do have to buy some stain/sealant and I need to fix up my glider with a new mesh and a longer chain. I’m just thrilled. I never imagined I would ever be able to afford something so nice for the kids.
As of now, I’m not buying the big long slide that was missing. We closed that hole up. A could find a slide but it was $800. I’m just going to watch sale groups. The one I need is 14′ long and will work on a 10′ deck. I might never find one and that’s okay too but I can’t imagine spending $800 for one.
I might do a monkey bar upgrade at some point though. The kids really want monkey bars.
One last look…
Oh, I’m loving it!!
I’m so excited for the childcare kids to come. I’m so excited for the grandkids to be able to enjoy it too.
What a wonderful blessing. It looks great. It’s so fabulous that you had so many hands helping to put it together. I’m sure the childcare kids and your grandkids will have many hours of enjoyment using at.
Your, Grands that are old enough and child care children had to have had so much fun this week.
This post was delightful. It reminded me of nights in the garage (after the kids were asleep) drinking beer and laughing with my husband, as we (in our case, ineptly) assembled a Creative Playthings swing set complete with tree house 40 years ago. You are going to have so many happy times sitting outside with the kids enjoying that amazing swing set! (No doubt you already have lots of sunscreen.) Also, from this example with Carver and an earlier post (where you told a childcare child she couldn’t ask again for screens without reading a book) I like the way you teach children to learn delayed gratification.. A famous Stanford study (The Marshmallow Test) suggested that the important habit of waiting, a form of self control, even for children as young as as 3 or 4 year old, results in more positive and successful outcomes in life.
Well done! Loved the adventure!
God sure blessed you with that set! I’ll be doing some wood sealing also. Mine is all cured and ready to go.
What a great set, Jo!! What are you going to do for baby swings, with the old set gone???
Great job done!! You have such a wonderful family and the father of one of your childcare kiddos! You live in a very good little town. The kiddos will have so much fun and will be occupied for hours using this set. Enjoy, enjoy!
Great ending to a great story!!! Wow you did well. You have a great family that sure was a lot of work
Them some lucky kids!
Wow! What a great swing set! That will last through all those grandbabies. We also had one and it took 3 generations G Hertle, Dad and Bill to put it together. We had a sand box where you have the picnic table. It was shaded and our kids played in it alot. We also on hot days put a pool at the end of our slide. Ours was not as elaborate as yours. What a blessing to have so helpful men in your family!
Oh, happy day!
I’m not surprised so many wanted the old set, especially for free. A bit of rust, doens’t mean there’s not still quite a few good years of use left. I know some gardeners want them for trellises, little green houses, or to hang plants from too.
Hours of great fun will be happening on that playset. Lucky daycare kids and grands! It accommodates various ages, too, which is fantastic. What a blessing!
I am 90 years old and enjoy your blog every morning. That swing set is to die for!!!! You are a smart lady—isn’t the computer a wonderful thing!!!!When my two boys were little we got a swing set and that is just what it was—swings!!!! Now look what has evolved!!!!!!!!!!!Luck kids to have such a wonderful grandma and care giver!!! What fun they will have.!!!!
Quite a story from start to finish and a wonderful outcome!! You are so fortunate Jo! I know you are full of gratitude! And so much fun for the kids in the coming years.
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Oh, Jo, you told that “re”construction story so well in both words and pictures! Imagine all the fun your grands and daycare children will have for years to come. I had to chuckle when I saw the pictures with the tractor tire sandbox, though. It brought back memories of my 2-year old son running to our first TR sandbox, tumbling over the edge and coming up with sandy hands and a big smile on his sandy face (no harm done). I was lucky enough to get a picture, but it was a moment I’ll never forget. You will be making memories for a long time with your new play set Best wishes for a happy summer.
Congratulations on getting a great deal, and having a lot of help putting that up. The kids are going to love it with or without that slide.
Love and prayers
The kids are going to have so much fun on that!
so how long did it take Carver to talk Joey into trying it out ???
I have always wondered…How do you keep the grass mowed under a structure like that? It is pretty darn cool!
We cut what we can’t get cut with the rider using the weed eater. It’s not hard.
What a wonderful day for all of you and seeing the swing set become a reality for you was a win. I just know the kids and the grandkids are going to love it.
Jo,
25 years ago my husband wanted to build a swingset for our boys ( 2 1/2 and 1 1/2 years old). I figured a couple of swings… one entire summer of building a “swingset” every weekend and it was completed. The kids LOVED it. We sold it a few years back but it is still in service:)
Many hours of play ahead on your purchase/project! Enjoy.
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