Work Before Play

 We had been searching for a play set for our backyard for over a year and finally found one on ksl classifieds! Every other one we looked at had something that wouldn't work, the location was too far, the play set itself was too old and rickety, etc. But everything came together on this one. It was in really good shape, as far as structure goes and just needed to be sanded and re-stained. Just. Ha! We knew it would be a lot of work but had no idea how much work it would actually be!

The first obstacle was getting the behemoth home. We put out a request on our ward's facebook page for help with a truck and trailer and so many people responded. Our awesome neighbors up the street came to the rescue. With a little planning, a lot of brunt labor and team effort, not to mention labeled baggies for hardware, we got it here!

Next step was to power wash everything to remove the peeling paint.

Then the real fun began. Sanding! Yay!

 

Olivia couldn't wait any longer to swing. Dad knew just what to do. 

The next thing we needed to do was replace two pieces of the A-frame that were rotting.

There is something so beautiful about wood shavings.

Staining came next. We found a color that was close, if not identical to the previous stain so if we weren't able to remove it all by sanding, it wouldn't matter too much.

The hardest part thru this project was keeping this little man occupied.

There was that one time we had to resort to drastic measures.

We finally got done and were able to put everything back together. It was on Labor Day, no less.

 

Digging a trench to level and secure the play set.

This project took FOREVER! Without kids we could have been done in a matter of days, a week or so maybe. It ended up taking just under six weeks! But the kids are the whole reason we bought the thing in the first place. And what a wonderful opportunity it's been to teach them patience and hard work. Good and fun things don't usually materialize out of thin air and now they know that. And they have quite literally worked alongside us every step of the way! I will never forget this experience and I hope they will remember how hard they worked and waited to have this awesome play set! 

The hours of squeals and laughter ahead is what I'm really looking forward to and was worth every back-breaking moment!