Play set!

You know you're a parent when your eagerly awaited tax return goes toward ... nope, not updating kitchen appliances or replacing your beat-up, ugly kitchen tiles with beautiful new hardwood, but instead, a play set for the kids. And although my huge list of projects in the house will have to wait just a bit longer, I am giddy over this little outdoor oasis for the boys. And as much as I might claim this project wasn't "for me," I'd be lying, because having a fenced-in mini park in my own backyard is going to be heavenly! I can send the kids out to play and run off all their little boy energy without having to worry, because I can see them from my kitchen and family room windows. Hurray!! After years of rental living and never having an outdoor play space of our own, this is a long-awaited luxury! We are really excited with how it turned out, and even more excited that we were able to get the products we chose after doing quite a bit of research, all within budget. The set we chose was a Lifetime set that Costco.com was offering. We went to their store in Orem, and they offered us the same deal without having to worry about shipping. Perfect.

Here's the set, in the northeast corner of the year (where the garden was, for those who've been to our house). I'm not a huge green thumb, so a planter box or two will work great for me! The mulch we chose was rubber mulch, and that's probably my favorite part (seriously!). It was pricey, but I think well worth it. My dad's a Risk Manager by profession, and he really pushed for that product if we could afford it. It's by far the best as far as injury prevention (and we do have two rascally boys ...). Besides that, we won't have to worry about bugs, decay, or splinters. The only down side we've found so far is that it can stain clothes (no white or fancy clothes allowed!).

Mr. Z's favorite element is his swing. One of the special Costco offers was that it came with this bonus bucket seat. He would swing and giggle all day if I let him!

 

Eliot showing off his daredevil slide tricks. The slide is a bumpy one, and it's fast! I went down it and got a bit of a rush, and the kids really get good speed! Good thing we sprung for the rubber mulch!

 

The little playhouse at the top is darling and full of fun activities. There's a chalkboard with painted tic-tac-toe, hangman, etc., a captain's steering wheel, working binoculars, and imprinted stars on the inside roof. I envision lots of picnic lunches and special "boys only" meetings up there in the coming years!

I honestly think the set was worth every penny we spent and every hour of hard work. Our awesome neighbor helped dig out the yard with some of his heavy machinery, Grant and I laid the weed guard and plastic edging, Grant's dad helped us build the set (in literally freezing weather, no less!), and my parents helped us lay the mulch. Each step took longer and was way more work than we anticipated, but listening to the boys squeal and seeing them play with their friends and cousins has been priceless! Next time you're in the neighborhood, come play with us!