Gage's Gift....
Well...the big gift has been purchased!
It's from Mommy & Daddy, GrandDaddy Al, Darnin' & PawPaw, GrandDaddy Longhorn, & Memaw & Poppa. (read: parents & grandparents).
Next weekend, Hubby & his dad are going to put it together.
I can't waaaaaaait!
Gage went with us to pick it up. He thinks that we just bought some boxes. He has no idea that it's going to be his swingset.
But, he'll know soon enough. We can't exactly keep him out of the backyard until his birthday, so it will be kind of a pre-party surprise.
:)
And...Thank You ToysRUs off 75 & Walnut Hill. You guys rock!
posted by Lainey-Paney @ 10:56 AM
21 Comments:
Plan on the WHOLE WEEKEND to put that puppy together. We've done two of them now, and both times we did them over Fourth of July weekend and we so needed the extra day, thank goodness! We love those sets, just be ready to invest some time into getting it together.
If you can prep the yard this week in preparation, that really helps. We tilled up the ground under ours before installing it, then put down weedblocker and once we got it built, we hauled in mulch. We've had no weed issues or anything...and it has been up 4 years now! The other one was left at our previous house, but I'm assuming it is still in good shape, too!
Let us know if you guys need help next weekend... We would be happy to help!
It looks like such a fun set!!
Judy: advise please. Hubby & I disagree about the mulch vs. sod thing. He thinks---build out an area, and mulch it in or put down pea gravel. I say, let's sod the ground around it (because we've been putting down sod every year...about $80-$100 worth, and slowly but surely, we're getting our 1/2 acre lot to be nice St.Augustine!). Anyway---my thoughts are to just put nice grass down b/c we live in a neighborhood with mature trees. We had 13 mature trees when we moved in, and 9 of them are pecan trees. I just don't think we'll be able to keep the leaves & pecans/pecan shells out of the mulch or gravel, and it won't be so easy to just turn the blower on all of our mulch like that!!!!
Since you've done this before...whatta you think???
He'll love it!
Pamcakes:
yes, hopefully it will be tons of fun. GrandDaddy Longhorn is coming in either Friday night or Saturday, and he's going to help Damon, but you guys are CERTAINLY welcome to come over too!
The Toys R Us off 75 is having a Thomas & Friends party from 11 to 1....and the Heroes For Children 5K is on the 13th...so we may be doing that. I figure, it will just be best to give these guys some home alone time to get it built!
You're the best parents ever! Can I come over and play on it?
We went with the mulch with this one. My in-laws have one, too, and theirs was grass up until Memorial Day. They have OODLES of trees all over the place, but the issue was mowing around the structure. It was a pain. And then there was grass growing in the sand box and grass growing up the ladder where you couldn't weed whack it. We went over Memorial Day and covered the entire structure area with weed block, framed it with landscape timbers and then brought in about 4-6 inches of mulch. It has made a HUGE difference in upkeep and the kids actually WANTING to go out there and play - just a much cleaner look, I guess.
There's a really nice finely ground mulch out (Lowes and HD both carry it) specifically made for playground areas and tender feet (although we still wear our shoes out there anyway).
Are you usually having to rake quite a bit in that area where the structure would be?
Our church's playground is covered with pecan trees, and they have gravel down on their playground. Yeah, there are leaves in the fall, but for the most part, the blow away or the kids pick them up. You really don't notice them all that much out there.
My vote is for mulch, and much like that picture you posted - have your fall zones incorporated, too. The instructions will tell you more about that. We kind of skimped on ours on the sides (not the way the swings go - front and back - but the sides) because we simply didn't have enough yard with the landscaping and fence. Your main fall zone issue is the swings - you don't want Gage to swing into a fence! HAHA
Hope that helps - grass would be soft on the feet, too, but getting grass to grow where little feet are trodding isn't so easy (remember your slip n slide??? LOL).
That is so cool - it's going to be a magnet for all the neighbourhood kids.
Bet Gage will love playing with the empty boxes, too!
WOW! He will love it!
They rock? I always thought they had a bad rap. Maybe i will give them another try. And I agree with Judy. It will be a long project. '
Go with the mulch. The upkeep will be so much easier. The grass might be killed under the swings from use anyway.
So when can we come over and play?
About the mulch thing...the first thing that popped into my mind was the news story from last summer I think. The one where they showed a play ground with mulch catching on fire from the summer heat. Of course your trees should provide some shade so maybe it wouldn't get too hot. But you might want to ask the people where you buy it about that. Maybe it is the type of mulch that was used that caused the fire. Anyway...I will be interested to know what you do since that will be our future in about 3 years! :)
So jealous. So, so, so jealous.
That looks really cool! I'm sure he will love it!
awesome! It looks like such a great design.
I will agree with Judy. It will take time for the set-up. We paid the men who delivered it to set it up and it was well worth it. I wonder how many divorces come about because of playscape set-up? :)
Forget sod. Do the mulch. Yes, put a weedbarrier down below. And some kind of edging to keep the grass from coming in. Don't worry about leaves. They will decompose quickly or you can easily blow them away. I don't like pea gravel because it gets in their sandals (and yours).
OH wow. He will be in HEAVEN!!
Wow, that thing is awesome! I want to be a little kid again. Gage is going to love it.
That looks like lots of fun for Gage! My niece and nephew have that one and love it!
Can we come over to play???? that rocks!
brandon has imaginary friends..well they are real friends from school tha he brings home...it's always their fault
That will be so much fun!
OMG!!!! That is FABULOUS! I didn't read when this was posted, so is it together yet? Does he love it?? WEEE that looks like a blast!
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