Our kids were quickly outgrowing the little kids' plastic slide set that we inherited from some friends.
I wanted something larger for them to swing and play on, but also something that wouldn't take up all the grassy space in our yard, and, most importantly, something that wasn't metal. The first week we moved to Las Vegas in 2002, the temperature got up to 118 degrees F!! Not that anyone would want to be playing outside on a playground in that kind of heat, but, needless to say, it gets HOT here. In March and April, when you want to be outside, the sun can already be getting intense! So I wanted wood. But have you ever priced a wooden playground set? The nice ones are in the thousands of dollars...not in my price range. So I started thinking...ok, I've got a hammer, a cordless drill (that I bought for myself husband one Christmas), and the internet to guide me. Oh yeah, and I built a (measly) little printer shelving unit from some scrap lumber I had from redoing the kids' closets.
What can't I do?! So with a free online plan I found here, I began to dream about how I could build our own set in the now empty backyard.
And then, with some Easter gift money from a generous loved one and proceeds from selling the plastic set online, I went to Home Depot and picked up my first load of (pressure treated--outdoor quality) lumber, unloaded it onto our back patio, stared at it for a long time and thought, "Dear Lord, what did I just get myself into?" But there was no turning back. It was time to get to work.
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