My parents asked if they could buy the kids a swing set for their birthdays. I was shocked and so HAPPY! We went to Toys R'US and chose the "Ridgewood". I liked that it had a little house above and below and that it included monkey bars. Not that I really ever liked monkey bars, but my kids might. When we went to buy it it was sadly out of stock and we were told it would be 4-6 weeks. I was a little upset, because of course I wanted it right away but I had to wait =( On the bright side it would DEF. be here in time for Hailey's first birthday party!
So here we are 3 weeks later and the swing set was in and ready to be picked up. My mother and her husband dropped it off Wednesday and we anxiously waited for the weekend so we could set it up.
* I had too many pictures to post, blogger wouldn't let me post 200 photos so I will have to explain*
Day 1: I thought everyone (my brother) was going to come over early so we could get the building started. He didn't get there until about 2pm. In the mean time our new neighbors came over and one of them happens to be quite handy =). Joe and Jason have hit it off...and so well that he VOLUNTEERED to help..big dummy! When they took all the wood out of the two boxes my jaw dropped. A quarter of my yard was covered in wood and parts. To sum up the day the four hours of building got the base of the main structure up.
Day 2: Mike (my mom's husband) showed up early, 10:45am. Jay got home from church, changed his clothes and got to work. They went from step 9 (out of 28) backwards to step 3 and then forward again. This swing set was NOT EASY to build. Joe has experience in building and making things. My brother Chris put his swing set up for his kids on his own, Mike has been building things his entire life....I REALLY don't know how Toys R'Us can sell a swing set like this and NOT offer a service of paying someone to install it for you. If you are not handy or do not know someone who is handy DON'T BUY THIS SWING SET! BUT, despite all the aggravation and extra cutting and trips to Home Depot there was REAL progress. The main structure was fully built, and if all the bolts were all actually included then maybe it would have been fully built after 8 1/2 hours of work, but instead they threw in the towel for the day. However, you could ALREADY see the joy and excitement on the babies faces. Even Kyle's new friends Logan and Brady were having fun in the playhouse.
Day 3: It went really smooth tonight. It really was just a matter of a few missing nuts and bolts. The monkey bars went up and Kyle got to hang from them. The swings went up and the babies got to play on them. The stakes went in the ground and TA-DA the swing set was BUILT!!! Tomorrow we will get the pink baby swing for Hailey and its built for all to play on.
A HUGE shout out to EVERYONE who helped: Joe and Chris. Even if some of what you did was wrong, you made up for it with your good intentions and Joe really made up for it by coming back Day 2 and helping! ( DUMMY!) But in the end it was Jay and Mike who got it in the ground and safe to play =)
Who needs a playground when I have a fort, a clubhouse, a rock wall, a slide, swings, a sandbox, pool, numerous balls and toys, cars, bikes, AND a fenced in yard? Not us! DeVincent Park is ready to go and open to guests. Especially other mommies that want to enjoy a day outside stress free where their kids can get a little dirty have a lot of fun and run so much that they go to bed nice and early. Oh and if mommy would like a cocktail, I have that too. 
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