worth every penny

When the weather was so nice during the fall, I really was wishing we had a decent swingset for Rachel. She had been happily playing on a dinky little toddler slide for a while, but she was really into playgrounds--the slides, the swings...everything about them. Two years ago, I remember how much I wanted a backyard. We own a little over one acre of relatively level land, and it was all woods. I used to rock baby Rachel right by the window in her nursery and gaze out, dreaming of the nice backyard we could have if we could manage to clear the land and have it readied for grass. I must have mentioned it often, because my dear husband, who usually does not pick up on my more subtle hints, got our land-clearing company-owning neighbor to bring over a crew one Saturday, at cost. The trees were gone the same day, and I was SO EXCITED. A couple of months later, we hired a landscape guy to do the minimum--a couple of bare natural areas, some new topsoil, and SEED. Within a few weeks, we had a green, grassy, beautiful YARD! I still can't believe the transition, and I was so happy...until I decided we needed the next thing, I guess--the swingset. Of course, I knew full well that we didn't need it. I managed to even talk myself down from needing the big fancy wood set, knowing that a simple metal set like I had growing up would be all we'd ever need. I was also satisfied to have a used one, but my endless craigslist searches always came up empty. The best deals go gone immediately, while others looked great in the picture, but were no good in person.

But about three months ago, it happened. I found the perfect listing. Priced at $75, we could easily fit it into the budget, and it was a simple wood set that appeared to be in good condition. I suppose since winter was upon us, the set was still available. And we got it!

HOWEVER, it has been sitting, in pieces, ever since. Jarrad has a bathroom remodel ongoing in the house, and I just couldn't ask him to take the time to set up the swingset--I didn't want him to, since I want that bathroom DONE.

But last week, we had some unusually nice weather, and I was so sad it wasn't up for Rachel. So I made a call, and Rachel's Pop came to the rescue. It took him less than a day to get it up and running, and Rachel kept saying, "OHHHHH good STOB, Pop! Stank you!" (Translation: Oh good job, Pop. Thank you.)

Of course, ever since he got it up, it's been either really cold and windy, or raining. This afternoon, though, it seemed to be dry enough and not quite as cold, so Rachel got to play, for the first time, on her very own "playground."

As she was playing, I heard Rachel utter, "Good stoooob, Pop! It's so much fuuuun playing on dis sting!" (Translation: Good job, Pop. It's so much fun playing on this thing.)