Our NEW Playset!

The title of this post may be a little bit misleading . . . maybe I should have called it, "Our Playset is FINALLY FINISHED!" because that's a bit more accurate! I'm not sure why we do this, but Chris and I (one of us more so than the other *ahem*) tend to take on a big project only to get it about 90% completed and take forever to actually finish it all the way. WHY?!? It actually drives me crazy, but it continues to happen over and over again!

All of that to say, we started building a new playset back in March of 2018. Actually, that's when we started planning and collecting parts for the project . . . Chris didn't technically start building on it until May of that year. And this month - two years later - it is finally completed! Ahhhh, it feels SO good to say that!

To rewind a bit, we had a playset that was gifted to us back when Bri was a baby. Someone had left it in pieces in the barn of an elderly woman we go to church with. When Bri was about eight months old, she told us that if we wanted the playset, we were welcome to take it. We gratefully picked it up and spent hours trying to figure out how all the pieces went together (we had no idea or photo or anything). 

Here it is set up in the backyard of our Shiloh house. It was perfect for our one little baby girl!

She thought her new toy was great!

Just look at that baby 💜💜💜!

For years, that playset served us well. We spent many hours enjoying it and shared it with many friends! When we moved to our current house, it came with us. 

Just how many kids could we fit on it?!?

I seriously have so many photos of us playing on that playset . . . we truly enjoyed it and used it a TON!

However, not long after we moved (in 2016), we realized that we were quickly outgrowing that playset. Chris and I started looking at larger sets and even brainstorming ideas for building our own. In the end, we decided that designing and building our own was the way to go! 

Chris began the hunt for the parts and lumber we needed. In March 2018, he and the big kids picked up our first major component of the new playset . . . a double slide!

A few weeks later, we picked up a used playset from a guy that Chris played basketball with way back when Bri was a baby. The used set was inexpensive, and we could use almost all of the hardware and much of the lumber, as well. 

We took our old playset down (and gifted it to some people we know), and in May of 2018 Chris began constructing the new playset!

I often feel like projects are slow to get started, but I have to remember that things are a little more difficult with lots of little helping hands :-).

For real though, the big kids were helpful to Chris, and the little girls lost interest fairly quickly. 

Bren, especially, is all about the building projects! He stayed by Chris's side during this entire build.

While Brooke and Brecklyn weren't able to help much, they were great little testers. The slides are approved!

Brecklyn, Brooke

I'm not sure how many Saturdays Chris spent working on this project. It was more than a handful, but oftentimes he could only work for an hour or two at a time. Between weather, family commitments, church commitments, work, and other things that had to be taken care of around the house, he had a hard time working on it consistently. It's a frustrating way to construct something, but he just kept at it!

Even though it wasn't finished in time for our annual Backyard Back-to-school Bash (August, 2018), it was usable and sturdy. None of the kids seemed to mind that it wasn't completed!

Since the fall of 2018, the playset has been about 90% finished. All it has lacked is some extra bracing and staining the wood so that it won't rot.

Of course, neither of those things has stopped our kids and their friends from getting good use out of it!

Finally, with quarantine and all the extra time at home this spring, Chris got out and fully completed the playset.

It looks so good! We are both thrilled with how it turned out. We love how big it is and how lots of kids can enjoy it at the same time. It has all the elements of a great playset . . . various swings, rings, a pogo stick, a rock climbing wall, monkey bars, three slides, clubhouse area, and even a little spyglass. 

Trust me when I say that it feels SO good to finally have this project fully completed! I can clearly see it from our living room windows, and it makes my heart happy to look out and see it being enjoyed by not only our children, but often by the neighbor kids, as well. 

The Hubs did a great job with this! I'm so thankful that he was able to build us something that not only fits our needs as our kids get bigger, but is also exactly what we wanted!