New Play Set

For some time now we've been looking at and discussion if we should get a play set of some sort for the back yard.  Isaac loves to go to the park to play on the slides and swings and it really would be nice to have something in our own yard for him and baby to be able to play on as they grow.

Late on a Saturday evening (5/25) I was glancing through my email and noticed and email from our home owners association with a message from a neighbor who was moving.  They had sold their home and were moving in two days and needed to get rid of the play set in their backyard.  It was free to anyone who could come and get it.

I showed Frazer the picture and while the set's a bit big for Isaac right now it's certainly something he could grow into.  I responded and stated we were interested but we would need help to move it to our yard considering my big baby belly.  Then we discovered this particular neighbor was only a few houses down so they were really close.  We walked down to take a look and wanted to make sure it was something Isaac was interested in.  Isaac loved it and we couldn't get him off of it.  :)

The following Monday (5/27) was a holiday, Memorial Day, and the day the play set became ours.

Every day that week Frazer worked a little bit each evening putting the play set back together.  The following weekend (6/1,2) Frazer decided some of the boards needed to be replaced so he replaced the upper decking of the tower to give it added strength.

The next two weeks he continued to work in the evenings putting pieces together, replacing the wood on the bench seats and table top of the picnic table as well as all the boards on the roof.  He even replaced the chimney and added a solar light.

We order replacement swings and trapeze bar since the old ones were a bit worn and the weekend of 6/15 Frazer decided to trip the old stain off with a deck wash.  When he was finished it looked amazing!  It's was like it was brand new again.

Frazer put in a tremendous amount of time and effort in to the play set to have it all ready and as good as new for Isaac's birthday party on 6/22.  He had planned to have the entire structure re-stained by the party but the weather posed a bit of delay.  Most of structure was re-stained with the exception of a few areas.

He took it a step further and added mulch to the area underneath.  It looks fantastic!  Frazer still wants to add some timbers to frame out the mulch area and perhaps add a bit more mulch and maybe a sandbox area but that will have to wait until after the birthday party. 

It's certainly a job well done!