I've been a tiny bit negative lately, so I'm going to end the week on a positive note just to show I still have a little sunshine inside of me. I'm not sure if I ever told the story of how we got the playset in our backyard, but here we go.
When we decided that we were going to move and we told the kids, one of the incentives that I gave the girls was that we would get a playset. We had a pool at the old house so we didn't have any play structure and even if we did I wouldn't have sent the kids out to play in the back by themselves because of said pool. So it was a big deal that we were going to get a playset in the new backyard.
While we were looking for houses my main concern was that the backyard was big enough for a playset. Sure, there were lots of other things I wanted it to have, but it absolutely had to have the backyard. We looked at some amazing houses that had tiny yards that we had to turn down until we finally found our house that had a reasonable backyard and a whole lot of other things that I was looking for as well. Then we just had to get the playset.
The first month that we were in town I took the kids to a showroom and we fell in love with their playsets. The problem was that the first one I picked out with all the things we wanted a) was too big for our backyard and b) was $12,000. Um, yeah, no playset. Turns out that one was for a real playground, not a backyard. So we looked around at other places and mulled it over and kept looking and still couldn't make a decision. The girls were patient but kept asking when the playset was coming. Finally we took Charlie back to the showroom, picked something smaller that was also 40% off and had it installed some time in November, right before it got cold and started to snow. Not the best time to install a playset.
Now the kids wanted the playset because it was cool and they love to play outside. At least the girls do, Andy is a little glued to the computer and Mindcraft lately. The reason I wanted the playset was so if they girls wanted to go outside I didn't have to take them to the park and also so that they could play and run off steam while I was making dinner and I didn't have to worry about them. We also got a screen for the patio door so I could hear them while they were outside. The other reason we got the playset is because Charlie and I have always wanted our house to be the party house. Okay, maybe not the party house, but we want our house to be the place where all the kids play and hang out so that a) we know where our kids are and b) so we know what our kids are up to.
In the end, it was a win win for everybody. Except that nobody ever came over to play on our playset. Half the kids in our cul-de-saq had never even seen it (except for the top because it is much taller than the fence - please don't tell our home owners association, I fear what will happen if they actually measure it). Fast forward to Tuesday. It was a pretty nice afternoon and the girls were outside in the backyard. Andy was grounded from electronics for the day so was absent from them computer and decided to go play out front when he heard kids outside. I was making dinner. The next thing I know it got really loud in the backyard and all the neighborhood kids were in the back playing on the swings and the monkey bars and the slide and even the hammock that I was convinced Charlie put out too early. They were all having a great time, the scene that I had waited months to see.
School is out in a few weeks, hopefully they will be back all summer. Just hanging out, playing and making fun memories for years to come.
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