When I was a kid, swing sets were a tubular metal structure, (perfect for wasps to make nests in) with monkey bars, two swings with pinching metal chains, and a metal slide that got hot enough to cook an egg on in the heat of the day.
Well. . .not anymore. Now the fancy schmancy ones are make of cedar, with club houses, sandboxes, and every possible option under the sun. After weeks and weeks of researching "play sets" as they are appropriately called, and reading every possible review, we picked one out. My mother wanted to buy one for Tagg's birthday (yes, last month) so finally we all settled on one, and mom and I went to go pick it up.
See the picture above? Would you ever imagine that it comes C O M P L E T L Y disassembled? Like, every single piece of wood, piece of hardware, and roughly six hundred screws, nuts, washers and bolts in separate boxes and bags. The only thing even reasonably put together was the slide (which now come in molded plastic, so no more legs sticking to the metal)
So when we get a good look at the four boxes this mamoth comes in, we start making the "can you help us out" phone calls. We decided that you know you are getting older, when pizza and beer no longer "buys" your friends to help you out. We hear a lot of "no thanx, I can buy by own pizza and beer" (we also found this true when it comes to moving)
Fast foward two weeks, and somewhere around 36 man hours later, the kids have their new swing set. And really, in the end, seeing their smiling faces on the swings was all worth it* :)
*ok, to be honest, this is easier for me to say then Aaron, as he really did all the work!
