Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Swingset in the Making...Part 4

Well, here it is...the last edition of Swingset in the Making!!! In this episode we will explore the art of hanging swings and enjoying the hard work!!

The kids felt the need to help out by 'tightening' the bolts...

When the kids went down for naps we hung the swings on temporary nails to test their separation from each other. When we got them where we wanted them we really hung them...then came the true test of the heavy duty swing hangers we bought on eBay--the big guy himself!!
"Is it gonna hold????" :)
"Wheeeeeee!!!!! :)"
Lawson's first time to swing on our swingset:
Shortly after this it started to rain, then Jordan had a birthday party to go to. After the party it had stopped raining, and both of the kids were dying to go out and swing for a few minutes. It was muddy and cold, but they had so much fun swinging it was totally worth it!!!
Jordan's first time on the swingset:
Night view of completed swing set:
We were concerned about it being strong. Just a couple nights later, some of the girls from the youth group came over to spend the night and went out to play. Jon looked out the window and almost had a heart attack when he saw this:
FIVE girls on the swings AT ONE TIME!!! The swingset was sturdy as can be--it didn't move an inch!!! I guess that says a little bit for its strength!
Since these pictures Jon has since shingled the roof. I wish I had a picture, but my camera broke the night the girls stayed over.
When the weather gets consistently warmer I want to stain it darker. Until then, though, we have been thoroughly enjoying having this swingset in our yard! Just this past week we have been out there numerous times!!!
I am also so excited that we spent only 1/3 of what this would have cost new and installed!!! Not to mention that it is stronger!!! We found the glider sitting in a trash pile on the side of the road with not a thing wrong with it! We got all the hangers for the swings and glider on eBay for less than it would have cost to buy just the hangers at Lowe's! We got the labor for, well, free!!! (Minus the sweat equity!!!)


Having so many posts about this swingset may have been tedious for some of you...but I just had to show off all of Jon's hard work. I have showcased some of his good work in this post, but this is the largest, highest quality piece of wood-working he has done for our family thus far!
I am so thankful that Jon's parents provided this for us! I am so thankful that Jon would spend so much time and energy building this for our family to enjoy!!! I am so thankful that summer is almost here and we will get to spend more of our day outside than in!!!

6 comments:

jenna said...

This is SO cool!!! I have loved seeing the pictures of this process-- and the kids are so cute playing on there!!

THE MORROW FAMILY said...

Yay Jon! I love the finished product! Hooray for a new swingset and saving tons of money! :)

Sunny said...

It looks good. I'm glad that you all are able to get out in this nice weather and enjoy it!

Jamey said...

It looks great! It's fun seeing the kids enjoy it. Every time you look out the window, you can be proud of your man!

Jason said...

Looks like fun. Can I play on it, too?!

Anonymous said...

Wow! It turned out so good! I know that you are so proud of Jon. It looks like your kids are really loving it and kudos to you for all of the money that you saved!